A Moment in Belfast

When I was born, the emerald green blanket of English, Scottish and Irish heritage

was placed on me lovingly by both of my parents. 

It's such an American thing to ask.  "So, what's your heritage?"

And something that will often cause the Brits to roll their eyes (discretely, of course.)

But I grew up thinking that I descended from a magical land of kings and queens,

of fairies and celts and manly men like Mel Gibson in a kilt.

I would proudly proclaim that I was Scotch-Irish, with some Cherokee thrown in for drama.

(Scotch-Irish means something different than I thought it did.

It's much more specific and might still be true but I'm not quite certain.)

I grew up on these romantic notions.  So you can understand why I cried when I thought

I saw the queen in England, felt instantly at home in Edinburgh in Scotland

and dreamed my whole life of visiting Ireland.

After the plane touched down in Ireland, I took my first step onto the 

green, green grass of home tarmac and declared thought

"This.  This is from whence I came!  My people, welcome your sister home!"

I realize that I'm a complete goof but it was so cool visiting Ireland for the first time.

We started our trip with just one short day in Belfast, Northern Ireland and loved it.

Matthew was really interested in visiting this city with its incredible history

which he will tell you more about in a post on Monday.

But I just want to tell you a quick little story about my first night in Ireland

that sums up my time there.  First I'll show you some photos of this interesting city.

I realize the combination of the two will make this a ridiculously long post,
but I just have to capture this and share it.  I hope you don't mind.  

 

After exploring the city all day, we were looking for someplace for dinner.  Like a child following the Pied Piper I was drawn into a pub just around the corner by the sounds of irresistible music.  The first thing I noticed was a group of musicians sitting around a few tables playing a variety of instruments, flutes, fiddles and drums.  Each musician with a pint in front of them at various levels of consumption.  

God, I love live music.  It's such a regular part of life in Texas that you take it for granted.  I didn't realized how much I had been missing it.  I sat down at the closest table that we could find with a huge smile on my face, not taking my eyes off of them.  There didn't seem to be any specific playlist.  One musician would start to play a melody on a flute.  Two others would quickly catch the rhythm.  Someone with a drum would then join in.  The fiddles would find their place in the mix.  The music would build up and you couldn't help but tap your feet. 

Every once in a while, one of the musicians would pack up his instrument, chug the rest of his beer and take his leave.  Another one would join the group in a constant rotation of instruments.  The door opened again and a young man entered with an older man.  Each of the musicians called out a a warm greeting to them.  The young man walked over to the tables to join in the session.  I noticed that he had Down Syndrome, but what really caught my eye was the beautiful Irish drum or bodhrán he removed carefully from the case.  It looked handmade with intricate ancient patterns on the hide.  The older man, maybe his father, set a half pint in front of the young drummer.  After a quick little sip, he tucked the drum under his arm and started playing.

As he played intently and with great skill, the young drummer caught my eye.  He gave me a beautiful smile, never missing a beat.  Talk about a travel moment.  I was completely enthralled with the whole thing, grinning from ear to ear and trying not to cry with pure delight.  With that one look he said to me with bit of cheek, "Welcome home, Sister, to the land from whence you came." 

I don't know if a place can be imprinted on your soul because once long ago

an ancestor was born, loved, lived and died there.

But Ireland is certainly imprinted on my soul now

because a young drummer smiled at me and played me an Irish tune.


Have you had a moment in Ireland?

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | SUBSCRIBE | BLOGLOVIN