From the inspirational book. The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy, given to me Christmas 2019 ❤
EVERY day, create a little bit of heaven for yourself.
A cup of your favourite coffee, a slice of toast, a boiled egg. It can be that simple. A moment of mindfulness, a stolen thought about someplace special. Daydreaming of a sunny day, lying on the beach, walking the mountain path, a run with you ‘always’ happy canine friend. It can be that simple. Closing your eyes and feeling the ‘whoosh’ as you recall the winter skiing trip you loved so much. The special conversation you had with a loved one, still here or even departed. We all get caught up. We all forget to stop and have that special thought, recalling a beautiful memory. Take a couple of minutes to savour that cup of tea or coffee. Sometime it is an unmistakable aroma that stirs a wonderful memory, a warm glow of a special time. Why wait for the unexpected trigger. EVERY day, make a little bit of heaven for yourself.
Do I remember to do it every day, not on your life but as you practice mindfulness you realise that you can just create these moments in the middle of life’s busiest and most stressful days.
Grant yourself a moment of peace, and you will understand how foolishly you have scurried about. Learn to be silent, and you will notice that you have talked too much. Be kind, and you will realize that your judgment of others was too severe. —Ancient Chinese Proverb
Well, the shortest day of 2022 has arrived. The Winter Solstice. (Earlier Blog)
A sincere (and I mean sincere) Happy and contented Christmas to you. Here is my Christmas Blog. Lots of links to follow. All hyperlinks in this Christmas message are safe and have been tested.
Some important points this Christmas. Read carefully
I started blogging in 2013. Lots to find if you go ‘a digging’
If I’ve sent this email to your work email, please forward onto your personal email and copy me so I can delete any work emails from my system. You, of course, may reply with unsubscribe. That will be no problem and consider it done.
Finally, sometimes love is shown in mysterious ways.
Be unbelievably patient this Season of Goodwill.
The Grinch is probably struggling with loneliness.
The argumentative one is struggling with personal stuff or jaded after a long journey or year.
The ‘never enough’ one has some growing up to do. (We all did, remember)
Finally, Christmas is beautiful, magical, stressful, lonely, heartbreaking, joyous, excess, I could go on. That’s a lot of stuff to deal with. If you encounter any of the above, or you yourself are going through stuff.
Put on a coat, and take a ‘Walk’. It will work, I promise. And you are worth it, of that I am 1000% sure.
Happy Christmas my friends.
This is the best ‘Thumbnail’ that I could get to represent how best I want you all to enjoy this Christmas. Unbounded, magical, tongue out happy. I hope you do. By the way, I’m the boxer dog in this dream. 🙂
This little YouTube snippet is from a very famous Christmas little gem from a few years back. Life is precious and spellbinding but can be tough, very tough for so many, especially this past 12 months.
This two minutes of magic is just beautiful, just like the song. ‘One Day I’ll Fly away’ Randy Crawford. Not a conventional Christmas message but it’s a message of love. That is what it’s all about. Love, yourself, your life, those around you, even for the shortest Magical Time, that is Christmas. Happy Christmas to you. (p.s. Sorry about the full stop of the little snippet. Here is the full version of Randy’s beautiful song.
The rough, the smooth, the up’s, the down’s, the journey WE ARE ALL ON.
As my family travelled a pebbled road in 2022, no more than any other family, I’ve realised you are all (my sisters and brothers) impossibly beautiful human beings. What you do, the efforts you have put in this year, (and every year) I’ve seen so much support between my siblings, it has been simply incredible. It has filled my chest with a love and admiration for so many people.
This year, when a serious illness invaded and punched its way into our lives, has been enlightening. Maybe, it is that extra glass of wine that makes me that little bit sentimental or maybe I do see such impossible beautiful people every day of my life and I just don’t take the time to say exactly how I feel. Julie Feeney, is an impossibly beautiful and creative celt from the city of the tribes, Galway. Thank you for your words, voice and presence here on this sometimes trying, blue dot.
Folks, for the love of God, go Lasso the Moon.
Is my absolute favourite movie. It makes me cry so hard. I now openly admit to having achieved a PhD in crying. Read an earlier blog (I cry all the time)
Col Patterson released this beautiful piece in November 2022. Bedford Falls where George Bailey had this wonderful life. Go listen and see the YouTube Video. At 23 seconds in, Mary leans over the counter to say ‘George Bailey, I’ll love you ’till the day I die’, George unfortunately is deaf in one ear from a slapping he had gotten. Mary’s love ran very deep though. The movie is sublime.
George Bailey: What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.
Bedford Falls is a song about being saved by love and empathy. It takes it’s inspiration from personal experience and the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Making some sense of the past two years.
Diminishing comes from the Latin word minuere — “to make small.”
