A series of essays.....
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| MOUNTAINS, BLUE SKIES, GREEN FIELDS AND SO MANY MEMORIES! |
.....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E. Hughes
This September, 2018, Dan and I return to visit the Emerald Isle of Ireland along with two wonderful and adventurous friends who have, also, become frequent visitors of this enchanting place. In honor of our trip together to a land that always fills our hearts with joy and stretches the imagination, I am recounting a story I wrote about My Collections. This narrative encapsulates, accompanied by my own photographs, our fourth trip to one of the most magical places on earth. Believe me when I say that Walt Disney World has nothing on Ireland!
Green...
The color green is such a beautiful color to me. And, forty different shades of green certainly describes the Ireland we have come to know and love. Thanking Mr. Johnny Cash for expressing this feeling so beautifully in song....!
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| THE COIFFURES OF 1960's ROCK & ROLL STARS |
Like many occasional visitors to this colorful island, my attention is drawn to the many variations of the color green (my favorite color) when I scan the rich, glossy darkness of green valleys, or the olive tones of unending fields bathed in golden sunlight. The dark green moss clings to, well, just about everything in Ireland, as does the vegetation washing in from the sea, and I am particularly fascinated by the large rocks at the water's edge that look like the coiffures of rock & roll stars, circa 1965.
I am constantly being drawn in by the blue/green hues of an 'ancient forest,' often bisected by a gravelly path that's quietly begging to be explored; its secrets waiting to be discovered around every shadow and each bend.
My eyes absorb the deep purple/green of the expansive shoreline of Ireland's many inland lakes, outlined by volcanic rock washed smooth by foamy waves day after day and resembling a child's coloring book picture outlined in black crayon and accentuating its vast perimeter. Oh, the pure joy of the color green!
Grey...
With my own two eyes, as well as my trusty camera lens, I can attest to many other shades of reflected light (color) that is predominant within the beautiful landscape provided by this amazing island. One can witness sturdy shades of grey and ochre that exemplify the solidity of her many mountains and hills. There are numerous rock walls and ancient structures built by man from this incredibly abundant source of material found above and below the earth's surface.
I see fifty shades of grey, at least, and guarantee a much better 'read' on life than that offered by the best selling book trilogy of the same title! Who isn't enamored by the sight of a quaint stone cottage replete with thatched roof and a weathered, wooden entrance door painted sky blue many years before? Add to this collection of 'living engineering' the astounding construction feats demonstrated by the existence of the many ancient castles, abbeys, and hunting lodges that sweep the Irish countryside.
Blue...
The color blue fills in the spaces between the white clouds above us, as well as the green fields below. Not only does this rich color surround the land in terms of the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea, but its inland lakes offer varying shades of it anywhere from cold, steely greys to cheerful summertime aquamarine with one changing into another within a matter of moments depending upon the sunlight, cloud cover, or rainfall.
We began walking the Newvillage Recreation Area's moderate trail one morning which turned out to be a three and a half mile, cardio-intense gravel walk in the shape of a horseshoe. It meandered through the undulating woods on the outskirts of Oughterard, a small village in Connemara, and we found ourselves within a fairy tale world of canopied vegetation dripping with sparkling raindrops and pierced by sporadic rays of sunlight.
Stopping to breathe and take it all in, we discovered the soothing sounds of a gurgling stream and crisp, late September leaves crunching under the weight of invisible predators! Navigating the horseshoe bend, we discovered we were elevated high above Lough Corrib that dazzled us with its trail of royal blue water punctuated by contrasting white caps in the distance below. We felt so alive within this harmonious state of sounds and brilliant colors and knew there was no other place we'd rather be at that exact moment in time.
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| THE VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT OF DIAMOND HILL IN CONNEMARA NATIONAL PARK |
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| THE GREY OF THE MOUNTAINS AND THE GREEN OF THE LAND FLOW DOWN TO LOUGH CORRIB |
As my husband graciously chauffeured us around and through the colorful and natural beauty of Connemara, I grew to appreciate each and every aspect of the land, hills, and sea. It's a treat for me to look back on my pictures and see how I'd categorized my Collections by their color. I preface each with a color description such as, grey fences, brightly colored boats, crumbling grey houses, and mucky brown bog lands.
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| BRIGHTLY COLORED BOATS |
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| MUCKY BROWN BOG LANDS |
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| GREY STONE FENCES |
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| CRUMBLING GREY HOUSES |
The integrity of each color is heightened and intensified for me when I'm in Ireland. The meandering expanse of the River Shannon becomes the intense blue water of the River Shannon outlined by the bright green grasses along her shoreline. Ireland enhances the senses and allows me to see deeper into the natural beauty of her landscapes, man-made engineering wonders, along with her delightful, colorful, and extremely hospitable people. I, quite naturally, feel at home in Ireland.
My heart wishes to share the color grey with you as I sit here in my home in Florida holding tightly to my souvenir rock I lovingly released from the chilly waters of Lough Corrib. I want to share the color grey with you, yet again, in the form of very personal places lived and loved in by Irish families many years ago and left to decay in harsh weather from season to season as forgotten testaments to what once was....
Within each structure my heart feels the birth of a child and the death of an aging grandparent. I am able to celebrate birthdays in them and understand that marriages were consummated there. From the whitewashed, smoke-laden stone walls, I smell the pungent, acrid odor of thousands of peat fires that kept many of their occupants from freezing to death in the night. I detect the tension of sad, overworked women, mothers, who wait desperately for their husbands to return home with food to feed the young bairns. I listen to the echoes of family discussions bouncing off the walls trying to figure out if they should stay and wait things out, or just pack-up their meager belongings and abandon their birthright for a ticket to Amerikay!
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| WEDDINGS, BABIES, SMOKE-LADEN STONE WALLS |
My emotions exhaust me to my very core. I feel so much life surrounding and from within each structure as if they were still occupied today. I want to know if the inhabitants found time to appreciate the sweet beauty of the world that surrounded them. Or, were they working long and hard just to survive? In fighting for what they needed, did they lose sight of all that they already had? I often wonder....
As modern day visitors of this incredible place called Ireland, and manned with rental car, camera, and sustenance to be found at the nearest restaurant or pub, we can luxuriate within unrestrained time, walk the paths, climb the mountains, fish the lakes, and capture a more simple way of living with each picture and breath we take.
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| DILAPIDATED MANOR HOMES |
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| A WALL WITH A VIEW |
We, as tourists, have been elevated to new heights as we ride along on the 'memory train' that was built and navigated by so many lost souls. May we always live to remember and appreciate all of their long, hard work! Color this one: Sadness in Shades of Blue.
Copyright © 2018 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved
Photo Copyright © 2018 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved
