Tuesday...

Not much actual writing since Friday, but a good bit of looking at maps and reference books and thinking. Conclusions: we know very little about Britain in this period (other than what Tacitus has to say); we know even less about British Druids (i.e. they may have existed, and if so were probably on Anglesey at some point in the 1st century AD, but we have no idea what they were doing there); and we know rather less about Ireland and Irish Druids (if any). Ireland was where it is today; there was some sort of (probably complex) "Celtic" society there, speaking (probably) a Godelic language; there were probably religious / magical specialists of some kind (who may or may not have called themselves Druids) in that society at the time in question; there is a possibility (supported to some extent by archaeological discoveries of Roman material) that Agricola may have sent some sort of military expedition to Ireland, most probably in late 81 AD, with outcome unknown; if he did send such an expedition, they most probably crossed from the vicinity of Galloway (Scotland), as he was operating in that area at that time with the required manpower and naval support; Agricola (according to Tacitus) had in his entourage at that time an exiled Irish noble of some sort who could have served as a focal point for such an expedition. What any Druids (if they existed and were interested) might have had to do this is entirely conjecture.

It's a good thing I'm writing fiction.

-GRG

Definitely not Denver...

I've finally got the rest of the photos from my Irish trip uploaded to Flickr, although not properly labeled yet. Any guesses where this one is?



-GRG

Tuesday...

Time flies, writing doesn't. Garden is 99% planted now. And this morning - May 31 - I had *frost* in the back yard! Everything seems to have survived, although it was a close thing with the cucumbers and basil... and tomorrow it's supposed to reach 90 F!

Not much writing done yet on the current chapter, but I know where I'm going now. Only thing is to put words on screen and start getting there...

One of my (many) favorite photos from the Irish trip - the Loughcrew passage tomb:



-GRG

Thursday...

Thursday already? I'm still getting caught up from Ireland. Strangely enough, spring was not much farther along there than it is here in Denver - and an early spring in both places. Good information, since this is about the time Gwernin will arrive there in the current book.

In the meantime, my larger apple tree has started to bloom, the daffodils are almost finished, the potatoes have started to come up (today!) in their raised bed, and the grass needs cutting. I've been working on the last a bit, much to the cats' disgust.

I'll have more pictures up soon (I promise!), but in the meantime here's another from Ireland:



-GRG

Saturday...

I'm home again, with lots of new ideas for The Druid's Son and lots more pictures, which I'll upload today or tomorrow. In the meantime, another springtime picture from Ireland:



-GRG

Monday...

We spent most of today in Kildare, visiting sites assocated with St. Bridget. The monastery here was already established in Gwernin's time, and the site probably had earlier use by the druids, as Kildare means the church of the oak grove. Today the town was preoccupied with preperations for the impending visit of the Dalai Lama, who will be here Wednesday. Not sure whether or not we're sorry to miss seeing him - we move on the the Wicklow mountains tomorrow - but it was certainly easier to see things today in Kildare than it will be Wednesday.

I'm still uploading today's photos to Flickr, so I'll put one up later.

=GRG

Saturday...

We're in Shinrone now, near Roscrea. Spent today driving around Lough Derg to the west. A mild day which started clear but turned to hazy cloud. Spring is farther along here; white blossoms in the hedges, some pink-flowered ornamentals which look like crab apples, and some broadleafed trees beginning to bud out. I'm told it's an early spring, and this would be more usual for May.

Didn't take many photos today, but I may add one later. In the meantime, here's another from the Hill of Uisneach.



The touring around is raising (and mostly resolving) some questions for the book. I've shifted some locations to better fit a logical itinerary for the bards, and plan to check a couple of the new ones out in a day or two.

-GRG

Friday...

Spent the night at a nice country b&b near the Hill of Uisneach. We walked on the hill yesterday evening, and I think it's quite true that you can see all the fifths of Ireland from the top. There's going to be a fire festival held there May 1 - Beltane! Pity we can't stay that long. I'll post a photo later - it would take too long to upload the set now. Well, maybe one, of the festival roundhouse on the summit...



-GRG

Thursday...

Having a spot of lunch and a latte in the cafe at Cruachan Ai visitor center in Tulsk (no wifi last night) after a morning spent at Rath Croagan and the Morrigan's cave (note: spell check and corrections later). The Cave is a natural fissure in limestone to which someone in about the 6th century built a roofed souterraine entrance. The entrance is low, but the main cave is at least 6 metres high in the largest section. All of it is very muddy, and now so are we, or at least our rain gear. On the bonus side, it's stopped raining and is very nice now.

Didn't take any pictures this time, but here's one from our previous visit:



On with the tour!

-GRG

Wednesday...

