Fading Away

As 2018 fades away, I've been taking some time to hibernate and reflect. I've thought about some things I want to do in the new year, looked back on things that happened this year, and considered what I've learned. We have learned that it's good to make plans and goals, because they help us begin on a path, but we also know that we have to be prepared to let go of the plan and take a different path as we proceed. Weird stuff happens and by holding things lightly, we allow ourselves to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. So, while I know there are some things I want to try in the coming year, I have no expectations about how they will turn out.

One thing we were thinking about involved deciding what places we want to explore this year, whether on days trips or those that are a bit longer. We made one decision--to walk The Great Western Greenway, starting in Westport and ending up in Achill. This is a 42 km, traffic-free cycling/walking path created on the route of a disused railway line along the coast of Clew Bay in Co Mayo. It falls naturally into three segments of 11km, 18 km, and 13 km, between towns and villages and that's how we'll proceed. Bill randomly picked a date to book in Westport and then went from there to see if he could get rooms for the proper nights in the villages along the way and he did. He chose a date 5 months from now, so with it being so far in advance, he had no problem with availability and got really good prices, too. I'm quite looking forward to this! The surroundings will be gorgeous and we'll have enough time, once we leave the trail for the day, to do a bit of wandering around in each village we'll stay in. The one thing that I was sad about was that I think we will miss the opening of the Old Irish Goat Centre in Mulranny by just a day or two. However, if we like a place well enough, we can always go back and spend more time there, so perhaps a longer visit to Mulranny will happen sometime. If it does, I will make sure to go when the centre is open!


So as 2018 fades into the mist, I hope you have some happy memories from the year that was and make many more of the same in the year to come.

photo by bill burke

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