My Irish Sunshine

Have you heard about Ireland's summer?

 

Apparently it's on a Thursday this year.

 

 

This joke was circling about a month ago around Ireland. Its prospect was a bit depressing, but I am happy to report that Ireland has already proved this stereotype wrong! The first week of June was incredibly beautiful with little wind, constant sunshine and temperatures rocketing as high as 25 Celsius! Alright 25 is not high by Canadian standards, but here in Ireland it is a scorcher so I got out to enjoy it while I could. I even wore shorts and sunscreen for a few days. Now I must admit that after this week the sun was replaced by rain, but the last couple days have been nice again. I don't think the weatherman even knows what each day will bring.

 

When I am around campus this summer I am keeping a fairly low profile working on my schoolwork, so in this blog instead of recounting long-winded stories I thought I would share a few pictures of Irish sunshine, just to prove it does happen!

 

As we were flying into Ireland after being in Rome, both Laura and I were once again stunned by the green richness of Ireland's landscape. All that rain pays off because when the sun comes out all the plants look incredibly lush. No wonder they call it the Emerald Isle. Just look at the Shannon at low-tide, framed by fabulous green!

 

 

Elsewhere around campus, flowers came out in full force. These vines are near the entrance to the library.

 

 Lots of people were outdoors being active in the beautiful weather. I took these pictures on my walk downtown to the Limerick Learning Hub where I taught a violin class. That day we held our lesson outdoors, played games and imitated the sounds of nature and the city.

 

 The swans are also out in full force. There are only seven here, but I must have seen about a dozen of them along the Shannon one day when I went for a run. I've also seen two parent swans with six fluffy cygnets (I'll admit I looked that word up).

 

When the sun comes out, my office moves outdoors onto the patio

 

 And when I'm tired of working it becomes a practice studio.

As a Canadian in Ireland how do you celebrate a nice day? With a cold beer from the homeland! Sadly it was sans BBQ... something I'm greatly looking forward to when I return home.

 

Unfortunately I have not seen too much sun recently because I've been cooped up in my room writing a paper. It is much easier to focus on schoolwork when the weather is gloomy. Most certainly the weather will turn drizzly as soon as I arrive at the Glastonbury Festival, which is only a week away! However I will not complain because what we have received so far is much more than predicted by the joke.

 

I'm keeping this blog short and sweet (just like Irish sunshine),

Shannon