I saw the BMW too late. I was on an Irish country lane, hemmed in on both sides by towering hedges, driving my little white van too fast for the narrow road, and I had to make a quick decision. I yanked the van's steering wheel to the left and plunged into the hedge. After I came to a stop, van partly in the hedge, the BMW driver, a kindly older gentleman, got out of his car to check on me. "Are you okay?" he asked. I told him I was okay, even if the van wasn't. "I should have been going … [Read more...] about Hedges & Highways: Memories of the Emerald Isle III
Humor
How to Catch a Bus—Memories of the Emerald Isle I
Comeragh Wilderness Camp was little more than a muddy meadow with a few trailers in those days, and even catching the bus didn't go like we planned. I was the cook, and Naomi was the secretary, both of us American volunteers in the southern part of Ireland. I had been there only a few months when Naomi asked me if I could drive her to the bus stop, so she could catch the bus to the Dublin airport. She had booked a flight to visit her family. "There's just one catch," Naomi added. "It will … [Read more...] about How to Catch a Bus—Memories of the Emerald Isle I
The Plays at Penn Johns School
When the night of the school program came and the red gingham curtains parted, our classroom was a theater filled with wit, drama, and far more comedy than we intended. Last week I went with my sister to watch my niece play a bit part in a children's music film, and the experience made Brenda and I recall the plays we acted in at Penn Johns School some twenty years ago. "I wish I could get my hands on the old video of me playing Mrs. Brown." Brenda told us. She, her daughter Angela, and I … [Read more...] about The Plays at Penn Johns School