Sean took this in the summer of 2007, I think.

The leaves on the Norway maple are yellow once more. My dry stone wall is again in partial collapse from all the footballs we kicked against it … this time on the other side of where the goal posts used to be. The weather is wet and dreary now; it was fine and warm then. There aren’t so many pheasants about this year.

Sean’s anniversary mass was held in the local church last night. The congregation was large – the local community, family, our friends and Sean’s. Our Dublin next-door neighbour, Aileen, whom we hadn’t seen in 13 years, and her daughter, Olivia. Some people had travelled a long way to be there. (more…)

A photo by Sean from a few years ago.

That is the caption Sean gave to this photo, which he took from our garden. I can’t be sure that it was her real name. :-)

Another photo that Sean took in our neighbourhood.

Sean took this photo years ago. The bike belonged to the old man who lived across the road.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sean took these near our house one evening several years ago.

Sean took these photos from our garden a few years ago.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In our rented house in the country

For me, Sean’s psychic trail is imprinted on this area like invisible snail tracks that can be sensed by those who love him. The place is saturated with his spirit.

Every bend, every field, every bump in every road is something we experienced together many, many times in all kinds of weathers over the past 12 years. Going to rugby training; dropping him to school, to town; talking, listening to music or silent; in every conceivable mood. A shared world, occupied differently by each of us and acted on by the other(s). Co-living. Sean’s action is all in absentia now. We miss his real presence.

I remember the big pile of topsoil behind our rented house … a kind of adventure playground for the kids. The perpetually waterlogged field beside it that we called ‘the Swamp’ … as good as the Everglades for fun and adventures, though lacking alligators (there’s a house there now, somewhat worryingly). Our wellingtons got stuck in the mud and we fell over. (more…)

I first posted this on MyT, in response to a call for blogs on everyday life.

I went for a walk up the fields today, on my own … my wife and I had already walked the dogs (our two terriers and a neighbour’s pointer). It was misty, and so damp that the road and everything else were wet all day, though it hadn’t rained. A good day for going up the fields … as most days are.

The first field has a steep incline; the second is more level. In the third field the landscape changes … this field is much bigger and more uneven, with dips and hollows. There’s a very wild area with a lot of gorse bushes (whins, as they’re known locally), hawthorn and blackberry briars, as well as some small ash trees. Behind this is a high, rocky place, partly covered in gorse bushes. In front of it there’s a ring fort … an ancient circular enclosure of stones called a cashel. (more…)

Next Page »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.