DAY EIGHT

The Lord’s Day was indeed a day of rest for me, as I remained at Whitechurch House along with Liz to catch up on some AutoCAD work as well as a few hours of sleep. The rest of the gang ventured in to Cobh (pronounced “cove”), which was the last port of call for The Titanic as well as a departure point for a great many Irish immigrants. So instead of telling you about me being frustrated with the computer or taking a stroll to talk with the steers in the front field (great listeners, by the way), I think I’ll share with you the entry from my journal:

It’s Sunday morning and I’m sitting in the car in Cappoquin after bringing Rebecca in for a jog. I searched for a place to get a cup of tea but failed to find one that was open – instead I settled for a “white” coffee out of a machine at the local Super Valu. It was no real surprise, though, that the two places in Cappoquin that could have served me tea were closed today. The Irish, at least in small towns like this, are a laid back bunch. Stores don’t open very early, they close from 1 to 2 for lunch, and they end the day in plenty of time to get home for supper. There is something about their attitude that relaxes me, too. Maybe it’s the gorgeous green hills and fields, the clean air that gets refreshed with each rain, or maybe it’s just something in the water. Certainly, though, the camaraderie of our group has helped keep things flowing nicely.

We work well together and are an efficient bunch. Week one of field work has placed us ahead of where I imagined we would be at this point, which means that we’ll be able to do some good detective work to try to explain some of the things about Molana that seem strange and hint at its evolution from a Cistercian Abbey to the home of Thomas Harriot to a Victorian romantic ruin site. I think we’re all hopeful, too, that we’ll finish a day or so ahead of schedule and have some bonus time to travel, but we’ll just have to wait on that.

I have immensely enjoyed my time in Ireland. Everyone here has made us feel welcome. I’ll be a bit sad to leave, but happy to return to my wonderful family and friends, my dog, Huckleberry, and to Charleston. I will have to be careful when I get in my truck, though – I’m getting pretty used to driving a zippy manual speed Nissan on the “right” side of the road, which is of course the left!

Cheers!

Neale, Class of 2013