Anois teacht an Earraigh beidh an lá dul chun sÃneadh
We can visibly see the stretch in the evenings, now that we have turned the corner to the emerging spring. It would be nice to turn another corner and banish that first cousin of the Beast from the East. We cannot really have full freedom until we freeze him out of it and get rid of this snow and cold.
Anois tá an tEarrach againn agus tá borradh agus fás faoi gach aon nÃ.
When I was going for my walk this morning it was lovely to see the little yellow crocuses adorning the odd ditch. Likewise, with the lovely little snowdrops. They gave me hope that some normality was returning, and I said to myself that Spring had sprung.
Like wise on my way through the grounds of Seafield I noticed some early daffodils in bloom.
Amazingly the furze bushes had a great blast of yellow colour at such an early stage of the annual growth process.
Meanwhile back in the weather world there are a few snowflakes falling and a fresh north easterly breeze is keeping things cool.
I am not that worried about the cold because I get well wrapped up and can manage to stay warm once I am in motion.
I am the nearest thing to the Michelin man with padded jacket over heavy zipped up Magee fleece, with added scarf and lined gloves. My face is suitably covered with mask and snood. The masks have a double function this weather in that in addition to prevent the spread of Covid 19 they are also great face warmers.
I have now gone down the lane and have arrived on the beach and here it is pure magic. I just have to stop in my tracks and absorb the view in front of me.
Unlike last week there are no musicians or skinny dippers to distract me. This is true unmitigated mindfulness territory. There is an eyrie silence about with no humans or other distractions, no waves crashing only the gentle eddying of an ebbing tide dragging out some pebbles and gravel with it. It is relaxation personified in the solitude.
Firstly, in my line of vision I view the wind turbines on the Arklow Bank ,a mere 14 miles up the coast. They are lording it over passing boats in all their lofty glory. Their long rotating blades are reflecting the morning sunshine. It is magical and awe inspiring to behold such glinting beauty.
As I cast my eye along the shoreline, I behold some lovely patches of blue sky and I know that somewhere at the end of that skyline lie the Tom Jones lovely green valleys of Wales . I let my mind wander into walking those lovely green ,green valleys of home and also think of those great Welsh male voice choirs and Cardiff Arms Park and rugby and Irish defeated.
We must not over dwell on these thoughts because my eyes are wandering further down the coast.
Far out at sea I observe the big rolling waves with white foam skimming along the crests of them as they break . There is a certain magic about it all as the sun bounces and reflects off the white spray as it rises and dips. It is so easy to be transported into a fanciful world and away from the pressures of Lockdowns and Covid and Brexit. It is relaxation and escapism at its best.
I stroll along, lost in my mindfulness till I reach still waters ahead .
I stop briefly at the lovely clear water of a stream meandering down seawards falling over the rocks and cascading down making its own waterfall as it falls . This is as a result of the recent excessive rainfalls. It too has a rare beauty about it, and I have to internalise it because of its temporary transient nature.
Now I continue on my dreamy way ,my system now totally unwound and observe what looks for all the world like a laser show. It is further down the coast .I am looking out on `Cahore Point and see rays of light darting down and focussing on beaming down on the sea. They look like someone in the great heavenly control box has switched on the heavenly light show and given us the laser sea show. It was like those lights in a night club that bounce around the wall from a rotating light beam. It was another piece of magic in my personal Odyssey along Seafield beach
I am most definitely going to store that lovely peaceful relaxing morning in my memory box and withdraw it on a day that might be a trifle more stressful.
There’ll be other tranquil days like this in post Covid times.
Mick O Callaghan