slowly she turned

I headed to Glen Head Bay beach across the street from the Glencolmcille Folk Village, took in the view, removed my hiking boots and slipped on my flip flops, descended the stairs, and enjoyed the cool cool waters of the tidal pools at low tide.

Children and adults were crossing to the furthest sand bar to swim in the ocean, so I followed them. The wavy hard sand of the beach and tidal pools made for difficult walking, and may have contributed to my physical troubles later, but man, it was worth it.

Always I think of tapestry when I see these natural forms. You can see them in limestone at the Burren in Ireland, another favorite place of mine.

Limpets, barnacles, and snails (periwinkles?) were everywhere on the rocks. I’m also thinking of designing a tapestry based on a close-up of those barnacles. I learned to check the snail shells that I collected for signs of life.

As I ascended the hill back to my room, a family in a camper van offered me a ride. They must have noticed me struggling! One of several acts of kindness I experienced. I turned them down, though, since I planned to stop at an event happening at Oideas Gael, hoping to find some ice cream. What I found was that the cafes along there were closed, but there was a used book sale and a lovely wee book shop. Of course I dug into the used books and found a battered textbook used by many high school students in their Irish language classes. I was thrilled! It would be great to take a course in Irish here.

I took a rest before I headed back down the hill to meet Margaret, who kindly and generously offered to drive me over to Malin Beg and show me some places I wanted to see but were too far to walk to.

(Next post)