The Whistling Painter: March 2014

So I realize it's been nearly a month since my last update. Things have been unbelievably busy here as the semester wraps up. I've been spending almost every waking hour working on my pre-thesis seminar presentation, researching, writing, and analyzing information. It's been incredibly time and energy consuming and has left me feeling guilty spending time in any other way…including blog updating. All I could think about when considering a blog update was that I should really be spending those 15 minutes on school work, and had no excuse not to. But today is a bank holiday, and although it will be spent 95% on school work, I felt that I could allow myself a few moments to let my family know what's up these last few weeks in Ballyvaughan.

First off, there are babies EVERYWHERE right now. All of the animals have given birth, and walking alongside calves and lambs as they frolic in the fields is becoming a daily occurrence on the way to school. Like the rest of the world, I've always known that Spring is considered the season of "rebirth", but never in my life has it been so cliched and obvious as experiencing this season in rural Ireland. Rebirth is everywhere. The birds have started singing again, the turlough is gone, the sheep fields are full of wobbly-legged lambs, and all the dormant coffee-shops are reopening for tourist season. There is a definite buzz in the air as the days get lighter and longer. We've started turning the heat off occasionally and even opening windows now. I've never been a big fan of Spring, but after this long, flooded, windblown winter, it's a very pleasant and welcome change.

Yesterday there was a St. Patrick's Day parade in the neighboring village, Fanore. A group of us from school went and semi-participated (we walked with the parade, and waved and conversed with everyone on the floats as it inched along on the way to the destination). It was such a fun and festive day, with floats, dancing, song, alcohol, Thai curry, balloon animals, and group bonding. I really enjoyed experiencing St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. It's far more laid back, which was refreshing. Afterwards, we came back to Ballyvaughan, got the first 99 cone of the season at Spar, and hit a great book sale that was going on in the community center. Then out for a late night of celebration. All in all, a great use of the holiday.