I'm Packing the Wrong Wardrobe!

Here in Tiverton, the morning is sunny and a cool sixty-five degrees. I checked the weather in Glasgow, Scotland, and the afternoon weather is sixty-four degrees. The afternoon weather. This evening will be forty-eight degrees. Then I checked the weather in Dublin for next week, and it'll be even cooler with three days of rain. I just realized I wasn't paying any attention to what the tour company said the weather would be: cool and wet. I'm packing all the wrong clothes for this trip! Truly I feel like a first-time traveler. How can that be? Why am I nervous? What are my expectations?

As Larry pointed out, it's early spring in the Celtic Isles. I just have to dress for that: more long pants and long-sleeved shirts with light sweaters. Layers. One pair of shorts just in case, and fewer crop pants. I guess this means more socks too. I'll be wearing my new walking shoes and my Merrill's more than my flip flops. Is linen inappropriate? I just want to be comfortable. We'll be riding in a bus longer than anything else. The distance between destinations is in the hundreds of miles; not tens. It is so difficult to shift my thinking in this way. I don't remember having this problem before. Turning sixty-five can't have anything to do with it. Right?

So today and tomorrow will be spent fine-tuning our packing and making sure the pups have everything they need, including lots of extra affection. We'll be abandoning them for two weeks at the local doggie boarding home. They suspect something is up, but are not quite sure what's going on. We'll be delivering them at 2:00pm on Sunday, then heading to our son's house to await the time for them to drive us to Logan Airport in Boston.

I let go of the dream of visiting New Grange outside of Dublin during our visit. The tour company representative I talked with over a month ago told me I had to wait until we arrived and spoke with our tour director to plan extra excursions. Now I learn from a different representative, that they could have arranged something with more time. It's too late for them to help us now. Figures.

So, I contacted someone through a link this latter representative emailed me, and all her tours are booked. Then I contacted a private tour person, but I can't justify the cost. A private tour would be $400 versus $47 for the coach tour. I realize this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the ancient voices of New Grange are calling to me, but this trip is expensive enough. I just can't go there. I'll plan to build a visit in when I return to Ireland for the Crowley Clan gathering in September of 2016. As soon as I made this decision, a weight was lifted in my heart. So, now I know this is the right decision for me. After all, we'll be seeing lots of other ancient stuff along the way. I'm sure I'll connect with my ancestors regardless.

One of the expectations I guess is driving my heightened energy is the idea of growing older and feeling the need to connect with my past. Not just my past, but that of my family: my ancestors across the pond. I'm not sure why I'm feeling this need now, but there it is anyway. I'm trying to honor whatever my heart is telling me. I can't be the only one who feels this way. Why now? I have no idea. I guess it really doesn't matter. It is what it is and I can't wait to get there and feel whatever I am meant to feel.

At any rate, I'll be letting you all know along the way, so stay tuned. Slainte!