THE MELODY GOES ON

10/9/19:  Hamilton, MT   We have been home now three and a half weeks. Brian is playing his guitar and we've had the second snow of this Fall. It is bright outside and my windows are full of shimmering yellow and chartreuse leaves. We are not letting go of Ireland and "moving on." We have family there and we're all staying in touch. Now we call on the phone. We received a gift for Brian that Andrew, Robert and Karena agreed would be wonderful to share: Har's pocket watch. Brian was speechless. We're not sure how old it is, but it's still working! (Har was a steady worker from dawn to dusk!) We have pictures on the wall from the trip, and of course the map still shows our red-lined journey from Dublin to Cork to Roscrea to Ballinamore.
     I rode in the back seat of Andrew's car and took down notes when we'd get to talking. I've typed them up, but they are quite miscellaneous! One says "Ballymore built in the late 1600's. Bally means cluster of houses, not necessarily organized for governing. Ball also means mouth of a river, so Ballinamore translates big fort on the river. One says "unemployment blackspot" which means an industry shut down, leaving something like Detroit. Or "Gaelic is the only language that if someone came back from the Middle Ages, they could understand it now." (It is taught in all the schools, although only small pockets speak it exclusive of English.) Here's another gem, heard in a pub: "if there were flies on that man, they'd be paying rent!"
     Both men and women smoked the white clay pipes we associate with the Irish. When a smoker died, his/her pipes were buried with them.  And "Wheelie bins" are wheeled garbage cans as we know them. While I took as many notes as I could, mostly I wanted to soak up the softness of the folks we came in contact with. I understand, Ireland's history brims over with violence, famine, unemployment, and some want revenge and accountability. But we travelled with a man whose roots went directly to the land he was raised on, and still belongs to. He introduced us to men and women who will have a laugh despite their memories. They acknowledge the hard times, implying the grit, sheer tenacity and stubbornness it took to get through them.
     I am emboldened by our trip. I carry the faces, the soft accents, the light rain and above all the warm hearts with me, and I know Brian does too.