I struggled to get to grips with the pandemic. I could not make sense of this two years of vulnerability, I still struggle. I could not have explained it better than Niall (Brezzie), Louise and Tony in Niall Breslin’s Podcast “Where is my Mind” the episode with psychologists Louise Carroll and Dr. Tony Bates. In The Therapy Room, they discuss, what I know to be absolutely fact, the PTSD, Anger, Resentment, Loneliness, Bewilderment, Shame, and any other word you can come up with to describe how millions of us are feeling Post-Pandemic and slap bang into a terrifying Ukraine conflict and insane, seemingly uncontrolled hyper inflation.
Please find the 50 minutes to listen to these good souls and start talking about how you are feeling. (Say’s he who finds this near impossible to find 10 minutes space in the turmoil of my ever chattering mind.) It has the grand title “
It has been a very cold few weeks here in Ireland with a freezing temperatures for the last 10 day’s. In my evening chats with my beautiful Mam we reminisce about times past. Her memory is incredible on 6,7,8 decades ago. Mam talks of skating on the old quarry behind the Ahern and Duffy houses up the (you have it) Quarry Road.
In days past, as young teenagers, weather like this presented us with the fantastic opportunity for endless hours of entertainment icing (with copious buckets of water) and skating down hill past the back entrance to the North Star and past O’Dwyer’s Fuels and nearly in the front door of McInerney shop at the very end of the hill. There were very few cars around at this time so we probably got away with murder and were left alone by adults. Sure, weren’t we out entertaining ourselves for hours, even if it meant a few missing plastic basins. Skating down that hill sitting in your mam’s plastic basin was a hell of a lot better that doing it standing up. Black and blue arms, legs and even heads were not uncommon.
We launched ourselves of with the loud call.. “Off the Ice Maggie”
It is a 35 minute Podcast, apologies for the RTE Player advertisements but Kathleen McMahon at 7 minutes 45 seconds in is just funny out. As is Paul Howard’s (aka, Ross O’Carroll Kelly) piece at 22.20
The picture below is from 1975 (thereabouts). I’m not there. I’m over in Ellen Street manning the Tots-to-Teens Christmas Collection Warehouse where toys were stored until Christmas Eve (many Mam’s and Dad’s had taken many months to pay off the cost of these special Christmas surprises, which stayed in the warehouse until fully paid). The Benson Clan, below,
Backrow. Helen (Mam), Niall, Kay (Catherine), Michael, Des, Cyril (Dad) and Helena
Front Row, Alan, Santa and Stephen. Santa looks surprisingly like the gentleman from around the corner. Those houses facing the river Shannon.
Ireland celebrates 100 years of independence in 2022, This YouTube video from the government of Ireland with the beautiful Paul Brady song, The Island is a haunting piece.
Spring is upon us. As I sit here writing this short blog on St. Patrick’s Day I can feel the heat of the sun’s springtime rays on my neck. I welcome the arrival of spring. I force myself to sit up, have a good talking to myself, shake off the lethargy of winter. This is not a single chat with myself but a daily talk, just like my meditation. I MUST practice it daily or it just does not work. Hence I must have my daily Springtime chat or I slide back to the couch. (and remember all my ‘Hyperlinks’ are safe and tested)
This is for those who need it. Here are the lyrics.
St. Patrick’s Day
Thursday 17th. March, Paddy’s Day and extra long weekend. Christ, what a month. It is Martin’s Months Mind (See my earlier blog). Still an unimaginably tough time for Martin’s family. Those of us who worked with Martin met ‘virtually’ in the last weeks to talk, it was surprisingly uplifting to ‘wake’ Martin, even if was virtually. An Irish wake is special.
In the meantime, everybody’s world upended. It is actually a very difficult time. Someone very close to me is starting a huge battle against a fucking aggressive Cancer. A close colleague in the US is comforting and supporting her son battling a different form, and aggressive also. A friend and neighbour from my birthplace has also been diagnosed and is starting his own terrifying journey. Three weeks and three different Cancer diagnoses. Mind numbing. Donate to Cancer Research.
I pray for comfort, strength and resolve for everyone on this journey.
And we though we could relax.
Putin invades Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians displaced, cost of living sky rockets, after two years holding our breath and feeling very vulnerable, we now are thrown into major anxiety, fear and WTF is next.
Look, honestly, I don’t want this little blog to be a sad read. Suffice to say, living life can be a tough road. And somehow we all navigate this tough journey, me personally, I have to find things to somehow to be grateful, even thankful for.
Most weeks I have absolutely no choice but to listen to David Steindl-Rast, again, and again and again.
Load this MP3 file onto your phone and Listen as often as you can. “Gratefulness”. On a walk, in the car, at a coffee break, sitting at your desk. Just do it. It just might quieten the angry, scared and vulnerable voices in your head.
If you want the Gratitude MP3 version let me know in the comments section and I’ll do my best to share with you.
