"...and the bells were ringing out.... for Chrismas day.....part 1

(excerpt from fairy tale of New york, the pogues...)

.....I turned my face away and dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I've got a feeling
This year's for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
Where all our dreams come true.

My Irish Christmas....part 1

I drove off the large car ferry that had just docked.
Dun Loghaire (pronounced Dun leery) was a port few miles south to the main city of Dublin, and the gateway to the south proper.

It was getting very late by now, and the the icy rain was bouncing hard off the windshield.

I have always loved driving at night-time- especially when there is inclement weather outside, swirling around you.
In the winter the sounds of the harsh weather outside, and me sat comfortably in the inner warmth of the car.

Defying nature almost...'Do your worst, I'm very happy in here. I'm warm. You can't touch me.'

As I skirted the outskirts of the city, I knew that a few hours of perfect night-time driving awaited.

No street lights and small narrow, twisting roads, with the occasional small villages that appeared and was then gone again in the rear view mirror. In the blink of an eye.

Before you had time to decelerate, the houses were a memory.

This drive needed – no - demanded – concentration.

Always a few seconds away from a serious accident, I found this time a very Zen one, and paradoxically relaxing.

The 'attention' side of my brain - the one controlling a couple of tons of metal hurtling through the night at 70 mph, - had nothing to do with the contemplative side of my brain.

I could listen to music, enjoy the beats, and let my mind wander...

I thought back to the day I had met 'My Irish Colleen', several months previously.

This would be my firs time seeing her - after we had met for the first time, in those brief days in the late summer.

Days that changed my life forever....

Three days that ignited the travel bug lying deep within me and once lit, could never be extinguished- and I could never truly go back to a 'normal' life.

Let me tell you about the three days in the late summer, as I speed through the wet Irish night,to see my love once again...
...my beautiful, sexy, Irish colleen.....