Not all who wander are lost

This is a joyous story, a story of music, and storytelling, and magic. This is also a story about coming very nearly full circle, when weary beliefs are set aside for the sake of the craic and the cheol. It’s one I share with more than 1 million people, and that I am now honored to share with you. I moved from Maine to Ireland more than six years ago, and in that time I have journeyed throughout this island and had many heartening experiences. Still, I was unprepared for the pure happiness I felt when I and my 1.6 million companions wandered the streets, … Continue Reading

Greetings from across the pond! I put my traveling shoes on during the late spring and summer, heading to France and Scotland, as well as right here in Ireland – and I’d love to share some of the highlights with you. To make your reading experience somewhat digestible, I’m going to write several blogs over the course of the next few weeks about these adventures. I’ll begin my journey in Scotland, a magical, misty land. The photo above was taken from Eigg Island in the Inner Hebrides. But before I start, I’d be remiss if I didn’t first talk a bit about travel itself during … Continue Reading

Picture swaying palm trees, flowers in fuchsias, purples and cherry reds, avocados plucked from the leaf. In the evenings, monkeys shimmy down trees to raid the avocado supply – at least until the dog chases them away. The sun shines every day, and the temperature is 75-80F (22-25C). No real decision about clothing, just a T-shirt and shorts and sandals. And to top it off, picture a delighted grandmother playing with her 7-month-old grandson—a scene right out of Hallmark, actually. That pretty much summed up my life in the month of December, when I visited my daughter, son-in-law and their beautiful baby boy in Nairobi, … Continue Reading

Not long ago, some friends and I went to a pub to listen to a traditional music session (for your listening pleasure, above.) One of them got talking with an older gentleman she knew from my little village, which prompted another friend – who grew up nearby — to begin the fascinating process of ‘tracing.’  Where did he go to school, she asked. Oh, thus and such a school, says he. It turns out they went to the same school, he long before she. Oh, so you probably knew my cousin/neighbor/family friend, she says. Well, he did as it happens. And if he knew that … Continue Reading

Members of my family and others I know will every once in a while create a ‘photo dump’ on social media – downloading sometimes dozens of photos from a certain timeframe or event. Well, today, I am creating a ‘travel dump,’ and will tell you about some of the fascinating places I’ve visited recently in northern England and coastal Spain. Beware! At 4,000 words, this is not a blog for the faint of heart! Coastal Spain I’ve travelled enough now to know what appeals to me, and I find I am not really attracted to large European cities. Not that I’ve been to a boatload, … Continue Reading

My mother was 74 when my only child Bridget was born. She was 49 when she first became a grandmother, quite affronted by the prospect of another generation when she still had kids at home and felt far too young, thank you very much. Some 25 years later when I gave birth to the last of her 13 grandchildren, she told me she finally felt like she’d aged into the monicker. The 70s, she said, seemed like a good grandparently decade. I’ve had reason to think of those words often, and take perhaps unreasonable heart at their hopeful prophetic nature, because on May 7, Bridget … Continue Reading