It is ten years since my last visit toInishowen Peninsula. Last summer I was close, and you can read about that trip in my Dark Hedges, Giant Causeway and Rope bridge blogs. This time I had different plans, none of which worked out. Well, except for the main reason why I went to Inishowen, so let’s call it a business trip then – a magic business trip, to be precise 🙂 I will share the details next week after going through my photographs galore, but in this blog I just want to share a sad song that mentions Inishowen, because yes, I am very sad, and I want to go back.
The lyrics:
You maidens of beauty, I’m a swain that’s forlorning,
I carelessly wandered away from my home,
I am off by the moonlight and day break of morning,
I am found in the mountains of dark Inishowen.
I strayed a place that they called sweet Clonmany
In search of a fair maid who I might adore,
But a maiden for to love me I could not find any
From Meendoran bridge to the Gap at Mamore.
Adieu to the place where I once had a sweetheart,
But now she has left me no wonder I mourn,
When I think of that sweet spot the haunt of that fair one
I pine for her absence in dark Inishowen.
Oh it’s distance divides us in dreams I caress her
For I was as happy as if I was at home,
When I speak to that vision that it bids me compress her
To a bosom that’s pining in dark Inishowen.
I am now sad and lonely since I left her dear dwelling
To repine on that sweet spot I shall never see more,
For I’m off by the wild beach where the salt seas are swelling
From Tullagh’s black rocks to the gap at Mamore.
And now I am stationed in the county Fermanagh,
And I left my wee darling with her parents at home,
If I ever return it will be to marry,
And to wed my wee darling in dark Inishowen.
Inishowen is not actually dark. The opening image is the view from my hotel window in Ballyliffin, Co Donegal, taken at the sunrise, and this one is another early morning view I captured when driving along the shores of Trawbreaga Bay, not far away from Malin. I drove through ” sweet Clonmany” too, but took no photographs ( failed plans as I already said…).
The last image is of water. Not just ordinary water, but the water of Pollan Bay…
Twenty three years! Well, not every day, but once a year, in August. In this blog I will cover just 1/100 of all the theatrical and musical events, just a small fragment of the festive fun so that you plan your next visit to Waterford on August Bank holiday weekend.
In the opening image you see an evil monster hold a human. It happened on the last night of Spraoi this summer, but the beginning of the festival was quite innocent. Sort of.
This is Musical Nun Ruth, a no-nunsense Sister, and a favorite of all, children and grownups. I followed her for an hour and took many photographs.
Sister Ruth wins hearts with her hilarious antics and charming personality.
These three ladies are not impressed..
… but young children are excited – she is very different from the nuns they know.
Tenth Avenue Band was another favorite. They performed at Spraoi a couple of years ago, and it was delightful to see them again.
I cannot tell you how I love the band!
Open air tango with Tango Waterford… Another fascinating experience, tales of passion, jealousy and envy! Watching the spectators was fun. They pretended that they didn’t really care, but the said envy was written all over their face. I should have enrolled for a class ten years ago myself, when it wasn’t too late…
Watching is not always fun. Look at these children waiting in the queue. The longest three minutes in their lives.
Grandma and her Grandson, the owners of identical, gorgeous hair, also waiting for somebody. A brass band is playing on their right, but they look in different direction.
A man is reading old ads displayed in the butcher’s window while waiting for his wife.
Unknown individual is reading today’s paper, waiting to clock out and go home, finally.
A dog is also waiting when it is time to go home. He has no idea that his owners are watching clowns. Or may be he knows?
Young gypsy girl from Romania, with a scarred face and tired eyes, wants to go home too, but her parents wouldn’t be happy if she left. It is a festival time after all.
I have many photographs from Spraoi Parade taken over the years, but this year it was my first parade when I took only three pictures. One of them you have already seen – A monster and a human. Theme for this year was Evolution, and the monster was supposed to be a product of evolution or something like that. Two photographs below were taken before the parade turned to The Quay. Raining or not, the street was packed.
I hope you read the link about the history of Spraoi. It will help you to understand why all these people were standing in the heavy rain, and why the others, in amazing costumes that took a year to make were walking through the city center, some of them with very little clothes. It is just love.
Thank you for catching a glimpse of Spraoi with me. Tomorrow early in the morning I am off for a few days, and this trip will hopefully feed my blog until Christmas 🙂 I am not sure about the internet connection, and apologize if I won’t be able to return your visits to my blog. I promise to catch up when I am back with something interesting to share.
Having a real summer ( I use the term loosely) in July here in Ireland is something of fiction. Some people live here all their life still waiting for their first summer. This year they finally have got it, but in October.