I need to post this a second time but I also need to say that standing in Solidarity with the people of Ukraine will not be enough this time. Ireland need to lead the world here. We have done so before and we need to do so again.
This Crazy World – 2022 (As I tell you in every blog there are many ‘hyperlinks’ that serve the blog well and are safe to click. Many are music, so you can click and listen to the music while continuing to read the blog. I’m confusing the hell out of you. I know it)
Well, I’m late, that’s no surprise, given we are living in such a crazy world. Russia is posturing to invade Ukraine and Nato and the rest of the world are posturing back. Fecking men running the asylum. Pandemic rages on but it no longer seems to be the disaster to end all disasters. Full houses in Six Nations rugby matches, GAA matches, soccer matches and the Superbowl is a sell out, and yet thousands of people are being infected and sadly worse every day. I’m puzzled, completely puzzled by the crazy period in our time.
“His DNA was, do the best you can do, and help those around you along the way“
Sunday 13th January:
Ran to get some Valentine flowers this morning, my sunshine daffodils. When I got back and sat down with my Sunday newspapers and coffee I switched on the radio and by accident, switched to Radio Maria (broadcasts on Saorview TV) and Sunday Mass was on. I’m not the religious type at all, but there seemed to be a lot on my mind this Sunday morning and the soft voice of a priest celebrating mass and telling us to ‘Go in Peace’ to serve the lord was a welcome comfort. So I left it on.
The priest reminded the listening congregation to take care of each other, to lend a hand where we can, to put an arm around someone who may need some comfort. Not sure where ISAIAH 6:8 came from but somehow is was a good reminder of a friend of mine. LINK to the VARD Sisters
I’m back to Dublin this evening after two years of Pandemic Insanity. Back to meet and greet five new colleagues joining our organisation. Only a short few days back, I was talking to a good man, a friend I met two years ago, and we were talking about a project we had worked together on in Dublin at the start of this pandemic. Martin was heading back to another Dublin project. Martin was excited about a new Project and we were swapping accommodation phone numbers as he had a new phone and needed some of our previous contacts. We had a lovely conversation. Heartbreakingly, Martin, did not wake from his slumber three days later. It was devastating news for everyone who knew Martin, but most of all for his young family and his good Dad, William. We never know what is around the corner. Martin, was a really good guy to have your back as a work colleague. In Projects, he just got on with things. His DNA was, to do the best you can do, and help those around you along the way. (Isaiah 6:8)
Martin Boyce – ‘A Good Man’
His wife Helen, daughter Caoimhe, son Senan, dad William, sisters, Valarie, Mary and Tracey and wider family must carry the tough burden of grief. My thoughts and prayers are with you. May you find comfort all around you in the coming weeks and months. Be especially comforting to each other.
I did take the opportunity, during our telephone conversation, to say, “Martin, you are a good man”. He was an incredible support to me in our return to field work in 2020. We walked and talked in the evenings (well I tried to keep up) after work and did ‘Man’ chat. It was clear that Martin was a good, proud and loving family man. Martin RIP.
2022 The Year of Your Attention
My attention is a commodity and a valuable one at that. Your attention is a commodity, and a very valuable one at that also. Sometimes, we need to be aware, acutely aware, of who or what is trying to get our attention. So many want a piece of our attention. Time was, the ‘for Sale‘ sign was the most apparent attention grabber. To realise it value, all the shopkeeper needed us to do is step inside their door and get you to part with your hard earned few bob, That momentary ‘Attention’ grabber became an economic gain for the seller and for you a bit of joy or satisfaction at getting something at bargain price. It is no longer as simple as that.
The marketeers and advertisers no longer need us to see a ‘For Sale’ sign. I don’t need to put my hand in my pocket and hand over cash, I don’t need to do a whole lot for my attention seekers, by just ‘clicking’ my mouse on a link or like a ‘quote’ or photograph, my worth as a commodity is snagged by powerful companies (and their algorithms) and they now sell (with implied permission) my ‘potential commodity value’ to every marketeer, advertiser and company willing to get my ID to send me ‘relevant and targeted’ click bait.
So, for 2022, I’m unsubscribing wholesale. Not following the ‘sponsored’ news items. not following the news in general.
Exhausted to Empowered.. If you do one thing in 2022. Connect with Elaine (elaine@iamelainebenson.com)
A very TIRED Doctors note to all (Found on IMGUR and reposted here, Garry)
If you come in as a trauma or car crash and need blood… good luck! Half of the staff in OR’s at three hospitals I work at are out sick with COVID. If you’re “asymptomatic” and positive, you’re going to work because we just don’t have enough staff. Nurses are working 24 hour shifts to cover for everyone at home quarantining.