Raining again, but we'll be on the road again today. Yesterday was good for me; I actually got some writing done in the morning, on the chapter where Gwernin arrives at Tara. Some complicated plotting in that one, and some decisions about the Last Feast of Tara, but visiting the site a couple of days ago helped me make some decisions. I could almost see the procession, winding its way from Cormac's House to the Rath of the Kings... Yesterday afternoon I walked on the lower hills; the rain had stopped, but the wind was strong and unceasing. Some of my photos were out of focus because I couldn't hold the camera still enough in the gusts. Here's one that wasn't:



-GRG

Tuesday...

Another gray morning, a breeze rather than a hurricane, a few raindrops rather than a deluge. Probably good April weather for western Donegal. I've uploaded more pictures from yesterday on flickr, but this one will give a good idea of yesterday's weather:



A little time today to write up some notes and think.

-GRG

Monday...

A gray start to the morning today. Yesterday was mixed sun and showers, and increasingly windy. Much of the day we were driving north, and of course the rain was light until we reached our destination. Then suddenly we had a horizontal downpour. We sat in the car for 15 or 20 minutes until the band of rain passed, then went up the hill. The pictures were worth it.



Gray again this morning. Sideways rain at Doon Rock and Doon well, wind on the rock to take your breath away. It cleared, though, when we got down to Gartan - visiting some of the sites associated with Colum Cille. Still tremendous wind, but at least dry. A long drive then, through a national park, huge high slopes dun-colored under a hurrying sky, threaded with icy streams, mountains shaped by the glaciers of the last ice age, silent but for the songs of wind and water. We climbed a steep valley head which reminded me strongly of south Wales, to find the same tussocky sheep grass on top. Then slowly down to the sea, and Glen Columchille, where we're staying tonight.

and Sunday...

A good day yesterday, although with some bands of showers moving through in the afternoon. This morning it's mostly clear again, with some high wispy clouds. I heard the wood pigeons cooing at dawn; now it's robins in the garden. Back on the road again today, moving north, but first breakfast...

A new set of pictures on filickr that I uploaded last night: here's a sample:



-GRG

Monday...

Gloomy cold weather today with a trace of snow, a long way from last week's preview of spring. To brighten things up a bit, here's a picture from Caherconnell in Ireland:



That's it for now.

-GRG

Researching again. One thing leads to another, but some details are coming into better focus. Several of the books I'm currently working with are listed here, but these two are especially interesting to me at the moment.



The Iona book is one I bought a while back thinking it would be useful for book #6, but I was pleasantly surprised to find some of the discussion very pertinent to one of my current concerns.

Back to work.

-GRG

Friday...

A cold, cloudy day with a touch of light snow - not a day to tempt me into the garden at all! I've done no writing so far this week, but reading and thinking, yes, and this is a good day for more of same.

Sixth century Ireland seems in many ways to be as obscure a time and place as sixth century Wales, despite a much greater quantity of written sources. The sources, however, are none of them - or almost none of them - contemporary, and the writers and their later copyists had all of them their own agenda, not to mention the thick forest of oral tradition and legend which has grown up around the few solid facts we have. In the end the storyteller - and I am a storyteller, not a historian - can only pick and choose the fragments which make sense at the moment, and do her best to tell a coherent and interesting tale, noting any exceptions in the afterword...

Today's picture: the crest of the Hill of Tara, with a few anonymous figures seen from a great distance - a suitable visual analogy for the problem at hand.



Back to work...

-GRG

Monday...

Back writing today after a weekend off. I think chapter 8 is pretty much finished, and I've started chapter 9. Gwernin is at Tara now...



Back to work.

-GRG

Thursday...

After three days of atrociously low temperatures, things are finally getting back to normal here, and I'm hoping to get some writing done today. Just another Irish picture, to get me in the mood:

Thursday...

Just a snippet today because I was busy writing yesterday. I'm into chapter 8 now and have introduced most of the main characters, and have several potential conflicts heating up. Onward!

Today's picture: a landscape shot taken from the top of Knowth, looking westward:



Back to work!

-GRG

Tuesday...

A little writing Monday, but none so far today. The weather's relatively mild, so I've been doing outdoor things: moving most of the plants out the cold frame into the sun for a while and doing some garden cleanup.

Saturday is the Colorado Welsh Society's Saint Dwynwyn's celebration, and I'll be doing some storytelling as part of the program. Since Dwynwyn is the patron of lovers, I'm planning to do "Pwyll and Rhiannon". This will require a little practice, as I haven't done it before! First step is to re-read the story a couple of times in translation...

Back to the Boyne for today's picture: another river shot showing some of the meadows along the north bank.



And that's it for today.

-GRG