April 10, 2009: Now THAT'S playing dirty!

We woke up to a child deficit of two, since Lauren and Conor spent the night in Holywood with my aunt and uncle, bless them!

With our offspring count down to a much more manageable number of one (who by the way, was still bundled up in bed, showing no signs of surfacing), I set about the business of the day:

Home repairs, part two.

My mother in law wanted to take advantage of the frequent stiff breezes in Ballycastle, so a whirlygig clothesline was called for. I was provided with the information for the required device, and after rousing Bethany (a feat reminiscent of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, only I'm pretty sure Jesus' methods didn't include repeated pommelling with a pillow, bellowing "get up outta that bed, ya lazy skunk!" and threats of damp facecloths if Lazarus didn't comply. According to the story, Jesus just told Lazarus to get up, and up he got. This, it has to be said, simply doesn't work on any of my kids. I digress.....)

With a by-now upright Bethany glaring at me through one half-opened and yet fully sleepy eye, and my good wife and her mother going off to call in on some neighbors, I headed back into Coleraine for the hardware store.

The weather reports for the province were along the lines of rain, hail and pestilence, but it was supposed to clear up by Sunday (just in time for going home. bummer.)

I got to my destination 25 miles away from home, listening to the banter on the local radio, it almost had me off the road a time or two, that is when I wasn't stuck behind a tractor or a muck spreader (you haven't lived until you've been stuck behind a muck spreader for a mile or two).

Driving in Northern Ireland is interesting, for a number of reasons:

1. The roads tend to be quite narrow, especially the back roads;

2. Especially at night, it's common to find yourself doing the speed limit on a winding back road, when in your rear view mirror a set of lights appears. It's almost like they are on a mission to get past you, because no matter how many twists and curves, as sure as little green apples, the headlights will be overtaking you at Mach 5400 or something like that. It's quite unnerving on the narrow country roads, late at night!

3. During the daytime, people wait for you at junctions. They wave you into traffic. If you happen to pull over, they go around you! I told Elaine,, it's like the folks here just wait for you to get on with it, because sure in a wee while the road will be clear....

4. Tractors and other farm equipment tend to use most of the same roads as cars etc. They don't use the motorway. If a tractor is holding up traffic, they will frequently pull over to let the motorists move ahead. This sort of consideration is not only alien in Maryland, it's laughed at.

Anyway,

Park the car in Coleraine: Dry, sunny, lovely morning.
Walk thirty feet from the car: Torrential downpour on an almost biblical proportion. Hood up, coat zipped up, get on with it!

I got the hardware stuff, fixed a mirror, intalled a whirlygig clothesline, and we then it was into the car to get the kids in Holywood.

We arrived just as my other cousin and his family were just saying hello. It was really good to see them, I wish I had more time to catch up. Why can't I find a Tardis (watch Dr. Who, you'll know what I mean) when I need it!

A brief visit with them, and we bid my aunt and uncle farewell. We'll see them in the fall, state-side.

Dinner tonight was high tea at the Causeway Hotel, and was just as yummy as ever. It was after dinner though, that the dirty tactics came out.....

Having had a huge nosh-up, we decided to take a walk along the cliffs that overlook the causeway. Remember the raining frogs etc that the weathermen promised? I looked east, inland, and the mother of all big ol' dark stormclouds was passing by us, safely out of the way. I looked north, and the cliff path lay before us. I should have quit at that point.

Looking south, the town of Portballintrae lay nestled in the coastline. From our vantage point we could clearly see the huge waves rolling into the bay, forming white caps that slid up along the sandy beaches, and crashing violently on the craggy rocks on each side of the bay. Looking West, the dark clouds were nowhere to be seen. The sun was setting over the northern Atlantic, lighting up the Donegal hills in the far distance on the left, and the even farther hills of some unknown region of Scotland on the right. The setting sun cast gold and yellows on the sea below, and our stretching shadows extended into countless whin-bushes (aka gorse bushes, very prickly, with beautiful small yellow flowers), igniting them into a blaze of yellow in the process.

It literally took my breath away. I couldn't move. Elaine came by to check on me, and when she asked if I was ok, all I could say was "That's playing dirty now".

If Northern Ireland could bottle it's natural beauty, it would be the richest country in the planet, bar none. When I lived here, I took it for granted, my eyes were always turned to farr off fields, to other shores. Having seen far off fields and other shores, I look at Northern Ireland with a different perspective, hopefully a more matured persoective, and all I can do is marvel at it's richness.

Tomorrow marks our final day in Northern Ireland on this trip. We'll see what the day brings.