aran islands, driving about

yesterday, j., r., and i went to inisheer (english, the gaelic is inis oirr), the smallest of the aran islands. we took the ferry from doolin, a half hour crossing. the seas have been too active for crossings the past couple of days, so our boat was crammed with a capacity load. the rolling waves seemed as tall as the boat. the water looked like obsidian lit with green light. were i not concentrating on not concentrating, i would have enjoyed the view. at one point, people started crowding about the railings to get pictures of dolphins. from my stable seat, i did catch a glimpse of one, the greyish, shimmery side of him as he jumped up and dove back into the water behind the boat.

inisheer is enchanting. it was originally all stone, weather-worn limestone pavement. when it was settled, the people had to build stone walls to trap the dirt. it's unlike anything i've seen before. during one part of our walk it seemed an alien landscape with sea rounded rocks to the left and the pavements to the right. we visited the 8th century church ruin. we visited and sat by the well of st. edna. not really a well so much as an ancient cistern, but it was a good place to sit and listen to nothing - no cars, no machinery hum, just birds and cows and ocean waves crashing nearby.

i am sunburnt. i know, ireland in april and i get a sunburn in spite of my sunscreen slathered face. the weather could not have been nicer. even today we have some sunshine (after the clouds and heavy rain). sunshine will be useful as we are going to the cliffs of moher to walk around and take in the view.

going back in time - monday, after picking me up at the airport and my checking in to the b&b, we drove around looking at things before j.'s appointment with the cake lady. we visited ennistymon to go to the grocery store and bank and then lahinch to see the ocean as it was on the way to the cake lady. i love that there is so little beach and so many cliffs; as if this island rose straight out of the sea.

this island seems small. many countries i've visited feel no smaller than the u.s. even though they are smaller than texas, but ireland feels small. the buildings are small, the roads are narrow, there are no vast vistas - all views, excepting the ocean, are all cut up by the stone walls or the end of the land at the ocean. the fields run to the edge of the cliffs and with the clouds, even the ocean doesn't seem to go on forever.

it is beautiful.