HELLO!

I received the news early this morning. I was most disappointed. Obviously, the judges have not met me… https://www.msn.com/en-ca/society-culture-and-history/pop-culture/australian-air-conditioner-cleaner-crowned-the-world-s-loudest-person/ar-AA26kwMf

In June 2011, fifteen years ago, Kim and I spent our 20^th wedding anniversary in Ireland. It was our one and only trip outside Canada-US, other than our journey to China to meet our child. As I have mentioned previously, once we decided upon Ireland I wrote a column in the Halifax Herald, asking readers who had been there to tell us where we should visit. We fully expected Dublin to be the answer. Instead, of the 25 responses, most pointed us toward a small village named Doolin. At church I mentioned this trip and discovered another couple were also married on the same day, they were frequent travellers, would we like them to join us? I was certain Kim, the introvert’s introvert, would say no. But she surprised with a “that would be fun”. Jeff, Lynn, Kim and I spent 9 days in Doolin, one in Dublin, and travelled the distance between for daytrips throughout. Jeff loved to drive, he rented an Audi, and off we went…One night, when we returned, we walked down to one of three Doolin pubs with live music. Suddenly the patrons began to leave the pub, taking their Guinness outside. There we witnessed a tower of broken furniture, stuffed animals, household items, roughly the height of a two-story building. There were large speakers surrounding the tower, in a ditch, just outside the pub. The music included pop songs, all with the theme of fire. Soon the tower was lit, people stood watching, drinks in hand. Kim noticed, in the countryside, for as far as the eye could see, other communities with their own bonfires. I asked the crowd, “why?”

St John's Day, June 23-June 24, has been traditionally celebrated throughout Europe. To this day bonfires blaze on hilltops and the sight of them still prove quite a spectacle. Writing in the 1820s, Thomas Crofton Croker described St John’s Eve, “the effect produced by fires lighted early in the evening on the highest points of the surrounding [landscape] was very impressive". The midsummer bonfire was associated with luck and purification, and the tangible remains of the ashes were thought to be good fortune and spiritual cure for the year ahead. Like all traditions, what started as a pre-Christian ritual to commemorate the changing of the seasons, then evolved into a religious feast built around a saint of the church and now functions primarily as a community gathering time.

I wonder…should we at Woodlawn, with our massive parking lot, hold such a gathering, creating a tower of “stuff”, broken things people in our community no longer want? Likely not good for the air, for the environment. I am not being serious (for those who are wondering). Still, for people like me who love to purge unwanted “stuff” such a possibility brings me much joy and memories of our Ireland trip. Peace, Kevin