Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas from the Deep South!

Even though it is early December, many trees still have not shed their leaves. Following a surprisingly cold winter, things started to heat up by early spring. We briefly had to run the air conditioning in March. The heat contributed to the second highest pollen count of 5937 on March 29th. A pollen count of 121 is considered extreme. We had an awful cold snap on Easter weekend with a low temperature of 28 degrees. This broke a record that went back to 1886. It actually was 8 degrees warmer here on New Year’s Eve! The record breaking cold ruined this year’s peach crop; to a lesser extent, the apple crop was also affected. The drought really got a foothold in April. It was the second driest April on record; the all-time driest April was in 1915. The drought intensification led to the Waycross-Ware County wildfire. This area is close to 300 miles from us, yet the fire was so extensive that when the wind blew from the southeast, we had smoke filled air here. This was the worst wildfire in GA’s history. We were hopeful that the drought would ease in early July when we had numerous rainy days, but soon we would be back to higher than normal heat and little to no rainfall. We had the hottest August on record with nine days at or over 100 degrees. At the end of September the drought was considered so severe that we went from restrictive outdoor watering to a total outdoor watering ban. Right now we are 19 inches behind on rainfall for the year, which could put us on a pace to be the driest year since 1925 and 1931. There is a possibility that the Atlanta metro area could run out of water by the end of January. Lake Lanier, our primary water source, is at an all time record low. To make matters worse, the coming winter is expected to be drier and warmer due to the “la Niña” effect.

In June we visited Kristin in Savannah and Eric in Charlottesville. The first trip was to Savannah at the beginning of the month. Kristin graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a Master’s in Industrial Product Design on the 2nd, which was also her 26th birthday. We were quite surprised to be hit with 5.71 inches of wind-driven rain “thanks” to tropical storm Barry. This storm moved inland as far as Macon, but the Atlanta area did not get any rain benefit from Barry. Luckily, SCAD’s graduation ceremonies were indoors. Even so, we got soaked when walking to and from the Savannah Civic Center. Since graduation, Kristin has been working for Gulfstream in Savannah. Gulfstream designs and develops private jets. They have quite a large presence in Savannah.

In the middle of June we made a trip to Charlottesville to visit Eric. Instead of taking the more direct route via SC, NC and VA, we allowed extra time to drive through TN, KY, WV and VA. The first side trip was to drive along a portion of the Cherohala Skyway from Tellico Plains, TN to the TN-NC state line. This road is very similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway. A few years ago we had driven the other half of the Cherohala Skyway from Robbinsville, NC to the NC-TN state line. We spent a night in Berea, KY. The local college is known for promoting regional crafts. There are many venues in Berea where the crafts can be seen and purchased. The next stop was at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV. The resort was more beautiful than we had imagined. We only had time to walk the grounds and the two levels of public areas inside the hotel. From there we drove to Charlottesville. It was great to spend some time with Eric. The three of us toured some of the local wineries including King, Oakencroft and Veritas. We made a return visit to the King winery a day later to see a polo match. We also took a guided tour of the Rotunda and surrounding pavilions, UVA’s iconic feature and focal point. We took the more direct route home via the Blue Ridge Parkway starting at mile marker 0. We stopped for the night at the Chetola Lodge in Blowing Rock, NC. The lodge is set up as a mountain resort, which made it very enjoyable. The food was wonderful, too, so again we were sorry that we did not have more time to spend there. From Blowing Rock we took one more day to drive home. Once again we encountered a lot of rain on this trip, especially in KY and WV, but it was not as heavy or forceful as what we experienced with tropical storm Barry.

On July 24th we left for a three week trip to Ireland. We saw virtually all of the Republic and Northern Ireland. Together, their land area is smaller than that of GA. It was an amazing and fantastic trip because we saw so much, did so much and learned so much. The people were fabulous and we never had a bad meal. Yet, it was one of the most stressful trips due to the many hassles of international air travel, particularly on the return. Problems started a few months before the actual departure date. Each of us needed new passports. Mine was about to expire and Mike’s had already expired. We applied four months before the departure date. After three weeks I received my new one, but Mike did not get his until shortly before we were scheduled to leave, even though his application had been moved to a “high priority processing list”. We were concerned that we might have to get assistance from our congressman. Also, the weather was miserable – cold and rainy. It rained 14 of the 19 days we were in Ireland. The crowds were horrible, especially in Dublin. Ireland is expensive. No matter what you buy from postcards to rental car usage, it costs a fortune. Every time we filled up the “standard sized” Ford, it cost the equivalent in US dollars of $8.00 per gallon – except over there you buy gas by the liter. Just living out of a suitcase for three weeks can also be stressful. Another “down side” to being gone for so long was feeling disconnected. For all of the news outlets in Ireland, we heard very little news from America, with only snippets about the bridge collapse in MN, Barry Bonds’ overtaking Hank Aaron in the number of home runs and the mine disaster in Utah. Being the big baseball fan that I am, I missed seeing Braves games, although, there were some cricket and hurling events on the local TV. Sky News and the BBC ran wall to wall coverage of two stories – the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in England and Madeleine McCann, the toddler who went missing from her parent’s villa in Portugal in May. Hassles aside, we were glad that we were able to make such a complete trip of Ireland. We even liked Northern Ireland which is part of the UK.

