Sometimes a coincidence makes me wonder about what is ticking underneath everything we do.
While on holiday in Namibia Fi and I climbed Dune 45 in Namibia. It was the middle of the week and there were hardly any other people around. We could have picked any other day but we chose that one. Half-way up the dune we caught up with two young women who as it turned out were both Irish and from Wexford which is right next to Waterford where we live. That was pretty funny but I’d say not so uncommon as to raise an eyebrow.
I’d forgotten about it until today when a co-worker IMed me and asked if I had met two Irish girls up a sand dune in Namibia.
It turns out he is in a panto with one of the girls. Now that is pretty funny too. It gets weirder though. She asked him where he worked and somehow from the description he gave she remembered what Fi said, two months ago up a sand dune in Namibia, about where she worked. Even weirder is that I’d never told this co-worker that I had gone to Namibia on holiday. He must have found out some other way, out of the 110 people who work here.
So through all of this linking I get the email of a woman I met on a sand dune in Namibia two months ago. Very, very weird.
The Petersons don’t drive. They haven’t since 1987. No one in the family has a driver’s license. At 17 and 20 years old, the Peterson kids have never been behind the wheel.
As the rest of the country frets over the highest gas prices in history, the Petersons carry on as usual, biking, walking and riding the bus wherever they need to go.
For a few months I was without a car in Ireland. I cycled to work everyday* and walked to the shops. But not having the option of a car is tough. Something simple like going to the laundromat is a mission without a car. You have to plan your weeks a lot more carefully when what is a 5 minute pop-over in a car becomes a 30 minute cycle or walk.
Now that I have a car though I am working towards a balance. Trips that involve carrying a load require the car as do taking the girlfriend out for dinner or down to the beach. Otherwise the bicycle is brilliant. You skip traffic, get fit and feel good about doing your part for the world.
* In light of the article it is ironic that I have been slacking since I bought a car. I want to get back to cycling to work everyday.
What a weekend. I am wrecked but happy. Munster winning the Heineken European Rugby Cup on Saturday was brilliant. Jammed into the Three Shippes pub in Waterford along with hundreds of red garbed Munster fans going crazy. This was after being out till 2am the night before as we gave an Irish welcome to Jessica from Canada who will be sailing with us in Genoa. The rough weekend weather made the Saturday sailing great. I took a breather on Saturday night before working on the boat all Sunday with its four-seasons. The water was freezing as we hauled her out and I am thankful for a perfectly placed buoy that saved me from a dunking in the harbour. Then it was off to Fi’s place where we laughed ourselves to death with probably the best Top Gear episode ever shown. Watching Clarkson and co. build and drive amphibious cars was classic. I haven’t laughed that hard in years. All capped off by more drinks at Uluru and then Jason’s place till 1am as we said fairwell to Jessica.
The mad bit is that this coming weekend will be even larger as we head down for the Baltimore Seafood Festival. My liver is booking a ticket to Anywhere Else But There as we speak.
And if you happen to see a dreadlocked Canadian in Dublin airport immigration who responds to the name of Jesus then please give us a call. Poor bugger, welcome to Ireland.
It has been months since my last dose of caffeine. Endless days free of the world’s most popular drug. Through the first few weeks I struggled to reach this plateau of apathy towards caffeination. Socially it has proven to be akward; explaining your glass of orange juice or water to their lattes and cappuccinos gets old fast. When you cut soft-drinks, tea and coffee out of your life you quickly realise how limited our beverage choices are. One can’t ask for a Guinness at the office canteen. Fruit juices are fair enough but there is only so much Vitamin C you can ingest in any given day.
Life without caffeine is strangely unrewarding. My sleep is as erratic as ever, my health the same, my alertness unchanged and my hands still shake. I am pretty sure my stomach is still a nice tannin brown.
So without much pang of guilt I said yes when a friend teasingly offered me a cup of tea and I promptly fell off the wagon.