Patients are angry because they feel ignored while we’re hanging on by a thread. We discharged our last COVID patient before Christmas (thanks to a high vax rate in our county) and now we’re totally full. All elective surgery cases are on hold. Still trying to push through cancers and hearts. Patients with cancer are scared and calling the night before to see if beds are still open for them so they can have their cancers resected before they metastasize (spread). I’ve never seen the ICU nurses – well, all of the nurses so depressed. It’s sad, the belief in disinformation runs so deep many of them refused vaccination and are now fighting boosters. Propaganda is immensely powerful. Do not underestimate it.
Dying antivax COVID patients believe it’s a hoax until their last breath and will fight you to prove their point until they’re intubated. Friends from med school text about the horror stories they’re seeing. From last night: a husband on ECMO (basically heart/lung machine, he’s not gonna live) due to COVID pneumonia and wife infected – at home and alone. 6 months pregnant and no foetal heart tracings (baby is dead, probably clotted off the placenta since COVID causes blood clots) and she has to deliver alone. I hear tragic stories like this every single day. Or the poor girl who was 7 months pregnant and crashed, was intubated and placed on ECMO after an emergency C-section. Baby died of a brain haemorrhage. Mom woke up with no baby and a healed C-section scar. Not vaccinated because worried about her fertility from something she read on Facebook.
Disinformation kills, I see it over and over and over. We had a family of 6 in the ICU. 5/6 died and left just the son behind to clean up the mess but he’s so debilitated after surviving he can’t possibly do it. All of us working are infecting ourselves and our families. We’re so demoralized. I’m waking up with nightmares of my family and I driving off a bridge into water, unable to escape and drowning. I’ve seen friends I work with get sick and nearly die. One of my girlfriends got long haul running a code on a guy having a heart attack and now she can’t walk across the room. Yay long haul. My crazy ass trump loving family is sending me news articles about how viagra saves lives in COVID patients and I just shake my head. Convinced my evangelical Christian Fox News watching aunt and uncle to get vaccinated and then they got COVID over thanksgiving and tell me “the ivermectin saved us.” Fuck off. I guess my 29 years of education were a waste.
The antivax patients we admit who went to Fox News university of medicine tell us how to treat them. One left the hospital and died at home. I just don’t have the energy to really care anymore about people like that because I’m so tired. I hate being a soldier in a war I never signed up to be a part of, drowning in six figure student loan debt, always exposed, always on edge, having nightmares and no hazard pay. At least guys in the military have the GI bill, loans paid and VA healthcare. We’re going to get dropped on our asses with permanent disabilities and PTSD. All of our relationships are broken from the stress and sadness. We are essentially being told we expendable resources, our lives and health do not matter – just keep going to work. I’m so tired of hearing “code blue” while sitting at lunch and wondering who it is this time. Or hearing the families on the other end and their complete loss of sense of control and fear. Trust me when I say this: everything you see on the TV screen is sanitized for public consumption. Reality is 10 times worse in the hospital. It’s wild to be the last man standing as everyone else calls out sick with COVID and watching the American healthcare system collapse in slow motion. I’ve done a lot of lung transplants – and end stage COVID lungs are beyond saving and worse than the lungs we took out. They’re like wet mouldy heavy bags. Godspeed friends and be careful. I’ve heard over and over again from patients with COVID “I didn’t think it would be me.” Run, don’t walk for your booster. We admitted 8 this week who had two vaccines and are not boosted yet. And if you got one J&J dose… good luck.
I saw the news about Deltacron. I cried and thought if this variant outcompetes omicron, I quit. I’m a good doc, I give up holidays/birthdays/family events and my general well being to keep my patients safe and alive. They are my life’s work and I just don’t know if I have the energy left to keep going. I’m young and I quit dating because I deal with COVID patients and didn’t want to hurt anyone. In my late thirties and spent most of life learning how to keep people alive. Two years of fertility lost trying to do the right thing. Oh well.
Trust me, about the next election: Vote. In a pandemic, who you vote for could save your life… or kill you. Trust me on this last part, I’ve seen a lot of people die because of policy decisions and stupid statements like “it’s just the flu” and “it will be gone by Easter.” I got a patient that swallowed bleach after the orange guy made that suggestion at a White House press conference. Fun fact, it’s a lot worse than swallowing acid. It penetrates much deeper and don’t expect to ever swallow normally again – or end up with a big incision on your chest, a permanent feeding tube and your oesophagus coming out of your neck like a colostomy. It’s unfathomably horrible and even worse to do to another person to save their life. I often wonder how things would have been different if the messaging were different in March 2020.
About trump: I don’t wish him dead but I do think there are some people who do not deserve to walk among others on earth. Operated on 25 year old COVID positive kid this morning… this didn’t have to happen to him. And I had to expose an entire OR team and an anaesthesiologist to an open chest and the lungs of a COVID patient. They are so brave to help this patient with me and risk their lives and exposing their families by extension as well. And then this part – his mom chewed me out on the phone after five difficult hours operating on her son regarding something unrelated with his previous hospitalization for COVID. I had to cut her off. I had no energy left after putting my heart and soul into fixing him and being elbow deep in the stench of pus the entire morning.
