Life Update - June 2023

Wanting to be someone else

is a waste of the person you are.

- Kurt Cobain

Hello everyone! Welcome back to The Art of Caesura!

I hope you are all well! I'm sending you loads of positive vibes - especially if you need them today!

My goodness! We're halfway through the year and only about 2 months away from the blog's 400th post! As you can see, I've been laser focused this year; both on the blog, where I have kept my sights firmly set on mustering my Black Templars crusade, and "in real life".

Today, let's take a little step back and look at what's been going on in the last few months in my life around the Caesura!

A couple of months ago my parents (who live on the west coast of Canada - where I'm from) came to visit us in Ireland.

It's always such a treat having them come to stay with us for an extended period, we get to slip back into olden times when we all lived under one roof and we could have casual chats over breakfast / dinner rather than organized weekly video calls. It's just so nice being able to be part of each others' daily lives.

I got to spend a few hours with them on the evening they arrived, and then, a few hours after that, I skived off to Warhammer Fest 2023!

The next weekend, my wife, brother-in-law and I almost had to Drive All Night, across The River, up to the Jungleland that is Dublin to see Bruce Springsteen! Our Hungry Hearts were filled by Dancing in the Dark. It really was an epic show and my wife nearly fainted when Bruce (at 73 years old) ripped his shirt open during the encore! Swoon.

The next weekend, my wife and I got all prettied up to go to our friends Muireann and Tom's wedding! It was a beautiful day and we danced the night away before getting to sleep in a fancy hotel - WITHOUT OUR KIDS! (We love you Saoirse and Freya).

While my parents were here, my dad and I built some very fetching raised beds for a vegitable garden. They turned out beautifully, and it has been really rewarding eating our own lettuce and watching our garden grow.

With our hips well and truly loosened up after all the dancing at Muireann and Tom's wedding, we were ready for the following weekend and the disco fever of our friend Katie and Mark's joint 40th birthday!

My parents' stay came to an end and the next day my wife's parents and siblings came to stay a night before we all took off for a family holiday a few hours away.

Some of us went on to Skellig Michael, an epic island of the south west of Ireland famous in ancient times as a centre for learning. The 13 (rotating) monks who lived there for many hundreds of years were inspired by St. Michael, the warrior saint and saw themselves as manning God's bastion on the frontier's edge of the known world.

In recent times, it's famous for being Luke Skywalker's Porg-laden retreat.

We got back from the family holiday and the next day one of my great friends from highschool, Alexandra, came to stay with us.

It's always special getting to show off the majesty of Ireland to my Canadian friends and this visit was all the more meaningful because Alexandra was my first "friend from growing up" to whom I've got to show off our house.

Alexandra left in the morning, and that afternoon we picked up Lotte and Bill - some of my very oldest family friends. Growing up, Lotte and Bill were like an aunt and uncle to my brother and I and their kids are like our siblings. Having spent manys an Easter, Thanksgiving, New Years and more at their house, it was fun turning the tables and getting to host them for the first time!

Unfortunately I can only find the one picture of their stay!

The day after Lotte and Bill left all of the water pipes in our area burst and we went without water (faucets, showers, toilet cisterns etc) for 5 days. Thank God it didn't happen while we had visitors!

Then last weekend, my wife and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary!

It has been a phenominal and soul-filling couple of months! Our heads are still spinning! And then in 3 short weeks, we all jet off to Vancouver Island to my brother's wedding!

Let's close this one out with some un-editorialized recent pictures of my family whom I so appreciate, am grateful for, and adore.