Distance – Ailsa’s WTT…

The word distance. It could imply separation… or promise. It could evoke memories of stir yearning. It could… and can create a whole set of problems associated with the separation of two places. How far to go? It matters not if the distance is near or far… if we don’t have the means to cross the divide then distance becomes a hindrance.

On Thursday night we phoned our daughter in South Africa. When I speak with the family down there near the southern tip of Africa I’m always reminded of how almost insurmountable that distance may seen at times.  I could hitch a ride but it may take me a few years to reach my destination. Now, if I were a younger lad with less commitments then the option my be considered.

OK… I’ll stop reminiscing about things that aren’t quite within our gasp just now… instead, I’ll show you a few local interpretations of this week’s theme. Ailsa shows us a few rather evocative views. I can’t really match her photos for scale but I can show you a few memories that are dragged closer… momentarily back from the distance of time when they were taken.

I’ll begin with a photo taken on the 1st of April this year. April Fool’s Day… yep, the snow on the distant Wicklow Mountains as seen across the village of Kilcock. We really worried about what Mother Nature was throwing at us… was the Lady treating us to a particularly wet and miserable summer? Her April Fool’s prank seemed to suggest just that. A prank it was… we actually had one of the better summers Ireland has seen since the 70’s or 80’s.

Then, while still in the April folder I recalled my walk out along the Poolbeg Breakwater… how about showing you the distant Dublin skyline from the end of the wall? Sorry, I had to throw in a boat… couldn’t resist.

Then, while looking for something else, I found a few photos of an old castle somewhere near the Shannon in Co Offaly. The place was for sale when we passed by there last September. I recall we did look at the price when we arrived home… some very distant price for rocks piled one on atop the other in a very distant past.

The distance of time’s separation brings us memories so ancient that most have been lost in the mists of illusion… but, somehow… every time I look up to see one of these beauties lash by high above my belief is renewed that in the not too distant future we’ll be able to overcome the distance between us… then… who knows?