Here’s the shitty part. My mother is immunosuppressed and didn’t make antibodies after getting five vaccines. If she gets COVID, she’s dead so I can’t see her even though I’m vaccinated bc with omicron breakthrough infections are common. And yet because I took the Hippocratic oath, I still have to take care of antivax patients at work who collectively will probably infect and kill her before this is over. Hearing the fear in her voice and her loneliness breaks me more than anything I’ve already written about. She’s a deeply good woman who volunteered for the Red Cross during hurricanes and natural disasters and now can’t because of COVID. She never stopped talking about how much she loved going out there on the front lines to help others in crisis, it gave her meaning. Every person without a mask on is a slap in the face. They spread the virus and we have to clean up the mess. I wish they could see what a living hell this is through my eyes and feel what it’s like wake up every day to it. This will probably get lost in the ether, but at least I wrote it somewhere. And plenty of typos from a very tired human.
May you have a beautiful, peaceful and joyous Christmas with those you love or in the memories of loved ones. Cherish this time of celebration, tradition, memories and giving. The greatest gift you can give anyone is yourself, your time, your ear, your love, forgiveness and being there.
I hope this little Christmas blog finds you all coping well ( as well as anybody can in this unprecedented time in our living memories). I’ve chosen Jamie Callum’s beautiful tune to open my blog, not to sadden anyone but to reflect my reality. As with all of my ‘Blogs’ you will find hyperlinks to other content. These are safe and can be clicked with confidence. (Underlined words are Hyperlinks)
It’s a truly beautiful, magical, and colourful time of year. Mesmerising for the little ones. But, Boy Oh Boy, it can be such a tough time for many people. It is so good to celebrate, to treat yourself to something special, to say ‘I’ve survived another year’, to pat yourself on the back, but the celebration of Christmas is such a juggernaut these days. Sensory overload, visual , audio, smell. An emotional rollercoaster of expectations, joy, conflict, stress, loneliness and even grief for some this year. If you are on the magical spectrum, have an absolute blast and fill up on the magic to your heart’s content. If, however Christmas is tough sometimes, get out your favourite read and fill your head, heart and soul with the wisdoms on a page. And if you need to have a good cry, then off you go. Be they tears of joy, longing, grief or sadness they will do you the world of good, that I promise you. Sure, I cry all the time.
Capture the Magic
When we’re young, Christmas is all about traditions, such as writing letters to Santa Claus, baking Christmas treats and making decorations for the tree. However, as we get older, and perhaps spend Christmas away from our families, traditions can start to fade. To recapture the magic of Christmas, try to hold on to some of the childhood traditions you used to love.
1. Do something traditional Try writing a letter to Santa, (you can always post to findmywhy@gmail.com and Santa WILL reply, I promise), recreate you favourite Christmas starter (Prawn Cocktail) or dessert (Sherry trifle). Make a Christmas Wreath out of stuff in the garden, Although you may feel too old for these rituals now, by reliving your childhood traditions the Christmas magic will soon come flooding back. (Roast potatoes, yum)
2. Do something Selfless (be kind, giving and if you can give of your time and listen, to who needs an ear)
3. Be Frivolous (Get that Christmas jumper you would NEVER be seen dead in)
5. Do Something Different ( Go to a Choral Service, visit a crib and whisper a prayer, eat Fried Chicken instead of Turkey, the Japanese do )
Christmas Reading List
We are blessed with two of the most wonderful grandchildren, Rory (5) and Charlie (1.5). Reading them stories are just magical, hence the Irish fairy tales, myths and legends with lot’s of pictures will be top of the list. Thereafter, I have
Who Moved my Cheese
The Four Agreements
Every time I find the meaning of Life, They Change IT
I’ll let you do your own research but Who Moved my Cheese and The Four Agreements are constant re-reads for me to guide me through change and ground my life. And #3, “Every time I find the meaning of Life, They Change IT”, is a warm, winsome book of eclectic musings.
And welcome to your first Christmas.
Welcome to your very first Christmas. Seven weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and got the right hand knee replaced after many moons of anti-inflammatories, paracetamol, deep heat rubs and tiger balm to soothe the joint that had served me so well. I listened to the advice of many to get it done as early as possible while relatively fit and mobile. Best decision I have made. Although it will take at lease six months to fully recover if you stick to the Physio regime. Here’s a summary of the last few weeks.
And Finally, Happy Christmas
And it’s No, Nay, Never
Some Happy Thoughts for Christmas
And Smiles for a New Year
Methinks…. it is really time to get my rear in gear
By tradition I nearly always publish my Christmas blog on the Winter Solstice in Ireland. This year the Winter Solstice 2021 in Northern Hemisphere will be at 15:58 on Tuesday, 21 December. All times are in Ireland Time. The Winter Solstice
Have a wonder about the blog if you find time. Leave a comment if you like but most of all relax, rest and regenerate this Christmas.
