On Her Way Home

We were up early this morning to go with our daughter to Donegal Town, where she caught a bus to the airport for a flight this afternoon. She is now on her way back home. It was a lovely ride this morning. There was wind, hail, sleet, and later rain overnight and this morning, and clearly snow on the hills.

taken from the bus window as we approached ardara

We got to Donegal Town and the bus to Dublin was there, so we just had time for a quick good-bye and away she went. It was a quick visit, but the events overnight made me glad that she had a ticket for today. We learned this morning about the travel ban, and that the UK was exempt. On the bus, we heard that Ireland is also exempt, but that this was announced in a tweet some time after the first announcement. When Bill and I were on the bus back to Dungloe, someone called into a radios show and told the story about elderly relatives who were visiting Dublin and received a call in the middle of the night, telling them bout the travel ban. They became concerned that they would not be able to get home to Chicago, so they got online and searched for tickets for today. They found them, but they cost 3000 euro or dollars (I could not hear which it was--if it was euros, it would have been more than 3000 dollars). Because they were so worried, they bought the non-refundable tickets. It was at some point after the purchase that they discovered Ireland is not on the banned list. We just heard a story on the radio about people at Dublin Airport desperately trying to get tickets to fly home as soon as possible.

Also on the bus ride home, we heard about Leo Varadkar's (the Irish PM, called an Taoiseach, which is pronounced like tee-shock or tee-shuck) statement about the latest actions the government is putting into place. He ended his statement this way:
'I know that I am asking people to make enormous sacrifices.

We’re doing it for each other.

Together, we can slow the virus in its tracks and push it back.

Acting together, as one nation, we can save many lives.

Our economy will suffer. It will bounce back.

Lost time in school or college will be recovered. In time, our lives will go back to normal.

Above all, we all need to look out for each other.

Ireland is a great nation. And we are great people. We have experienced hardship and struggle before. We have overcome many trials in the past with our determination and our spirit.

We will prevail.'

I thought his words struck exactly the right tone.

Take care of yourself.

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