Turlough
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The Lighthouse Keeper of Ras Gombo
It’s a well-known fact that seafarers staring at the sea during the hours of darkness can be hypnotised by the calming waves and the bioluminescence as their ship cuts through the water. In their half-awake half-asleep state of mind, they feel an unexplainable urge to walk to the railings, climb over and jump in. I once experienced this peculiar feeling whilst on watch on a bulk carrier sailing south through the Red Sea towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Indian Ocean beyond.
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The Sogginess of the Long-Distance Runner
A fond but terrifying recollection of my childhood sporting achievements.
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Fathoms Above
Oh I do like to be beneath the seaside.
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Shenanigans with Catkins
January 2025 (the latter part) and the things that I saw and did in my usual one hundred words per day sort of way.
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The Mandarin Cherries
January 2025 (the early part) and the things that I saw and did in my usual one hundred words per day sort of way.
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Save the trees!
Posted on Wed, 17 Dec 2025
Hello Di.
I googled European beech trees and it says they typically survive for 300 to 350 years, so it saddens me deeply that the Stranocum ones were living up to expectations until the recent arrival of the tourists.
I...
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 5 - The Dark Hedges
Close shave
Posted on Wed, 17 Dec 2025
It was a war really and these things happen in all wars. Although there’s war everywhere, our generation in our part of the world is generally untouched by such events. We’ve been very lucky, so far.
A few years ago I was on a walking...
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 5 - The Dark Hedges
Fairy cars or fairy cakes?
Posted on Wed, 17 Dec 2025
That’s mad, but I’m not surprised. I’ve never got my head round the existence of ‘biscuit’ as a colour for a car.
You’d think that naming cars would be the easiest job in the world. I’d love to have a crack at it. I remember in an episode...
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 5 - The Dark Hedges
Belfast Frank
Posted on Wed, 17 Dec 2025
I suspect Frank was right but I'm not really qualified to comment because we left before the paramilitaries took to running the show and things got really bad. I know that as well as in the cities there were checkpoints set up by the UVF/UDA, the...
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 5 - The Dark Hedges
Lucozade
Posted on Wed, 17 Dec 2025
I take many photographs of beautiful places so I suppose I’m a little guilty in this respect, but I’ve been doing this for most of my life and it’s almost always been with a proper camera. However, it pains me to say that the photographs that my...
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 5 - The Dark Hedges
Wellies and hares
Posted on Mon, 15 Dec 2025
Good morning Jenny. It’s 1:55 a.m. at the moment in Bulgaria but I can’t resist replying to a comment from an ABC friend.
Bearing in mind we’re talking about Ireland in the 1960s, there’s a strong possibility that the lights at the faerie...
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 4 - The Horror
These shoes!
Posted on Mon, 15 Dec 2025
The old man who sits by the well with a cigarette lodged neatly in one of the gaps in his front teeth and fingerless gloves that weren’t always fingerless but he’s never been much good at striking matches has lived in our village since ancient...
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 4 - The Horror
The Fairies. by William Allingham
Posted on Mon, 15 Dec 2025
The Fairies, by William Allingham
He was a Scottish poet but in this poem he mentions Columbkill, Slieveleague and the Rosses which are all places...
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 4 - The Horror
Thank you!
Posted on Mon, 15 Dec 2025
I bet those single-shoed kids’ mums were hopping mad when their kids got home. I was worried about somebody seeing me put the shoes in the bin in the street and having to explain where I'd got them from.
Thanks for your nice words about my...
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 4 - The Horror
Only two left
Posted on Mon, 15 Dec 2025
Aye, there have been other bikes but none ever stays in the memory like the first one does.
Perhaps your Uncle Gerald didn't rate your da as a dancer.
Read full commentPosted in A Hare's Breath 4 - The Horror
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