Road Trip

Haiku by Suzanne:
High whip of cream on delicate scone;
Rain coming down now…
We’re tucked safe inside.
July 16 (Hills of Tara Tea House)

I woke up feeling like a truck ran over me. Very groggy and ungrounded. Oh, and crampy. Not a great mix. But meditating and clearing my space always helps, so while I did that, Janice and Suzanne went to the Sandwich Market to interview the three ladies.

They came back very excited because the interviews were so interesting. I'm beginning to think that all interviews are going to be interesting. Because everyone has a point of view and everyone has insight. Both things we all can learn from. We don't have to agree with others, but we can learn from their different perspectives.

When they returned, we all gathered our things and headed to the bus station to go to the Hill of Tara, about an hour NW of Dublin. Again, the bus driver was nice enough to drop us in-between stops. Nice! The Hill contains a number of ancient monuments, and, according to tradition, was the seat of Árd Rí na hÉireann, or the High King of Ireland.

It started to rain as we got closer but luckily we brought our raincoats and weren't too bothered by it. We've been very lucky not to get caught in heavy rains so far this trip.

The moment we were out of the bus, Suzanne and I just stood back and watched Janice as she took in the green landscape with laughter and dancing and singing. Suz and I had a similar experience walking to Brigit's Garden, so it was fun to see another do it. These country roads are magical I tell ya. What a joy Janice is to have on this trip. At one point, I'm taking a photo on one side of the road, and I turn to Janice and she's got one leg hoisted over a fence, on her way to walk on a field. Once she's out of eyesight I hear, "SHEEP!!!" hahaha.. She'd been wanting to photograph sheep and she found 'em. So adorable.

The Hill is very cool. Check out the link to see the unique landscape of strange mounds and circles in the earth. I definitely felt the history and could sense that a lot of powerful things happened there. My favorite though?? The dozens of sheep that were grazing on the land. They'd start slowly walking away from you if you got too close, but they were so fascinating to watch.

I felt like sitting (hard to do w/ sheep poo everywhere), so I walked around the edge of one of the big circles and plopped down. I heard Janice behind me and turned around there she was, walking towards the sheep, thus sending them my way. She yells, "sheep are coming!" And was she right. I don't know what it was that drew them, but what seemed like half the herd started heading my way.

I sat completely still. And of course, my camera was safely tucked away in my bag which I couldn't reach for fear of scaring them away... So I decided to let the photographer in me rest and I was present with each one of them. Each group of 2, 3 or 4 had the same behavior. They'd walk to about 15 feet to my left, (20 ft. in front) pause, then the lead one, either dad or mom, would stare at me intently for a long, long time, while I smiled at them. Then they would pass in front of me without looking again until they were about 30 ft. to my right. Then they'd look once more and continue on. It was so amazing! EVERY one that passed me did that. The babies would just follow the parents. So darn cool.

I don't know how long this lasted, but dozens passed me, same pattern. By the time the rains came back and it was time to get to the cafe, some had decided that I was not worth worrying about and they laid down right in front of me. I felt included in the sheep crew. Cool. And when I got up and gathered my things, they didn't even give me a glance. Trust. We need more of that in the world.

We headed to the visitor's center cafe and to our delight, we were served a full cream tea! All three of us were thrilled. Scones with whipped cream and raspberry preserves, tea, milk and sugar. Suzanne had a hot chocolate. YUM. It warmed us up and got us prepared for the mile long walk back to the highway. I don't remember a thing from the bus ride home. Slept the whole way...

That night, Suzanne had a great project for all of us.. Write down at least 10 things that make you feel completely yourself. Things that inspire you. We each wrote them out and said them out loud, and then the other two shared insights they had about you based on your list. It was wonderful. Try it sometime. It felt like I was allowed to eat a whole large chocolate bar in one sitting as I was writing my list. Why don't we allow ourselves to do things that make us feel extraordinary more often??