Ballyteige Burrow

Ballyteige Burrow and Kilmore Quay

So Ali and I spent two nights at the Wooden House hotel in Kilmore Quay and I made good use of the time in sussing out Ballyteige Burrow which is the 9km long strand and dunes stretching to the west of Kilmore Quay. I made four forays and the track of my longest is below. The weather on our one full day was glorious, not so good the following day.

Longest foray 9.23 miles

The sea and the waves were wonderful and I took zillions of photos of which I share only a few. Most of the time I had the whole place to myself. The dunes had well worn tracks at the western end, but became overgrown with brambles further from civilisation: not so good on bare feet.

 ruins of the late Mag Redmond‟s cow shed?

Morning glory

The day after

Courtown run

Five mile run interlude during home school conference in Gorey, Co.Wexford.

Wild garlic

Furthest point North

The sea, the sea... 

Just heard on the radio for the first time the song La mer and rather liked it, with lyrics in the original French as any poetry is totally lost in an English translation.

Bluebells

The sea, the sea

I have just finished reading the sea, the sea by Iris Murdoch and have found its portrayal of "the jumble of motivations that drive (the narrator) Arrowby - the human vanity, jealousy, and lack of compassion behind the disguises they present to the world" a disturbingly accurate caricature of what goes on in my own consciousness. I persisted through its sometimes banal and boring, but sometimes beautiful narrative because I wanted to see if Arrowby's experiences and conclusions would draw any light on my own. They didn't, of course, except to make me more curious.

The subject matter reminds me of Till we have faces which centres around the narrator Orual's possessive and jealous love for her sister. Only in this case Lewis is able to present to the reader at least a suggestion of the resolution to the problem echoed in the title of the book.

I cringe when I consider what face I present to God, who made me, or to my fellow man.