UnearthingTara:Becoming an Archeologist in Ireland: Back...Home? in Dublin And New Year Resolutions

Failte!

I'm excited to share my adventures with all of you! I want your first taste of my life in Ireland to be this poem that I wrote very late one night when I was a Junior in College. Its meaning seems eerily prophetic now. More than anything, I've created this blog to make the actualization of this life-long dream of mine visible to those I love: my friends who are my foundation, my endlessly supportive family, my mentors and co-workers who inspire me, and my former students who have given me enough satisfaction and fulfillment to last two lifetimes... Have the courage to believe that your wildest dreams can come true.

Is fhearr fheuchainn na bhith san duil, (It is better to try than to hope)

Mourn (A Seaside Peak in Southern Ireland)

The dark, earthen sod saturates her fair feet,
but briefly since she frolics fast in knee high
blades of greenest grass that blow dizzily in the Celtic-sea air.

Her wool skirt, stiffened by ware of evenings past
is splashed by cresting waves that break
against a beach blacker than her hair.
Those once stiffer fibers were loosed by nights upon nights
of hanging perfectly on his line before being wildly blown dry
by the crisp Hibernian salt air.

The pair sits to rest a while instead of dodging
breakers or skipping paler stones.

"Indian summer's here," he says softly,
but all of summer here feels like the edge
of autumn to her, even though she grins in agreement
as she dangles her pale, soft feet off Achilles' peak,
where Erin's vermillion-gold sky meets
an ocean that is grey with years.

She sleeps with her eyes closed tight most nights.
He asks her if she believes in Tier-Nan-Og,
and she asks him if he believes in anything eternal.
Outside the tide is rising, or it's receding—
She never can tell but for the strengthened smell of
salty freshness strained through his light, lace curtains.
She thinks to herself that he is like trying to hold the sea 
and she imagines the water running between her fingers--
clenched so tight.

And so, the night calls her out of her sleeping,
like daytime chides her into dreaming.
She slips her white fingers through the holes of an old loose scarf
that affords her more company than warmth
on these newborn autumn evenings. She is off-- 
Night clouds reflect emerald from land to sea,
And the tara that she never eyes from long hours of
staring too far into star blanketed skies,
feels cool against the thickening pads of her pallid feet.

Elisabeth Lewis (2005)

06 January 2012

Back...Home? in Dublin And New Year Resolutions

I'm back in Dublin and preparing for an EPIC road trip with Candace, Rachael, and Liz Wills next week! Until then I'm getting stuff done around our apartment and doing some fieldwork (surveying) a bronze age mound out in Phoenix Park and stocking up on groceries for my new gluten-free diet. Instead of one GIANT resolution, Paul and I had a great idea to do mini 30-day challenges all year. My first one (until January 31st) is tackling my wheat/gluten sensitivity and eliminating it from my diet.
Next is Yoga every day for 30 days, then
a recipe from my new Nigella cookbook every day for 30 days, then
running every day for 30 days, and then, my friends...
I will have exams and go home to Chapel Hill to write my thesis!!

Let me know what your resolutions are!

The Holidays were amazing, despite my bout with Strep/Tonsilitis and Matt's sickness quickly following. Some highlights from my December trip home include:

10. Celebrating Leslie's 28th birthday with Lilli and Lori on Franklin Street!
9.   Christmas Day family performance of "One Fine Day" for AK + Sol
8.   Seeing former students in Siler City
7.   Lots of kisses. And Christmas shopping.
6.   Christmas Eve service at Duke Chapel with Mom, Sol, and AK
5.   QT with Far and Jason in Charlotte
4. Going to Tricia Ann's Yoga class!
3.   Feliz Navidad with Magan
2.   Running into CANDACE and Rachael at the Rembrandt exhibit with Matt's family
1.   Rendezvousing with Frank and Paul in London for New Year's!