Our favorite region in the Republic was the western side of Ireland starting from the southwestern side of County Cork, into County Kerry (Killarney) and the Connemara region of County Galway. Connemara is considered to be the heart and soul, the essence of Ireland. We also loved the wild beauty of County Donegal to the north of Connemara. This area is known for truly awful weather throughout the year, but when we were there, we had sunny skies. Go figure. We never thought that we would enjoy going to pubs as much as we did. They feature a lot of traditional Celtic music which we like, and it sounds even better after a few pints of Guinness! We were in countless castles, ruins, museums and monastery sites.

Three castles that we particularly enjoyed were Powerscourt, Blarney and Castle Coole (NI). The Powerscourt Castle Estate in Enniskerry, County Wicklow dates from 1609 and needs much restoration. However, the grounds are spectacular, the most beautiful of all the ones we saw. The estate covers 14,000 acres. Blarney Castle near Cork City dates from the mid 1400s and its walls are quite well preserved. We climbed the 127 uneven stone steps that hug the tower’s walls to reach the battlements so we could kiss the Blarney stone. You have to lie down and lean quite far backward to kiss the stone, but there is someone there to hold your ankles. This is one of 100 things on the Discovery Channel’s list of things to see or do before you die. Castle Coole in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh (NI) is the estate of the eighth Earl of Belmore. He was in residence when we were there, but we did not see him. This castle has very plain grounds, however, the interior is filled with antiques and it is an architectural showplace. The castle contains most of the original furnishings and plasterwork. It dates to the late 1700s.

The two monastery sites that we found most interesting were at Glendalough (Glen of Two Lakes) near Powerscourt and Monasterboice in Drogheda, County Louth. Glendalough was established by St. Kevin in the 6th century. The settlement was sacked many times by Vikings, but managed to flourish for 600 years. The monastic city has historic ruins that stretch for about a mile, so there is a lot to see from the Gatehouse, to the Round Tower, Cathedral, Priest’s House, St. Kevin’s Cross, St. Kevin’s Kitchen, Reefert Church, St. Kevin’s Cell, St. Kevin’s Bed and Teampall-na-Skellig (church on the rock). Monasterboice isn’t nearly as large as Glendalough, but it is equally impressive. This monastic settlement was founded in the 5th century. It is known for having the best High Crosses of Ireland. Muiredach’s High Cross is here. The sculpted biblical scenes are remarkably unspoiled and recognizable: the life of Christ is depicted on the west face, while the east face contains Old Testament scenes.

Two things that I wanted Mike to include in the trip’s itinerary were time at Dublin’s Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and I wanted to sleep in a castle. We did both. The Book of Kells is said to be the most richly decorated of Ireland’s medieval manuscripts. It is most likely the work of monks, specifically St. Columba, from Iona (an island off Scotland’s coast) who fled to Kells in Ireland in AD 806 after a Viking raid. The book was moved to Trinity College in the 1600s. It contains the first four books of the New Testament (the Gospel) written in Latin. The scribes who copied the texts also embellished their calligraphy with intricate interlacing spirals as well as human figures and animals. Some of the dyes used were imported from the Middle East. The library of Trinity College has many other illustrated manuscripts that are not nearly as famous, but they are equally beautiful, such as the Book of Armagh and the Book of Dimma.

We spent two nights in Markree Castle in Collooney, County Sligo in the northwest of Ireland. It is Sligo’s oldest inhabited castle and has been the Cooper family home for 350 years. The castle sits on a lush 1000 acre estate. The Cooper roots are English, but there is an important link to the O’Brien’s – one of the great clans of Ireland. Understandably, the castle has undergone many renovations and upgrades. One such is a “lift” (elevator), but in quirky castle fashion, it stops between floors, so we had to do a lot of stair climbing to reach our room. The meals at Markree were gourmet all the way. The dining room is elegantly furnished and looks exactly the way one would expect a castle’s dining room to appear.

We did five product-related tours: Jameson Whiskey and Guinness in Dublin, the Waterford Crystal Factory in Waterford, Old Bushmills Distillery in Bushmills, County Antrim (NI) and Belleek Pottery in Belleek, County Fermanagh (NI). Not surprisingly, Mike liked the Bushmills, Guinness and Jameson tours the most, while I liked the Waterford and Belleek tours better. We have two sets of Waterford crystal; Powerscourt is one of our patterns. Belleek Pottery is celebrating their 150th anniversary this year, so everything made in 2007 has a special back stamp, which will make each piece very collectible. After 150 years, Belleek is still made the same way – virtually all by hand. Without much machinery, the factory tour is quiet, so it is easy to ask questions of the various artisans. We also toured their museum which contains pieces from every year since 1857.

