Category Archives: Writing

The “Donkeyman Brays” Email

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Kevin O'Hara Last of the Donkey Pilgrims

Ok…I am officially excited!  I got an email from the “Donkeyman”, Kevin O’Hara, wonderful author of “Last of the Donkey Pilgrims.”  If you haven’t read it, read it!  It’s a story of his journey around the entire ring of Ireland at the end of the 1970’s.  It’s the story of his growth as a person, his relationship with a wonderful donkey named Missy, a glimpse into Irish life at that time, and a wonderful picture of the warmth of the Irish people he encountered along the way.  Yes, I just used the word “wonderful” four times, and that was intentional.  🙂

I wrote him to let him know how much I liked the book, and he wrote back graciously and asked for one of my CD’s. Super cool!   So now I am happy, and wanted to share some of that bubbly over-enthusiasm with all of you.  If you like Ireland, travel stories, donkeys of any kind, and good storytelling, you will love “Last of the Donkey Pilgrims” by Kevin O’Hara.

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Donkey-Pilgrims-Kevin-OHara/dp/0765309831#_

Slainte, Lisa

In the Mist

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In the mist, there’s an island…

An island where there are flowers and rocks and life…

Within that life, there is love…

And in that love, there is Jesus.

 

Look through the mist of your life; sometimes things look very foggy and dim, but ahead there is love and life and Jesus.  Slainte, Lisa

Conundrum conundrum

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I am stuck and need help.  I have been rather fixated for the past day on the word “conundrum.”  It’s one of those words that I really like, and I have on occasion tried to use, but truthfully, I really can’t wrap my mind around the full meaning.  Here’s good old Webster’s words of wisdom:

1
: a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun
2
a: a question or problem having only a conjectural answer
b: an intricate and difficult problem
OK, all you readers…I got meaning 2.  It’s meaning 1, the riddle with the pun answer that kind of boggles me.  I looked “conundrum riddles” up on google, and mostly just found a lot of silly jokes with word pun answers.  Is that all there is?  It feels like it should be something more, something deeper, you know…more of a conundrum.  🙂
The best thing I found was a passage from Alice in Wonderland from Lewis Carroll:
“Why is a raven like a writing desk?”[…]

“Have you guessed the riddle yet?” the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.

“No, I give it up,” Alice replied. “What’s the answer?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” said the Hatter.

“Nor I,” said the March Hare.

Alice sighed wearily. “I think you might do something better with the time,” she said, “than wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers.”

So maybe that’s what the conundrum is; we can’t really figure out what it is or what it really means, and that is the perplexing part that makes it the conundrum.
If any of you are conundrum experts, please write and share your wisdom with me.  🙂   Slainte, Lisa

The Return Home

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“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”

-George Moore, Irish poet

Life is ironic sometimes…you feel dissatisfied, restless, yearning to roam somewhere new and just see something different.  You save, you plan, you go to this new place.  You walk around looking at the new buildings, sceneries, faces; moved but sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer amount of newness.  You look for glimpses of familiarity in the faces and language swirling around you, and sometimes you see & hear it and it brings a modicum of comfort.  Could it be?  Do you actually miss home after all this wanting to escape it?  You face the last day of the journey, feeling nostalgic already for the place you are leaving.  But then, you make it home…the familiar bumps in the driveway feel more endearing, the rise of the house in front of you makes you happier than it has in a long time, and the love that you feel for home, for those dear to you that you left behind, becomes very clear and poignant.  You are home, and you are happy.

Slainte, Lisa

Rambles, Plans, Dreams

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It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to figure out that I love to travel.  I adore planning out new holidays, pouring over travel books and reviews, searching the internet for the best deals.  I am a frustrated would-be pilot (maybe one day!), so I love the airport/flying part, the thrill of sitting in the airplane seat, feeling the roar of the immense engines as we tear down the runway for lift-off.  I love seeing the new sights, smelling the new smells (well, sometimes)  and trying out new foods.

I found a great passage from Last of the Donkey Pilgrims by Kevin O’Hara that encapsulates many of my thoughts:

” ‘Tis the beauty of travel, isn’t it,” she looked wistfully upon her poor but scenic domain, “seeing things you’d never see if you just kicked about the old place.  And you’ll take it all home with you, won’t you, these memories, and be all the better for it.  Well, be off with your rambling, so, and I’ll keep on with my dreaming.”

“It’s only a half-door you’re standing behind,”  I told her.  “You could easily hop over it.”

“Oh, I know,” she smiled, “but could I ever hop back in again?”

Enjoy your rambles, planning, and dreaming.  Slainte, Lisa