Richael's Head Space

Evelyn Cusack, one of the weather presenters on RTE won me over with her sea area forecasts ( i know how sad that must sound, but there is something very poetic about them.) The sound of them...the rhythm and timing, and just the general sound...

" Buoy M5	East-Northeast, 11 Knots, The visibility at Tuskar Lighthouse is 0.6 Miles, 1025, Falling slowly"

 

I have no clue what any of it means, but when I catch it on the radio, my heart skips a beat. 

When me and mum were driving up to monaghan for nana's funeral a couple of weeks ago, we took the 'short cut' ... short cuts in Ireland mean...the OLD roads. The ones that no one uses anymore. The ones that used to be used before all the bypasses. If Ireland was a person, it would be a severely overweight, middle aged man, who lived on fast food...needing as a result, multiple operations on his over worked and under appreciated heart...

Anyway. We were on such a road, no street lights, only space on the road for a car and a half, going around these hair pin bends like a bat out of hell. It was about half 11 at night when we left the house. Mum was working that day, so needed to pack and get organized before we left.

I was in and out of sleep I guess. Being in cars makes me sleepy, unless Im driving. Then Im wired.

The news came on and I perked up. I cant remember what the news items were...God knows...but we were listening to RTE1 for some reason, and after the midnight news on RTE1 you get the marine forecast.

I said, when the intro music played "Don't change it over, I love this"

To which I expected mum to think quite strange, as I would understand anyone thinking it quite strange, me, that knows nothing about boats, or knots, or anything of that world, loving the sea area forecast.

But much to my surprise, after a little pause she said, "Oh I know, I love it too"

So we listened to it, and after she said that she liked it because she imagines all the fishermen out in their boats, when she listened to it...and that in turn, transported her to that world...mum has an amazing imagination.

I suppose I think that too, in a way. Romanticize that way of life, imagine bobbing up and down in a little fishing vessel...But mostly I love the sound of the rising slowly...falling slowly...bit

Id love to know what that is in relation to, but something is preventing me from finding out. In a way, I don't want to know, it would take the mystery out of it.

Is it the tide coming in...I imagine the belly of a sleeping mermaid rising and falling slowly with each watery breath...

I think of the moon slowing rising and falling in the sky (i know that thats not it) but all these images spring to mind with those 4 words.

And the visibility bit...The light house keepers measuring how far out to sea they can see, and writing down that data to pass on to the Evelyn...or how ever it works...It makes me like it more thinking that people are involved with the process, and its not a bunch of data collecting computers...

I love light houses...It would be a dream come true to live in one...I think my life would be complete if I lived in a lighthouse. I couldn't imagine any other material thing making me that happy.

Anyway..Ive run totally off topic...

The dear Evelyn told us tonight that tomorrow we are to expect temperatures to rise to between 16-20 degrees celcius...which is summer weather for any readers not from this area of the world...

She also said that we may be getting some light showers tomorrow, and in those showers, there may be some sahara desert sand...apparently its being blown up here...apparently its also totally safe, and she assured us not to worry...

Never a dull moment, not even in the weather report :)