Miscellanea
Lingo
Greet another with “Hiya,” not “hello” or “good morning”. After “thank you”, respond: “no worries”, or “no bother” with the kindest tone of voice and smile. It means, you are so welcome. “Do you need a wee bag for that?”, is customary even if the shopper has her backpack on the counter, and unpacked the items you have just checked out. “We don't know ourselves,” means life has gotten so good we can't even believe it; it is also the title of one of the best books of contemporary Irish life by Fintan O’Toole, that I bought at the Twig Bookshop in San Antonio.
Chamber of Commerce Day
After so many days of grey clouds, wind, periodic rain, and only seconds or minutes of sun, today was blue skies, bright sun, high white clouds. Young children held hands with older class students, ate ice cream cones, and walked across the River Erne to the Ballyshannon Leisure Center. There were at least six dogs taking owners for walks: Yorkie, Boston Terrier, Spaniel, and a couple of indeterminate breeds, small with white fur, adorable, and friendly. Their preferred route was across the River Erne bypass pedestrian bridge, or on the walking path near the Mall Quay. Dogs were very happy to walk in the sun, and the owners were friendly, too. I imagined every photographer capturing magical scenes, Ireland's best foot forward, a chamber of commerce day, as we say in Texas.
Interlude/Pilgrimage
An interlude is an “intervening period of time”, a pilgrimage is a long journey as “an act of religious devotion”. I didn’t know what I came here for, and I will end this interlude/pilgrimage on Saturday when I board the bus for Galway. I have been faithful to my ambition - to visit my grandmother’s town, absorb it, and to write daily. I heard my grandmother’s voice somewhere in my distant past - whether her voice or through the stories my mother told me of her. The writer Aimee Nezhukumatathil wrote in her book World of Wonders, that long ago voices are heard in the future:
“Perhaps, in the distant future, a sound that resembles my voice will haunt my great-great-great-great-great grandchild - a sound she can’t quite place, can quite name. That sound will prick at her and prick at her."
My grandmother’s voice pricked at me until I came to Ballyshannon. Thank you for your patience until I could truly listen.