A quick November blog to say hello and send best wishes to everyone as we continue to navigate this insidious virus and the complexities in has introduced to all of our lives. It is rare for me to be able to write about a subject matter in a blog that is understood globally. Unfortunately this is the case for Covid-19, it’s been a proper global catastrophe.
The opening up of society while living with the virus is certainly very challenging but thankfully for breakthrough infections, the vaccinated are fairing extraordinarily well. But it’s a real bummer to be double jabbed and to have to still have this rotten vulnerable feeling not to mind the 10 day isolation that must be endured should you be unlucky enough to catch the bug.
Stay safe is the best wish I can send you.
Let me introduce you to a decades old Mr. Right Knee. It took a special tour of Kilkee on October 1st. 2021 as it has spent many wonderful years wandering around the sublimely beautiful West Clare Atlantic coastline, swimming in its cold and invigorating salt water and cycling or walking the country lanes of the loop head peninsula. But alas this was to be it’s last visit in it’s original form
It’s past sporting endeavours had taken it’s toll and it was time for some medical intervention. On 1st. November it was replaced by the incredible Professor James Harty, a master orthopaedic surgeon transforming the lives of people with his renowned surgical skills. Forever thankful for the dedication of our medical teams and their excellence. Above are the Last Tour Pic, The Post-Op Pic and the Back at home on front of the TV pic, (A 48 hour turnaround, No general anaesthetic but a ‘right leg only’ epidural and a ‘relaxing’ jab just before the op. Hence the rapid recovery and discharge. The marvel of modern, advanced medicine.) and finally the new ‘Bionic’ knee pic’s compliments of my 6 week post-op visit to Professor James and me asking him, would you mind me taking a snap of the x-ray images from his computer screen. I can hear his thoughts.. WTF.
Post-Op is a struggle to be fair. The swelling of the knee makes exercising very painful but it’s got be done to keep the progress going. Planning is key when you arrive home from hospital. Have your meds handy for all hours as there is no kind nurse there to hand them to you in the middle of the night or call button when serious breakthrough pain occurs, and it will, be absolutely sure of this.
The progress continues well, with knee, shin and ankle swelling the main issue to contend with. Cryo Cuff / Ice work is a huge relief but elevation if the key for me especially after exercise. This will be a management issues and hopefully my first visit to a Physio this week will guide me further. Well, Physio is tough, very tough. Janet Altman is very good at her job, very good. My daughter did say to me that nobody really loves their Physio therapist. They have that knack of pushing you that little bit extra in order to get you back working order.
I’m nearing the end of post-surgery phase but still I’m VERY aware I’ve had a knee replaced. Their is still significant pain and very uncomfortable nights with very poor sleep.
I’ll report back in six months on Mr. Right Knee’s progress after a swim in Polly 3 in the beautiful Clare village of Kilkee. (See previous blog on the Pollock Holes )
2021 has been the toughest of times. Sometimes, it can be hard to give thanks but having personally experienced the Public Health Service in Ireland through some very tough family experiences in the last few months and to see first hand the unbelievable effort, commitment that our front line workers in the health service are delivering under extremely pressurised conditions is something I, personally will give thanks for.
A rumored ‘special’ bank holiday may not materialise but, please take a moment in this month of remembrance and thanksgiving (see examples below) to send universal best wishes to the tireless work that so many people are giving in these unprecedented times. You, really have to see what is going on in our emergency departments to appreciate the incredible effort going on, unseen.
Cynthia Rylant, American Author wrote, In November, the trees are standing all sticks and bones. Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers. They know it is time to be still.
After the gloriously warm active days of summer and just before the sparkling and joyous magic of December we have a pause to breath deeply, be still, watch the leaves fall, remember the fallen and for a brief moment to reflect. It is both a beautiful and painful month. It is our ‘Human’ month. Garry
An August Blog, published in September. Go figure (as with all my blogs, there are Hyperlinks that are worth exploring and might even surprise you. For those of us who have not got a clue what ‘Hyperlink’ means, it is those words that are underlined and when you scroll across the words you get the opportunity to ‘click’ and delve deeper into the blog. You might also like to wonder around some earlier blogs and if you have the time leave a comment or forward to someone else)
Sylvia Plath wrote “August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time“. I’m first to admit that August is not my favourite month of the year. In fact, it gives me a rotten empty feeling. Shortening evenings, closing up the bolt-hole in Kilkee Co. Clare, saying goodbye to great friends for six months and heading into the Autumn and Winter. Sylvia nailed it for me with her incredible insight into the human condition.
Summer 2021 was a good one with some incredible weather in July and August. Highlight of Summer 2021 was Fitzpatrick’s opening its doors again, carefully, under the watchful eyes of Lorna, Jimmy and Gillian. Outdoors, to begin with, then, indoors in a socially distanced way. Better this than another summer without meeting for a pint and a good yarn and a laugh. Music next Summer. Good things come to those who wait. Found this collage on their web page. Thanks for allowing me to use it in my blog.
