Barry Vaughan has done two great things for me. First, he invited me to participate in Study Abroad Ireland. Granted, it was after I inquired in 2004 how he could possibly have a study abroad program in Ireland and not teach storytelling. Fortunately, he agreed, and my first summer teaching for SAI was in 2005. The second great thing he has done for me is to introduce me to his friends Mary and Frank. The three of them went to graduate school in Oklahoma, and have been very close ever since. In fact, it was when Barry was visiting them in 2002 that he had the idea for our program. So, I’d say that without Frank and Mary there would be no Study Abroad Ireland at all.
We have dinner at their home deep in the Midlands of Ireland at least once each summer, and one year they invited all the students to come too. Last night Barry, Chas Moore and I were invited out and we arrived to find the fire place blazing. This was a welcome sight, since yesterday was freezing and the rain pelted down non-stop all day. Nonetheless, it was very disorienting to be sitting by a fire and loving it in June, especially knowing that it was 113 degrees in Phoenix. It was like the solstices had flipped.
After a delicious Asian-inspired meal (Mary is a fabulous cook), the rain had stopped enough for us to don the wellies and take the traditional perambulation around their property. They have a family of owls living in their trees, and we listened for them. We saw the new patio and the new pathways as the relatively new pups raced between our feet.
We came back in by the fire for Mary’s gooseberry and elder flower fool. Their small daughter took the picture of me with my elder-flower festooned treat. I'd been to her school to tell stories, so she and I reviewed that and talked about what stories I would tell next year. Then the adults talked about everything from the library in Alexandria, to Greek philosophy, the crisis in Greece and the euro, and strange state of college education world-wide. 
It was very hard to say good-bye, but as Mary reminded me, the year does seem to fly by. As we were getting into the little blue Suzuki for the trip back to Athlone we heard the owls calling.
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