I can't let this ancient moment in the beginning of harvest time go without singing the praises of Mammy. Here's one long and personal meditation for the occasion and I'm putting it up as one single post, and hoping that you have a lovely day tomorrow and a great weekend. Thank you for listening. 

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Sitting on the edge of the world in Glencolmcille, close to Malin Beg, having a wonderful time listening to the ocean and the wind. the wind blows a bit on this recording but I wanted to share the immediacy of what goes through my head on such a threshold of unknowing. The ocean is a good teacher. 

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I love the background sounds in this. they come from a convent in Minsk which was broadcasting live at the time of making the podcast. Very soothing. And so are the waves on the beaches in Donegal where I'm still slumming around in the camper van. Enjoy. 

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Big fat single podcast for this August Weekend. Lughnasa. I was remembering times I ate a lot of fish because I'm stuffing myself with good fish here in Donegal at the moment. And that led me to think about all sorts of transformation, and transfiguration and walking on the beach dreaming the moon, and wondering what's behind the moon. Thank you for your support.

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When we were young we watched the bishop light a fire outside the church door. the symbolism of light that overcame the darkness. And in the festival of Lughnasa in ancient Ireland the same symbolism was at play. But even in modern society, culture night in Ireland and Nuit Blanche in France are also modern attempts to create ritual around the same symbolism. So since it's the August Bank Holiday I'll be talking about Lughnasa and the light overcoming darkness this weekend. More tomorrow. 

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Every story has a shape.Sometimes it's called  a Thru Line ; that thread that we are drawn to and can't leave the story until we find out what happened. And we break it down into three sections in a story; Purpose, Passion and Perception. 

So here I've tried to say a few words about all this, and I've tried to keep it very light and simple. Hope you enjoy. Stories make us human. I think they're like what birds do when the dance and preen and caw. I think seagulls are never done telling each other stories about the waves.

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A great big extra podcast. 

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A little homage to the great Irish writer Dermot Healy. Gallery Press publish his poetry and you can order online and if you read his poems aloud you will have a great time. His novels are also widely available. A Fools Errand is the one I'd recommend. One long poem about Geese. Absolutely profound and beautiful. 

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Well half way through this podcast the voice changes. It's like a different person. There I was sharing the story of Julia and her tragedy as an example of natural but gifted story telling, and then the battery went dead and I had to start all over again. The break is after about 12 minutes. But it gave me a chance to describe another moment of quiet pleasure alone in the universe. 

I was so moved by so many stories I heard from Travellers that I wove them into a play one time many years ago, called The Tinker's Curse, which I might make into a  podcast sometime  in the future. In the meantime I hope you enjoy this story of a woman I really loved and admired for her generosity and her gifted way of telling a story. 

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Here's a simple little story for Sunday morning coming down. No meaning. Nothing important. Nothing explained. It's just a reflection. But Story is the thing. Story is the Surf.  

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