My absolute favourite thing to do in Kilkee is to get into the Atlantic Ocean as much as humanly possible, be it in the Pollock Holes, Byrnes Cove or a quick dip at the Kilkee Boat Club slip. The past 18 months has seen an explosion of people taking to ‘Sea’ swimming and it was a simply incredible to see so many people swimming every day, sunshine or not.
Saturday 28th. August, 2021. I’m drying the Dillisk on the rocks above Polly1 after a super swim in Pollock hole 3. Super day in Kilkee. Fog burnt off eventually. Last hooray for lots of folks as School starts next week. Oh God..
Oh, if anybody would like a taste of the incredible and very salty sea food, feel free to let me know and I’ll get some to you, come hell or high water.
‘Walk on air against your better judgement’ Seamus Heaney.
Seamus Heaney, One of Irelands greatest poets has the line “Walk on air against your better judgement” as his epitaph on his gravestone. He died on 30th. August 2013, aged 74.
His departure in the ‘Odd Uneven Time’ and his beautiful line above inspires me every day. He himself said, He said: “It is a beautiful line, very inspirational. It is about going for it. We are naturally cautious and sometimes someone should throw caution to the wind. To those I know who are throwing caution to the wind, I must say you also inspire me, daily. You know who you are.
Reserved for My 2021 Kilkee Highlights Video…
Which I’m making a ‘dogs dinner’ out of and will take a while to complete.. you will have to come back later to view.
Remember Song
Finally Tom Rush has this lovely song that captures my daily experiences, frustrations and delights.
Thank you Tom Rush for not making me feel so …… Can’t remember how I was feeling now.
I have found blogging very difficult during the past 18 months and I’ve managed to write this blog without mentioning that dammed word, Cov….. As we emerge from what has been a fecking horrible time for everyone I promise to try harder and Walk on air against my better judgement …
16 Weeks to Christmas.. Jesus Garry, did you have to do that…
It that time of the year again and I have a love hate relationship with Birthday’s at this stage. Aching bones, wonky knees and a host of other age related ailments. But, it’s always been my New Year. January 1st never worked for me so I’ve always targeted 25th. January as my new beginning every year. My youngest daughter, Jessica, just knocked on the office door with a kiss, card and frothy coffee. The perfect Birthday Gift.
Tomorrow I wake to some new, real and achievable intentions. Less junk food, less indulgences. More weights, more care and attention, more meditation, more gratitude and prayer. Here’s to a better year with more hugs, more trad sessions in Fitzpatrick’s in Kilkee. Hope is a good thing.
Different Times:
While chatting with my Mam on my birthday I was reminded of my coming into this world on a very cold and frosty (not unlike the weather we have been experiencing these past few days) night, January 25th. 1959
I was arrival #4 to this beautiful young couple, Mam and Dad (Helen Conlan and Cyril Benson). It was past midnight when I let it be known I wanted out.
No Taxi service available, no telephones in the homes, few if any cars in the entire neighbourhood and the typical mode of transport of the day, the bicycle was not going to be suitable with a heavily pregnant Mam and a suitcase. And so, it was a long 3km walk on a frosty, snow dusted night, to the recently opened Marion Nursing Home in O’Connell Avenue in Limerick. (in stilettoes heels I may add, as Mam was always, and continues to be very fashionable, and a woman had to look ready for anything)
A member of an Garda Síochána thought it prudent to approach a couple walking alone up O’Connell Street at nearly 1am on a freezing cold Sunday morning with a suitcase in hand. On seeing how pregnant Mam was, he exited stage left very quickly. Too much drama for his graveyard shift. There was little he could do anyway. No radioing back to the station then for assistance. They continued on their ‘stop-start’ way, contractions allowing.
They made the nursing home around 1.45am where Dad handed Mam and suitcase over to the nurse on duty and returned home into the frosty night. No father’s invitations to hang about then for the main event. Dad returned home the his two daughters and son at home in Thomondgate.
Different times. To a beautiful Mam and Dad. Thank you for all you did and do.
Mam and Dad, 1958. Kay, Helena and Niall had arrived. I was next to arrive. Then Michael, Stephen, Alan and Desmond. Different Times.
Music is a very particular to everyone but indulge me in listening to the following, even if briefly to these two pieces of opera. The first piece is from the Shawshank Redemption and Morgan Freeman describes it beautifully. It is the “Sull’ aria from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and for a moment, please free yourself from the rotten news and crap that is going on around us right now in Ireland and globally. And the second aria is Song to the Moon, sand by Renee Fleming, a tragic aria from opera by Dvorak – Rusalka. A tragic tale but a piece of music that will vibrate your soul.
