​08/03/23
Gort Tyres 11.50am
Slow puncture.
Six legs visible underneath a white Hyundai, synchronized teamwork, the middle pair taking the lead, they do a little shimmy.
The sounds of electric tools. A small pair of legs in my rear-view mirror. Car on an angle, leaning sideways.
North Sea lubricants and luminous gloves, a young man with a serious face.
Metallic sounds moving up and down the scale, vibrations and echoing indecipherable voices.
Metallic clunk and vibration of steel, percussive spanner, hiss of air. I am level again.
He returns with a spanner, focused, purposeful.

07/03/23
9.10 A café in Oranmore.
Waiting for my daughter.
I face the till counter, a large space, there are few occupied tables, and the waitresses move swiftly. Funky music plays like the title sequence to an 80s TV show. All the staff seem to be on familiar terms with the customers. Bright lights, loud music, and nothing that sparks curiosity or wonder in me.
Leaving the café and still waiting I wander down a side road towards the castle.
It is a bright morning.
The chatter of sparrows and the trill of a small bird.
The constant hum of commuter traffic and the heavier sound of machinery nearby.
A clear sky and a man in a blue jacket. A large blue rectangular container.
A crisp light.
Oranmore castle, sitting on the end of the quay.
Low tide, the smell of seaweed, dead calm.
A father and his young son enjoy the shore.
The sound of ducks,
A lorry’s horn.
Cars on the horizon.
A splash, a ripple, a call.
Sun saturated seaweed, icy fingers.
An open view.

Waiting for Mum. Physio appointment Ballyvaughan.
12.30 -1.30pm
 
I take a stroll along the shore by the quay while waiting for Mum.
The only other person is a lady and her dog.
The sound of small aero plane overhead and birdsong. The fragments of a white porcelain cup scattered amongst the rocks catch my attention. I gather them up and enjoy re arranging them into a new pattern leaving it behind for someone else to discover.
As I return, I notice a stack of lobster pots repurposed from old plastic containers. These have been left standing for some considerable time. Inside each contains a new miniature micro- environment, some with moss, new plant life, gravel, and rubbish.