24/07/2020
Another week...
A small week in terms of things to report but on reflection there are many moments and times to celebrate. We return from a few days on the coast, each evenings sleep to the comforting soundtrack of the waves 100 metres away...yet again after 15 years living here Donegal proves to be the greatest place I’ve ever experienced. We climbed mountains, just yesterday M**f hill with my boy, it seems he has found his passion, up into the mist where visitors are rare and the Many forms of wildlife reside, roaming sheep, butterflies, frogs, buzzards...it’s always worth the sweat. Work wise I got to photograph a few families and enjoy their energy as much as bringing in a few punts for the mortgage that returns next week after 3 months on pause...I delivered framed photos and usbs and happily flooded households with photo prints. I feel a gentle uplift in wedding enquiries and secured a few for the forthcoming years and some welcome small weddings for the months ahead. I again found myself twice in the situation of bargain hunting to-be-weds and found the courage to reject their offers after hours and days inner turmoil and debate...it’s a skill that I Am still working on, a very necessary skill... the word ‘no’, I’ll practice it more. I find dual Sony camera the greatest equipment I’ve ever used, it’s a near perfect system, perfect for what we do. I photographed two baptisms of twins both days last weekend, on silent shutter, what a relief. The Nikon gathers dust but I feel relief that it is there on the subs bench with long and short lenses for back up. A few days after I delivered prints and frames to the twins’ granny in the hills to be welcomed like a hero as they celebrated her news that the cancer growing within her was all but gone, a new era of joy And relief takes hold of their home. I overheard an old man in the shop today asking could his wife come and use the toilet, and could someone help him to bring her in - I felt for those two . Selfishly I can’t help but think of myself at that age, I value my youth so much it pains to feel it slip away...enjoy every day, my friend once said ‘do something today because you can’, ideas like that keep me fuelled...he’s a cancer battler too, a massive inspiration in my world. Yoga mornings or rainy bike rides soothe body and mind daily. I think about Learning to Fly the odd time, we have a plan in place, but time will place a roll in the finalities. In a few weeks I’ll travel to Clare and the Araan islands and create a map for our immersion in the autumn. It’s great to talk to photographers, share craic over the internet and know that there are candlesL of hope lit around the land. Right now I’m riding high on coffee after a 10 dayish break, hence the meandering editorial you read here. A few photographer pals reunited for a canoe up the Swilly midweek, we were joined by two leaping dolphins and a large seal...sausage baps were served under a blue Donegal morning sky. The sun has shone on our home this week, smiles and laughter are a welcome sight and sound, we’re grateful for this more than ever, some weeks good, some not so good. Laughter, love, adventure, art, music and chocolate are the greatest commodities we can posses, money and professional success lie well down the charts right now in favour of the gifts of the heart. I’m sat here at Fahan marina with the lashing rain drumming it’s song on the van roof. I try to summon the motivation to don my wetsuit and hit the brine as planned. Fkn low tide, the sea is about half a mile out...