The three things that surprised us the most were seeing so many beggars in Dublin, how beautiful Belfast was and major exposure to Gaelic.
We began our trip in Dublin. For four days we stayed at the Shelbourne Hotel which faces St. Stephen’s Green, Europe’s largest park at one square mile. This is Dublin’s finest neighborhood, yet there were beggars there and all over the city. Evidently, the police cannot prevent panhandling. Beggars aside, we saw just about all of Dublin. The Shelbourne was ideally situated for getting to the many attractions by foot. We did not pick up the rental car until we left Dublin because we did not need a car in Dublin and we wanted to be over the jetlag before driving a standard shift car on the left side of the road and negotiating the tricky roundabouts. We were a block from Trinity College, many libraries and Leinster House (government complex); two blocks from Grafton Street; about four blocks from Temple Bar, the entertainment district, and Ha’penny Bridge and the Liffey River. We purchased tickets for a tour bus that goes to many places that are out of easy walking range like Guinness, Jameson, Dublin Castle, Kilmainham Gaol and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We were in Northern Ireland near the end of the trip. We expected to see the effects of “The Troubles” in Londonderry (Derry) and Belfast which sustained frequent bombings up until about 15 years ago. Both cities have recovered. I wish we had more time in Londonderry. We walked the walled city section “within” the walls, but did not see much of Londonderry “without”. Belfast is very cosmopolitan. We stayed at the Belfast Hilton overlooking the River Lagan. It is in the Golden Mile – Central District area, so we were able to see most of the attractions on foot.

One reason we decided to travel to Ireland was that it is an English speaking country. We reasoned that it would be easier to travel by car in that we could read road signs and maps. Wrong!! Gaelic is the featured language on maps and road signs throughout the Republic. Yet, only about 5% of the people still speak Gaelic. Most of them live in the west in Kerry, Galway and Donegal. If English is used, it is in fine print. Geill Sli means give way or yield. Na Scoitear means no passing. Ceansu Trachta means traffic calming (reduce speed or slow down). The word for whiskey is Uische Beatha. It is pronounced “ishkabaha”. Dublin is Baile atha Cliath. Letterkenny is Leitir Ceanainn. I almost think I could learn Greek more easily. Even some of the English phrases were not clear as to their meaning at first: jaunting car (trap or horse and buggy), no overtaking (no passing), ramps (speed bumps), loose chippings (loose gravel), lay-by (roadside pull-out), reeks (mountains), accident black spot (road marked at accident site with a black circle), surface dressing (new pavement), no verge (no shoulder), new junction layout ahead (re-designed intersection).

Needless to say, driving was an unanticipated adventure, not just from the standpoint of language, but the roads were in poor shape, narrow, twisty, and often lacked lane markings. Out in the countryside, people tend to use the roadways as sidewalks, so that is an added peril. In the hinterlands, the roadways are filled with sheep! Then there is the heavy reliance on roundabouts (traffic circles). These can be confusing and dangerous, which makes the driving all the more daunting. Outside of Dublin and Belfast, there are virtually no traffic signals at intersections, just roundabouts. Only recently have they opened up a roadway that we would call an interstate. Eventually it will connect Belfast and Dublin, but right now, it is in place only on the north side of Dublin. After all was said and done, we logged 2726 km (1636 miles) on the rental car by the time we returned it to the Dublin airport. Despite the length of this letter, I have only mentioned the highlights and major impressions of our trip. If I included all that we did and saw, I would pretty much be re-writing the 653 page guidebook we used.

After three weeks of rainy 60 degree weather in Ireland, we returned home to 100 degree weather. We made good use of our club’s pool until it closed for the season. The heat and dry conditions continued into early October when the air cooled to seasonal norms but still no rain.

In October we attended GA Tech’s Homecoming weekend festivities. The weather was perfect, which made it a very enjoyable day. We arrived on the campus just after 8:00 am to see the Wreck Parade. We met some GT alumni friends there so we could all watch the parade together. Various campus organizations create floats, wrecks and contraptions and parade them down Fowler Street. Eric’s fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, took top honors in all categories. Afterward we attended the football game. The GA Tech Yellow Jackets stung Army’s Black Knights, so it was lots of fun for the home team.

In early November we rode around the mountainous areas of north GA to see Fall colors. The Dukes Creek area and parts of Dawson County had the prettiest leaves. We stopped to buy boiled peanuts, apples and fresh cider.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving, but Christmas will be livelier. In the middle of December the four of us will spend a week at Disney World.

We hope that all is well with you and that you have happy holidays.