Last Friday afternoon, a couple of hours before the sunset, I went for a walk around beautiful Tramore Bay & Backstrand, enjoying unusual weather, soft light, and tiny wildlife. I don’t have a real macro lens and have to manual-focus my trusted 70-200, but it is how I like it.
At home, I picked up some images, resized them, added them to the draft of my new post, and started thinking about a story to match.
My thoughts drifted away… The story I am sharing is not relevant to the pictures I have selected, but … may be it is?
Sometimes we have dreams so vivid that they can be quite disturbing. When it happens, we either maniacally want to know the meaning of the dream, or to erase it from our memory. It is only a bad dream, right?
In winter 1985, shortly after my father’s death, I had a terrifying dream that woke me up breathless. I saw a man with long arms that reached down below his knees. The man was dressed in some sort of rags, and stood at the edge of the forest. He did nothing, just stared at me – not blankly but as if considering something. This stare followed me for months.
The same year, in early autumn, I took my mother and my three years old daughter for a spin. The weather was sunny, chilly and dry, and the air was filled with that bitter-sweet scent of fallen leaves and sadness.
We drove through an unfamiliar forest, but it looked friendly and we decided to stop and walk, and pick some berries. On our way through the forest we didn’t see any farmhouses, or any sign of human presence, so we felt quite safe. Our car was parked just behind the trees. I laid a blanked on the soft moss for my daughter to play on, and my mom and I walked around with our mugs in our hands picking lingonberries.
After half an hour our mugs were almost full, and I sent my mom and my daughter to the car to start packing so that we could leave soon, and I would stay another five minutes to fill up my mug. I didn’t see them, just heard their voices. The mug was finally full, I stood up and there he was. The man from my nightmare.
Our eyes met. He stood there exactly as I remembered him – dressed in some dirty, shapeless gown, and with his arms hung down way below his knees. His hands were empty and it scared me the most: people are not walking that deep in the forest with their hands empty. He stared at me, and I could not read his stare.
I knew I was going to die, but there was my child, and I had to act quickly. All my instincts came to my rescue. I gave him a blank, uninterested look, slowly turned my back to him, and slowly started walking away. The only thought pulsing in my brain was ‘… don’t run… don’t scream…’ I called the first male name that came in my mind, and added ‘ I am coming!’ I kept walking; I expected being hit from behind at any moment. When I was at some distance, I finally looked back. He was no longer there. Gone. And then I ran.
My daughter was already in the car. I yelled to my mother to get in, fell in the car seat and locked all the doors. My heart was pounding with terror. With shaking hands I started the car and took off still expecting him to jump out of the bushes somewhere along the road. Yet, he was gone for good.
I have never been nowhere near that place again. What was that dream? Who was the man? How long had he been watching me? I will never know.
After the photo session with the spiders and caterpillars, I walked to the strand. The tide was out, but the sand was still wet and reflected the skyline.
The sun was already low, but the cloudless sky wouldn’t make any dramatic sunset pictures. I sat on the rocks staring at the distant water.
I love shooting into the sun. Dream and reality are somewhat mixed in this kind of pictures.
Thank you for listening to my story! Please share your ideas – I still feel like I need some explanation.
I have already posted four bird-related stories from Saltee Islands, and a River Suir bird story, and here is another one. I love birds and never miss a chance to take a picture and listen to what they say. This conversation was overheard ( or may be just dreamed up? ) in Mayfield Birds of Preyfalconry, Co Waterford, Ireland. I don’t know what it is about. Just some gossip, I guess. We are all guilty 😉 So, here they are: Sadie, Banin, Peanut, Muffin, Bailey, Izzy, Holly and Boo.
-Did you hear that?
-Uh oh…
-Aaaaaaah! Trouble!
-I heard nothing!
-Oh really?
-I always knew…
-“A little bird told me”, huh?
-I heard nothing!!!
-Oh come on, it is OK.
-But …
-And what?
-You can’tbe serious…
-Who cares?
-Yes, who?
-I. Heard. Nothing.
-Are you kidding me?
-I don’t want to know anything!
-Or do I already know something?…
-Everyone knows!
-Well, at this point…
-Aaaaaah!
-I’d better be going…
Thank you for stopping by! I hope you click on the images to see these sweet faces better.
When you travel Ireland, visit Mayfield Birds of Prey. This experience is not to be missed. Willie and Bridget will let you handle and fly these noble birds, and tell you amazing stories about them. Pure love – it is all I can tell about their work. Please “like” their Facebook page, and book a visit for yourself and your family, or make it an educational birthday trip.
