When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things
If you're looking for a short day trip that doesn't require extensive planning while you're in Dublin, I would highly recommend Malahide and Howth. Both are a short train ride away and offer a different take on Irish culture than the metropolitan area of Dublin—plus, Howth is right on the sea, and you can't beat the cliffside views!
Read MoreThe day started with another early morning trek to the Molly Malone statue to meet our tour guide and the rest of the crew. Irish Day Tours seems to be a bit smaller of a company than Paddywagon, so it was fairly simple to locate our white tour bus with the blue swirl on the side.
Read MoreWe arrived at the Molly Malone statue in downtown Dublin around 7:30 a.m, early for our 8 a.m. pick up time for the tour. It was a little overcast that day, and Mary had warned me that it can get windy and chilly on the cliffs, so I'd packed both my raincoat and my jean jacket. As we were standing and waiting, a fellow American overheard us talking and approached us, asking where we were from. When we told her Kentucky, she exclaimed, "Really? I'm from Louisville!" (I honestly don't understand how the world is so small.) It was her birthday, and we ended up sitting behind her on the bus and sharing stories of traveling and a mutual love for Please and Thank You cookies.
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