Contours

May 31st, 2005, 1 pm: Dun Laoghaire, Ireland

Overcast, flirting with a fine mist of drizzle. The day is a blur of travel; the previous night was spent in Kilkenny, swaying with a glass of Guinness to a fantastic bar band until 4 am. Three hours of sleep led to a frantic dash to the rail, then a smear of lush green scenery slipping past the train window as we churned onwards from Kilkenny to Dublin; a bus to another rail, and finally the harbor itself to wait for the ferry. The ferry would cross the channel and deposit us in Hollyhead, where we’d rent a car and drive another 2 hours to Manchester, catch a few hours of sleep, and start work the next day.

Dun Laoghaire’s gray waters bobbed with hundreds of sailing boats, and a stone fortress wall swung out into the ocean in a great c-shape, ending with a lighthouse atop a rocky perch. We hiked the length of it, bumping into a man who told us the history of how the rocks were carried piece by piece to form the walls; then, with our backs to the wall, trying to keep some of the mist off the camera lens, I leaned back and snapped the harbor shot below.