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I arrived home two weeks ago last Thursday from another great trip to Minnesota to visit my friends Tom and Judy and their family.

I find it very hard at times to get my head round the circumstances that culminated in those wonderful trips to Minnesota and how a chance meeting on the internet brought me into contact and integrated me into a family that has now become such an important and integral part of my life.

During one of my last telephone conversations with Tom and Judy’s son, Adam, before I would shortly leave for home, he asked what I thought the highlight of this present visit was. This is a hard question to answer because those visits contain so many highlights and this one, of course, had its own unique occasions that easily fit into the category of highlights.

There was the evening of Music in Plymouth that I attended with Tom and Judy, their daughter Kara and Kara’s daughter, Amelia – Tom and Judy’s one and only granddaughter. We were also joined by Steve and Kathy – friends of Tom and Judy and their daughter, Kate, and her boyfriend, Tom. What a marvellous event and what marvellous people to share it with. We had a picnic on the grounds of The Hilde Performance Centre where we enjoyed the free family musical event featuring the Minnesota Orchestra, fireworks and many other entertainments.

Tom and Steve relaxing at Music in Plymouth

Minnesota Orchestra

Amelia enjoying the evening at Music in Plymouth

Judy, Tom and Kate

The scene at Music in Plymouth

Kara at Music in Plymouth

Tom and me at Music in Plymouth

Part of the fireworks display

Lunch or breakfast with Judy’s dad, Al, at his favourite Perkins restaurant (and mine) is always a highlight and this time was no exception. Judy and I collected him at his home in Chaska on Friday June 11, two days after my arrival, and we proceeded to Perkins to enjoy his favourite meal of pancakes. Unfortunately on this occasion, due to some dental work he had done the previous day, we had to forego a very important part of the menu, which is the side order of bacon strips that he always enjoys with his pancakes. Still, the important thing is meeting Al and enjoying his company and, on this occasion, any shortfall with the meal certainly did not detract from that.

I wanted to meet Al early in the visit this time rather during the last days because I hoped that this arrangement would give me the opportunity to meet him again before the trip ended. That opportunity was soon to come at an event that will live with me for the rest of my life.

A trip to visit Sarah and the boys is always a highlight. This time we had many opportunities to enjoy those visits. It always affords an opportunity to wind back the years, forget that we are no longer as young as we used to be, and partake in the fun and games that Davey and Derek expect us to be ready for at a moment’s notice. Davey and Derek don't take age into account and who cares about the aches and pains that are destined to follow? We can nurse those when we are back in the sanctuary of Tom and Judy’s basement. We compare notes and ask each other – I wonder what kind of truck was that that went over us last?

I sometimes wonder who enjoys Sarah's play system most - the children or the adults

I always enjoy playing with the boys, it brings me back to a time when my own grandchildren were small and when I enjoyed many happy hours with them.

Stars in the making - Davey hits a home run during one of our baseball games...

Derek keeps his eye on the ball

An outing to the Minnesota zoo, Minneapolis on a beautiful sunny day, with Judy was a most enjoyable affair. None of the animals are caged here. They all enjoy the freedom of the wide open spaces which in the main are designed to simulate their own natural environments. While you can take a monorail to travel round the parks and view the animals, the walk round the 500 or so acres of the complex affords the best opportunity to see everything that is to be seen and get up close and personal with the many strange and exotic inhabitants.

Two prairie dogs stand guard while their companions (out of picture) frolic and play and enjoy the attentions of the visitors to their large enclosure

Musk Ox Grazing peacefully

Bison relaxing by a lake with Canadian geese in the foreground

Takin

The Takin a native of the Eastern Himalayas and National Animal of Bhutan

One of the most unusual species of animal at the zoo is the Takin. The sign at their enclosure say that they are made up of so many species of animal that it would appear as if they were designed by a committee. However, if my information is correct, it was created by the great 15th century saint Lama Drukpa Kunley (called "the divine madman") who, after eating a cow and a goat for his lunch, stuck the head of the cow onto the skeleton of the goat, snapped his fingers and commanded the great beast to rise up and graze on the mountainside. To this day the animals can be seen grazing on the mountainsides of Bhutan. I think though, that I would favour going along with the more widely-held explanation that this animal is assembled from a variety of different animal species and nobody really seems to know why.

Click here to take your own tour of the zoo.

To be continued/….

Goodbye To A Good Friend

Saturday evening I had a telephone call from a friend of mine. It was one of those calls that as you answer something deep inside you instinctively tells you that something is wrong. My instincts were proved correct and my worst fears were confirmed when the caller asked me if I was sitting down.

The caller was Flan Larkin the brother of one of my closest friends, Bernie Larkin, and the news he was about to impart certainly required that I be so. Mercifully, he broke the news quickly. His brother and my good friend, Bernie, had passed away suddenly while attending the British Open Clay Pigeon Shooting Championship at Bishops Mountain Shooting Centre that morning.

I had known Bernie since I came to Nenagh over 40 years ago. At that time we were both truck drivers hauling livestock. My first encounter with him was not a pleasant one and very nearly ended a friendship before it had time to begin. It involved a slight difference of opinion as to which of us was next in line to pull into the loading gate at Nenagh cattle mart to get on our load.

