Earth, Wind, Water

I think that i just had the best week ever!

On tuesday we first stopped at Carrowmore which has a lot (over 40) neolithic burial sites: passage tombs and cairns.  It's an ancient graveyard in a sense!!  A cairn is a tomb that has the burial site buried under a large pile of stones.

So that was exciting, and our next activity couldn't possibly compare to it at all.  I mean climbing up a huge mountain and seeing maeve's tomb just can't compare to walking around a field.

In other words, climbing up knocknarea was amazing.  It was all mental.  It was a physically strenuous climb, and everytime you would think you were close to the top you still had more to go.  I kept trying to channel the strength of queen Maeve to get me to the top (she was one badass goddess).  At the top is her cairn and it is customary to take a rock and bring it up to the top.  People have actully taken rocks from the tomb (bad) and spelled out names on the ground.  So, the students of Augustana took stones from the ground and, using team work, we rebuilt parts of the tomb.  It was a pretty awesome experience!!! I feel like we really bonded as a group.

On thursday we had a Yeat's day. We first went to creevykeel and saw an unrelated court tomb.  We then went to see Yeat's grave and then journeyed to the lake of Innisfree to see the country that deeply inspired Yeat's poetry.  The lake was calm and peaceful and one could see the brown heather plants that would turn purple in july to give the water a purple glow. Yeat's felt a calling to sligo and preferred his lake to the hustle and bustle of the city.

"I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the mourning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart's core."

On friday, our last day in Sligo, we went to the beach and a group of 6 of us learned to surf!!! It was possibly one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  The water was so cold my feet were numb afterwards.  Feeling the actual pull of the ocean and it's power, feeling it churn in a circular pattern as i stood up on the board made me feel the life force present in nature.  Lao Tzu says, i believe, that to be worn out is to be renewed.  I was tossed down countless times but found new strength i didn't know i had to get back on the board.  There were times i felt so tired i couldn't even get up but i did.  Afterwards my pecs, and hips were so sore and my core felt drained but i felt the most satisfied i have felt in a long time, i felt renewed.  I didn't want to get out of the water and i just want to do it again!! Too bad the midwest is so far away from the ocean.

From mountain climbing, to reflection on poetry, to surfing, this week has been challenging and rewarding in so many different ways.