Sunday, 29 June 2008

Sitting with Patrick

Following dreary skies this morning, the weather cleared for a beautiful late June afternoon. Looking for something to do with the kids we returned to the Grand Canal for coffee and a stroll. Only this time, the young toddler was a fast and fearless two year old! Not quite so leisurely.

However, we did stop and sit with Patrick Kavanagh again which gives me an excuse to print another of his poems.

I was out on a walk last Good Friday and stopped into a small church where a choir was practicing. At the back was a book-counter with a few items for sale. I bought a book with a collection of Kavanagh's work just because of this poem:


A View of God and the Devil
Patrick Kavanagh

God

I met God the Father in the street
And the adjectives by which I would describe him are these:
Amusing
Experimental
Irresponsible -
About frivolous things.
He was not a man who would be appointed to a Board
Nor impress a bishop
Or gathering of art lovers.

He was not splendid, fearsome or terrible
And yet not insignificant.
This was my God who made the grass
And the sun,
And stones in streams in April;
This was the God I met in Dublin
As I wandered the unconscious streets.

This was the God that brooded over the harrowed field -
Rooneys - beside the main Carrick Road
The day my first verse was printed -
I knew him and was never afraid
Of death or damnation;
And I knew that the fear of God was the beginning of folly.

The Devil

I met the Devil too,
And the adjectives by which I would describe him are these:
Solemn,
Boring,
Conservative.
He was a man the world would appoint to a Board,
He would be on the list of invitees for a bishop's garden party,
He would look like an artist.
He was the fellow who wrote in the newspapers about music,
Got into a rage when someone laughed;
He was serious about unserious things;
You had to be careful about his inferiority complex
For he was conscious of being uncreative.

Saturday, 28 June 2008

Rotana Cafe

I'm loving my new bike! It's great for short trips around the place without any fuss.

This afternoon I needed to drop a film off to be processed (yes, I'm the other guy who still uses a film camera from time to time). I decided to take my bike because I knew I'd be passing a new cafe in the area and trying to park the car would have been too much hassle.

So I stopped in to Rotana Cafe in the Portobello area of the city. It's a nice Lebanese/Palestinian cafe (Lebastinian??) serving delicious sounding foods from that part of the world. If you visit their website, don't be put off by the homepage photo. I guess they took it while they were getting ready to open for business - every business needs a web presence, right? (Don't also assume that the photos on this page are in Portobello - if only!)

I didn't have much time to stop so it was just a quick espresso and a pastry, sitting at a great window seat. The place has good service, nice look and, best of all, is open late in the evenings!

I'll definitely be back for a leisurely latte, a book and some baklava.

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

When two worlds almost collide

Last week, as a family, we had the opportunity to take a couple of days break and head to the West of Ireland. I knew that we wouldn't be far from blogging buddy Walace, so I thought this was too good an opportunity to pass up. A face to face, real world encounter with another blogger. Over coffee.

Ironically, Walace was going to be over on my side of the country while I was in his. This didn't deter me though. A tip from Walace lead me to his local cafe. It's an Arabica Coffee Company cafe, a coffee chain local to County Galway - although it looks like they are coming to Dublin this summer.

Anyway, despite it being a bit small to accommodate a family of five and a mother-in-law, the cafe was a warm and welcome relief from what we had just experienced a few minutes earlier. The kids liked the huge chocolate Rice Krispie Treats!

Wednesday, 11 June 2008

Tagged by Ali

A few days ago (too many really), Ali tagged me. I haven't had a chance to do any blogging recently even though I've wanted to. But I had the nagging thought in my head that said, 'You need to answer that tag before you write anything else'. So here it is:


I love the smell of ... Coffee. I know I would say that, but it's true!
People would say that I ... can be quite creative.
I don't understand why ... people don't (can't or won't) believe in God or at least some "good force" behind our existence.
When I wake up in the morning ... I wonder why I stayed up so late the night before.
I lost my willpower to ... stop eating chocolate. I had a go once for a couple of weeks. It's not worth it.
Life is ... good. Very, very good. And precious.
My past made me ... what I am today. (Well, duh!) Some hard times, some sad times, lots of good times.
I get annoyed when ... cyclists go straight through a red traffic light when I am crossing the road with my children. I've lately taken to shouting at them and tonight I purposefully ran in front of a bike because the didn't stop. An old man swore at me yesterday because I made him swerve!
Parties are not a good time to ... I'm struggling with this answer because my mind keeps going back to what Ali wrote!
Dogs are ... almost bearable.
Cats are ... completely unbearable.
Tomorrow is ... Thursday. (Is that what you meant??)
I have a low tolerance for ... screaming.
I'm totally terrified of ... Hmm, terrified is pretty strong. I'm not sure I would let anything grip me with such fear. I hate the thought of something awful happening to my wife and kids, but why would anyone dwell on something that is very, very, very unlikely to happen?
I wonder why I thought my life would be ... of huge significance to lots of people? Because I'm prideful, perhaps. Something big may yet happen. Maybe on Thursday.
Never in my life have I ... smoked a cigarette
High school was ... good fun.
When I'm nervous ... I take a deep breath, get on with it and tell myself that tomorrow is Thursday and everything will be different.
One time at a family gathering ... I followed a wedding photographer around and copied every shot he took. Years later, as I worked as a wedding photographer, I realised how annoying that must have been.
Take my advice ... don't worry. It's going to be ok.
I'm almost always ... late.
I'm addicted to ... coffee?? Me? No way! I could give it up anytime I wanted. I just choose not to. Maybe I'll drink decaf tomorrow. No wait, tomorrow is Thursday. That's not a good day to start decaffeinating my life…
I want someone to ... discover what it really means to have a real and natural experience of God and an understanding of the ways of Jesus. That's a bit of a deep one to finish with, but I think that is what is at the heart of who I am. And you?


Tuesday, 3 June 2008

Back in the Saddle

I bought a bicycle today. It's been a long time coming, but I finally just went ahead and got it. There are a number of reasons I got a bike. Partly because of the ecological nature of cycling; partly because of the rising price of fuel; but mostly because I think I put on some "sympathy weight" when my wife was pregnant. I'm talking about for baby number one - like I said, it's been a long time coming.

The last time I owned my own bike was when I was in school, so this evening after the kids were put to bed and the littlest one was snoozing in my wife's arms I headed out for my inaugural ride. Where would I go? Of course...get some coffee.

I've mentioned in the past that most coffee shops and cafes around here close by about 8:00pm. So I found myself unintentionally drawn in to the city centre of Dublin to seek out some coffee.

The ride into the city was great! It was just like being a kid again - only now as an adult being fully aware of how dangerous it is to ride a bike in the city. But that didn't matter. The rush of the wind in my hair, the ability to pass cars in a line, the thrill of going up a one way street the wrong way and the agility needed to ride alongside the tracks of the Luas line. (There's probably some bike safety awareness video discouraging that last one. It probably involved little Jimmy getting his wheels stuck in the track and then getting his head squashed by a tram.)

When I made it the coffee shop I decided to order something different, a little more in keeping with this new zipping-around mobile lifestyle. Usually I am regular latte man. But this evening I became double espresso guy. (I rarely drink espresso - although I may a little more in the future - and I think the last time I had a double espresso was the night before I got married, almost nine years ago. I don't drink alcohol so I think this was probably the stiffest drink available to me).

Anyway, that extra zing this evening gave me the boost to get back on my bike and head back home. Uphill.