Andy Dufresne and that piece of music.
Renee Fleming, Dvorak – Song to the moon – Rusalka
Golden Scars
Finally, a special person and friend, sent me this video and I think it a great ending to this meandering Birthday Blog. My daughter, Elaine is living this fantastic proud journey in helping others. https://www.iamelainebenson.com/
Thank you Sean Buranahiran.
Good luck for 2021 to all my family, friends and readers. My New Year Starts.
I had a blog written for my final posting of 2020. It hinged on the words of Auld Lang’s Syne, its origins, it’s true meaning, how little of the words we really know, to me it’s a fascinating story but after I read it a few time I thought it might be too heavy on history and ultimately not all that engaging to you all. I’ve included a link to my favourite research site for you to follow if you like. I also looked to see if I had blogged about Auld Lang’s Syne before and I found a ‘Seven Year Old’ entry on New Years Eve 2013 and I spoke about Mitch Albom’s book and his message about taking your time to enjoy the gift of time. The blog is worth a re-read but for me I have to dig out Mitch today and read the book again. Goal # 1 for 2021
And so for this very short ‘New Year’s’ wish to every single one of you. May you find your ‘Rainbow Connection’ again in 2021. Kermit will explain.
Kermit the Frog
It is important to note that I used the word ‘again’ in my new years wish. We all experienced the ‘Rainbow Connection’ as children (and some thankfully as adults), but the hard edges of life can knock the magic out of life for so many of us.
“Who said that every wish would be heard and answered, when wished on the morning star. Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it. Look what it’s done so far”
I was fortunate to have the Muppets and Jim Henson in my life ( you see Kermit was born in 1955 and me in 1959) and it’s one of the things I am eternally thankful for. Paul Williams the writer of the song that Kermit sings talks about Jim as the ‘Elegance of Kindness’ in his book ‘Gratitude and Trust’. As with all of my blogs, you have lots of ‘hyperlinks’ to navigate and discover great content. And so I just finally want to wish you all the best for 2021. Go and find the magic, it exists I truly promise you.
Maybe your life purpose isn’t supposed to be a thrill-seeking narrative. What if you’re meant to be the sunshine to someone’s stormy day? Or the voice of clarity to a frantic mind? You don’t have to be a superhero to save the world.
Unknown
So final message for 2020 from my blog, please, you lovers and dreamers, please join me in star gazing and having faith in the magic. Be kind, grateful and patient in 2021. Take the ‘time’ to ‘BE’
If a green felt ‘frog’ called Kermit doesn’t do it for you, maybe a craggy Willie Nelson might.
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Beautiful Red Sky to wake up to, in the South of Ireland (Carrigaline) this morning.
Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight. Red sky at morning, shepherd’s warning, first appears in the Bible in the book of Matthew. It is an old weather saying often used at sunrise and sunset to signify the changing sky and was originally known to help the shepherds prepare for the next day’s weather. Despite there being global variations in this saying such as “Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in morning, sailors warning”, the scientific understanding behind such occurrences remains the same.
Why does a red sky appear at sunrise and sunset?
The saying is most reliable when weather systems predominantly come from the west as they do in Ireland. “Red sky at night, shepherds delight” can often be proven true, since red sky at night means fair weather is generally headed towards you. A red sky at sunset means high pressure is moving in from the west, so therefore the next day will usually be dry and pleasant. “Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning” means a red sky appears due to the high-pressure weather system having already moved east meaning the good weather has passed, most likely making way for a wet and windy low-pressure system. And so we come to the title of this mini-blog, Storm Bella is bearing down on us this morning and there is a yellow weather warning for the whole of Ireland. Hunker down folks.
Status Yellow – Wind warning for Ireland
Met Éireann Weather Warning, On Saturday (St Stephen’s Day), through the late afternoon, evening and night, westerly winds associated with Storm Bella (named by UK Met Office) will reach mean speeds of 50 to 65km/h with gusts of 90 to 110km/h. Gusts will be higher at times near the west coast. With the combination of strong winds, high waves and forecasted storm surge, there is a risk of coastal flooding along the west coast. “Thank you” Santa for a crisp and frosty Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but now for the bit of a blow from Storm Bella.
On a much more positive note the first delivery of almost 10,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is due to arrive in Ireland today (December 26th. 2020) , and not a minute too soon as there is a nasty new variant doing the rounds which has everyone concerned. The next few months will test us (Ireland may have a lock down until March 2021) but it will also open up our lives again on the journey back to some semblance of normal. I do hope the world we all usher in for 2021 will be so much better, but only we can make the difference. The quote below signifies that what we do with the tough lessons from 2020 will be hugely important for us all in 2021. We live in important times.
“Even though there are days I wish I could change some things that happened in the past, there’s a reason the rear view mirror is so small and the windshield is so big. Where you’re headed is much more important than what you’ve left behind.” – Unknown
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