Two more photographs of my favorite, Peanut, the Asian wood owl. He is molting – his eyelids will be all feathered soon.
May all creatures be loved and respected, and live long and happy.
At the exit of the Antelope Canyon ( see Part I), we saw this little chick on the ground and heard his mama chirp somewhere close. I quickly took a picture and off we went, in the back of a 4-wheel drive comfortable truck.
In the evening, driving around, we stopped at the marina parking lot and took some pictures of the endless sky, Colorado River, and Navajo Generating Station – the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the USA.
The next day we drove, all excited, down to Lake Powell to take a boat tour to the Rainbow Bridge. A two hours boat ride or a two day hiking? You have to choose if you want to see many places in just a few days. The tour took about five hours, from which four hours on the boat with the most breathtaking scenery all around, and a fresh breeze.
This is a furnace ( only about a mile long though) we had to hike through to get to the famous natural bridge. In the evening I was all red like a lobster, and it was only May!
We turned around the corner, and there it stood.
My daughter said that she wanted to sing for us, and she did, and it was really moving.
Judy Garland, “Over the Rainbow
The next day was Sunday. I saw that there was a church across from our hotel, and I decided to go and mingle with the locals.
I entered the room and quietly sat in the back row. When I looked around I realised that all the congregation except me and another couple were either Native Americans or Mexicans. Presiding was a solemnly looking Native American man with long hair, who spoke with majesty and authority. I was mesmerized.
After the service I was about to sneak away, but two young men who sat next to me started conversation and marveled at the fact that I came all the way from Europe. I really enjoyed our conversation and marveled at the fact that I was chatting with 100% Native Americans 🙂 After 40 years, since…
In the 1960s, DEFA film production studio based in Berlin, Eastern Germany produced the Western The Sons of the Great Mother Bear, directed by Josef Mach and starring Gojko Mitić. Many other films followed. Basically, the films portrayed the good Native Americans and the bad white Americans. What else would you expect from the Cold War era movies 🙂
The DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is the only archive and research center outside of Germany devoted to the preserving and promoting DEFA movies. In October 2005 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City hosted a two-week DEFA festival, and several titles are now commercially available on DVD.
And for those who wonder – no, this is not American Southwest 🙂 In fact, it is not America at all. The movies were filmed somewhere in Southern Europe and even Mongolia.
To make a long story short – In this photograph you see Gojko Mitić.
I was 10-12 years old at that time. The crush wasn’t on him! I still have no idea if he was ever married or something. The crush was rather on his characters 🙂
I and alike, were the most devoted fans he has ever had. We recorded the soundtracks from TV shows, we quoted his characters, we wrote screenplays, made tomahawks and bows, and all sort of jewelry. We went to the library and researched all the books on American history and anthropology that were available. We have read all the books on which his movies were based! He influenced a whole generation, and somehow we knew that the white Americans were not as bad as we were told, because some of them were good friends of Chingachgook, Tokei-Itho, and Ulzana.
I wish all celebrities used their influence upon the young generation as he did.
The following morning we left Page AZ and traveled North. After visiting Monument Valley we took Utah State Route 261, passed stunning rock formations – Mexican Hats, and crossed the Valley of Gods. I was clueless about specifics of US 261… I just wondered, where are we going to drive if there stands a gigantic mesa all the way along the valley… When we approached the mesa, I got it. I asked if I can leave the car and walk. The answer was “no”. Moki Dugway. I didn’t know we were destined to meet…
Holding my camera tight, I stretched my arm out of the window, closed my eyes and up we went. I cannot tell how many switchbacks are there. Five? Six? There are no protective walls or anything, and we were lucky that no one was traveling down the mesa in their campervan.
Most of my pictures look like this one.
Valley of Gods from Moki Dugway.
This is my daughter’s photograph taken on the top of Cedar Mesa this year when they traveled the Southwest again. You can see some of the switchbacks.
Our next stop, Navajo National Monument. In the photograph below, there is a whole city in the rock, Betatakin cliff dwelling, as seen across the canyon. Anasazi lived there in the 13th century and vanished overnight without a trace.
A dinosaur footprint.
We traveled through the beautiful desert, and finally crossed the Glen Canyon again.
This is actually a picture of the same area, but taken from the top of the canyon wall. You can see the bridge across Colorado River near the confluence of Dirty Devil River.
Unlike the DEFA movies, this American Southwest is real 🙂
One more video, and Ennio Morricone music for you.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Making memories 