The Words I Promised

So, Ireland for the third time is just as good as the first two. For those who don't know, my friend Jason is a travel agent who specializes in European Golf Tours asked me if wanted to to join the trip with about 30 other people. I jumped at the chance to return to one of the most beautiful places on Earth. If you have never been here I highly recommend an 8 day trip. For my US readers, If you have never left the country, this should be the firs place you get a passport for. Trust me the, the food is great, the locals are very friendly, but sometimes hard to understand, and the landscape is second only to New Zealand (which should be your next trip) in my opinion. (For my Slovak friends, your lack of a coast line puts you in third, it's not your fault I need an ocean close by.)

The weather yesterday was better than today, with more sun and scattered clouds then the mainly overcast weather I had today. I was able to get some OK shots today but I wished I had better light. I also has a few tiny bits of dust on my cameras CCD (the image chip) which I can edit out but it is a pain so I will head up to Galway to a photo shop and get a brush to really clean it. The weather forecast for the next 2 days is poor as what is left of Tropical Storm Hannah are due here Monday afternoon. So I hope the drive north will be dry in the morning, I will continue west from Galway along a coastal road, if the weather holds. I have never been to Galway so I will enjoy seeing new places as long as it is not raining. As soon as the rain starts I will then head back to Lahince.

I am so glad I got up this morning at 5:15 to go with Jason on the hired bus (coach) to the airport to pickup the main group of golfers who flew in at 6:00. (About 10 of them came in yesterday with Jason and his father to get a jump start on the jet lag for better golfing.) I had decided that instead of taking the coach with ll the golfers and being locked into where they are going, I would rent a car for the week. It is so nice to be able to set my own agenda to go find some good shots. I will sometimes follow the bus or ride on for some of the trips just because they are places I want to see. The other advantage is on Tuesday the whole group has to be on the bus at 5:45 am so they can make the ferry so the don't miss there tee times at a very popular golf course. (If I cared about golf I would be able to tell you the name) I will get to wake up when I like and drive to Killarney to meet them later in the day. The weather forecast right now for Tuesday is heavy rain but should be clearing out that night, I hope. Thursday is my best chance for sun. And if that happens I will drive all day taking photos. The plan is to be able to send all the clients on the trip a nice slide show DVD showing them places they saw but also places they didn't have time to see because they are playing golf most days. There are a few wifes who aren't playing golf so Jason's dad will stay with them and Tim the coach driver will take them on day trips. One of th places I would like to visit is Waterford, I really want to see the Waterford Crystal factory, I have always been a huge fan of hand blown glass. Watching them you understand the true artistry involved with working with really, really, really hot sand. (2000 Deg. Celsius (FUNFACT: Glass is not solid, it is in fact a super cooled liquid. Over many years (100+), glass window panes will become thicker at the bottom as the top thins.) ) But I digress. I have not planned past Tuesday because there are way too many factors out of my control which makes planning futile. As I have said before , “I know what I am doing today, I have a good idea about tomorrow but after that who knows.” The people on the trip are all nice and there s a core group who I will most likely hangout with at night. That's about all I have left in me for the night. I will hope to be able to give you some nice shoots tomorrow but I can't promise much. Some people tell me I set the bar too low sometimes but what they don't understand is I am not doing a high jump, I'm doing the limbo, so the higher I set the bar the easier it is or me so I keep the bar low to keep it challenging. If you can really understand that last statement, then you really understand me. Enjoy.