March 21

Making Lemonade – March 21

I have shared with some of you our latest motto – there are some things we can’t control (tides, weather, etc.), but then there are some things we can. I check the tide tables regularly and remind myself that low tide and high tide are being controlled by the moon, not me. We will enjoy them in each of their phases.

But today was another gray, rainy day. Tom had a meeting in the morning, and as soon as he came back, I declared “road trip.” Let’s call it cottage fever (i.e. cabin fever). I mapped our road. We are on the hunt for raw Connemara marble for Michael (not something already polished into a cheese board, etc.). Supposedly, they quarry the marble around here. I’ve been doing much inquiry about how to get a raw piece of marble and have been sent high and low.

We go into the shop in Recess and in a barrel are a few small unprocessed pieces. I figure Ron will have to teach me how to polish stone! We pay our 2 euros/each and leave disappointed – with the rocks as well as the dead end. I held out some hope for someone that I had heard worked with marble in Westport, but only sold to stores.

We moved on to a pub to have a bowl of soup. As I order a couple bowls, Tom asked what kind of soup. I say some kind of vegetable – does it really matter? What we get is fish chowder. It’s good. But the waitress then begins chatting with us about the soup and how she was surprised it was fish, etc. Well, we get to talking (of course), and she is originally from Michigan – mother from Pontiac and father from Hastings (or the other way around). She was on a painting trip and met her husband here in Ireland. She now teaches art in the National Schools as well helping in the pub. I told her about my quest for marble. She gave us directions to a place that they bring the stone to when they quarry. Her directions proved she has totally assimilated into the Irish culture: go past houses and roads, right, left, etc., etc. And I added the “and you can’t miss it” which is usually how all directions end. But she said – Oh, no, you can miss it!! I asked if I could use her name, she said, of course – Kim from Texas (Michigan was before she was married). And also said if I don’t find any, to come back and I can look through her driveway which has chips in it!

Well, what do we have to lose. Off we go and actually find the driveway. Pull in and a young man is there. We explain what we want and he points to this huge – I mean huge – pile of rock – Connemara marble. So, we begin digging through the pile, and it is exactly what we have been looking for. There are so many different colors of the marble. I joke to Tom about liability laws as no one in the states would have allowed this – me climbing up the jagged-edged rocks. It’s great fun. When we are done, we talk about paying and of course, he is gracious.

We discuss how all the marble is now directly shipped to Italy (surprise). We ask where all the trinkets come from, and he says probably from China. It is cheaper to ship it over and bring it back because of the child labor laws. Depressing. Actually, the marble is quarried by Clifden and brought out with tractors.

He assures us that all this pile will be used for some purpose – none goes to waste. The white marble will be chipped for on top of graves. There are some local artists that come and fill up their wagons – I envied some of the bigger stones that were there.

But, a cloudy day turned into a great find and meeting great people. Thank you Kim. Thank you young man at the quarry which we have no name but gave us his time and hospitality.

We drove back on the Inagh Valley Road dodging sheep on the road, stopping for a walk down to the lake. Now that’s great lemonade! Ron, can you teach me how to polish????