Endless engine

January is my favorite month in Ireland.  I love the drama of the weather and the sea and the wind, and I love that it's very easy to be alone here during all that drama.  I don't need to compete for lodging with other people, and though I may encounter a few naked Germans on the beach, it's generally peaceful and empty.  

(The sea off Dun Chaoin, afroth)

(A very old stone on the Dingle Peninsula)

Sometimes it's sunny, mostly it's not. The Irish describe their weather as "rain between the showers." But when the sun comes out, the views out there off Slea Head and toward America are pretty sweet.  Still, I genuinely love the stormy days.  When I lived here, I would lie awake at night listening to the surf pounding against the shore and thought that it sounded like nothing so much as a ceaseless engine trying to bore its way beneath the house.  It's one of my favorite sounds, soothing in its assertion that I am a small thing on this planet and not in charge at all.