Mustang in Ireland

[ FOR BETTER RESOLUTION, CLICK ON IMAGE ] Greetings from IRELAND ! The Mustang has rolled to the Emerald Isle. We've been out of touch for a bit owing to the Atlantic crossing. We're reporting from Bindon Lane in the Borough of Ennis in County Claire, Ireland, where the temperature is about 56F. We've come in from rural Ballyvaughn on the Burren Way to this, the closest town likely to have a photo-electronics store. Our Compact Flash Card reader is still Stateside, but we were able to fetch one in Ennis.

The good news is that Ireland is still far from densely, overly developed in the rural areas, still largely unspoiled to the eye. The bad news is that the Dollar not standing up to the Euro very well. The people we've encountered have been most gracious and accommodating which certainly makes up for the unfortunate currency exchange ratio.

We've had to explain that, while " Yanks " may well be a welcome greeting to Americans who hail from above the Mason-Dixon Line, it's not exactly manner in which man or machine from Charleston wish to be addressed. We had the same conversation in a pub in a previous visit back in 2001. After a bit of Guinness, an Irish lad asked, " Well, what's the difference if you're called 'Yanks', after all, you're all one country, ain't ye ? " At this point we countered, " Well, let's see, Ireland is, but one country....so is there no sectional difference amongst you Irish ? " The fellow then replied, " AH, Ooookay, yer point's well taken, me friend ". The "Y" word did not again come up, but quite a few Guinness went down and in very good cheer.

Not everything went smoothly in Ennis this afternoon. In the second photo you can see that the Garda (police) have responded to some sort of event in front of Ulster Bank. The gent on the left side of the frame, leaning against the little white car has a machine gun in hand which suggests something beyond a parking summons. What impressed us as much as the sight of six police officers presenting automatic weapons in the town centre was the apparent indifference of the passers by. This was not an unusual event it seems. None of the folks looked at the "take down", but they did look at us photographing the event. That told the local folks that we were new in town and it told us that we might better ease out of town before the Garda got interested in us.

Can't you just imagine how we might begin to explain.." Well, we're from South Carolina, USA, and...well, we've got a blog...that is a journal on the internet and we like to take pictures of our car in odd situations...we know this sounds strange, but....

Thankfully, we're back out at Ballyvaughn where they've already accepted our odd ways and credit cards.

All good wishes to one and all on the eve of our nation's birthday.