Tempers flared and a strong exchange of words ensued. Who was right and who was wrong on that particular evening is lost in the mists of time. All I know is that after I had decided that discretion is the better part of valour and it was advisable not to mess with this guy – a wise decision that I would see many others make over the ensuing years - Bernie, naturally had his way. However, when we had our trucks loaded and tempers had subsided, we approached each other. A mumbled apology to each other and a hand shake was to be the beginning of a friendship that would endure over 40 years.

Clay pigeon shooting was Bernie’s chosen sport and although I previously had had a brief encounter with the sport, it was he who reintroduced me to it in 1979. On a Sunday late in that year I accompanied him to Ballinderry to see him compete in what was then known as a flapper shoot (These are unregistered shoots run by gun clubs mainly to raise funds for game restocking purposes.) From that day onwards as the shooting addiction took hold of me, we were travelling and shooting companions at home and abroad for many years.

Bernie (centre back row) and friends at a shooting competition in Wales sometime in the 1980's

Although Bernie was later to excel at the sport on the International scene where he represented Ireland several times, he always had a love for those unregistered shoots where he would meet the grass root shooters and the first-time entrants to the sport.

It is fair to say that the experienced and International shooters were not always very welcome at those events because their presence gave very little chance to the inexperienced competitors to win a prize. What set Bernie apart from the others though and always made him a welcome figure was that at the end of the day he would return the prizes he had won to be shared amongst the less experienced participants. It was through his generosity and sportsmanship that many a young beginner went home proudly displaying a prize.

A writer on the Irish Clay Pigeon Shooting web site in a tribute to Bernie described how he often saw him demonstrate his unique ability to shoot clay pigeons from the hip. Bernie shot from the hip ok in more ways than one. He never went behind the bushes to say anything like many others on the shooting scene. Anything he had to say was said to your face – you liked it or you didn’t. In later years, when I became involved at the administration level of the association, Bernie was never slow to offer his criticism, or indeed, his praise, if he thought you deserved it.

The last time I saw Bernie was about three months ago when he called to my house in Nenagh. We had tea and talked about trucks, our families and of course shooting. We sorted out many of the problems that beset the country and the world and after a couple of hours he departed leaving me all the more enriched from his visit and glad to have him as a friend.

The Golden Bear – as he was always referred to by one sports commentator – will be sadly missed. The shooting scene will be all the poorer by his absence.

I would like to extend my sincerest sympathy to his wife, Carmel, and family. Go ndéana trócaire ar a anam.

Bernie Larkin RIP

Day at Minnehaha Park

Judy is right; one of the things I always look forward to during my visits to Minnesota is going to Perkins along with Judy to have lunch or breakfast with her dad. It’s a tradition that is now well established and one that I hope will continue for many a long day to come. It was a little sad this time due to the fact that his recent dental work prevented him from having his usual full meal of pancakes and bacon. The man sure enjoys his pancakes and bacon and I know the meal just wasn’t the same to him this time. Still I was able to share my desert of strawberry sundae with him and I hope he enjoyed that and it compensated in some small way.

The strawberry sundae that I was looking forward to

Judy and her dad tucking into my strawberry sundae

Our visit to Minnehaha Park on Sunday 15 June was a most enjoyable event. The outdoor Service at Sarah’s and Dave’s church was very nice but I think as far as the children were concerned, the caterpidows stole the show.

St Mary's Basilica pictured on the way to Minnehaha Park

I think there is beauty in many things, including concrete and steel. Here, and in the picture above, the architecture of mortal man against the blue of the sky and the clouds - created by the divine architect illustrate what I mean.

Minnehaha Park is one of the many beautiful places we have visited around Minneapolis. It has pleasant walks along the Minnehaha creek and of course the famous Minnehaha waterfall is spectacular.

Derek gives me a caterpiddow

Two beautiful ladies, Sarah and her mom, Judy.

Minnehaha Creek

Davey and his little friend at play

Grandpa and Derek taking a stroll

Minnehaha Creek

Derek, Davey, Sarah, Dave and the knees

Arrival in Minnesota

I arrived in Minneapolis during a thunder storm at 10.34pm on Wednesday 11 June. Thankfully I was oblivious to the weather conditions, as I slept through it and wasn’t aware of the extent of the storm until I was met by a very worried Tom and Judy who had been following the weather reports and the effect the adverse conditions had been having on the air traffic.

Conditions in Minneapolis/St Paul that night were pretty bad, Tom and Judy told me of instances where planes had to stand off fifty miles from the airport before they could attempt to land while other planes had to divert to different airports.

The skies begin to clear after the thunder storm and the moon appears

On this occasion the trip from Ireland was long and arduous. Having arrived at Shannon at 7.30am to catch the first leg of the flight to JFK where I had a scheduled layover of more than seven hours before boarding the connection for Minneapolis/St Paul. This flight was further delayed due to the conditions in Minneapolis. When I eventually got into the air on my way to my final destination, I had been travelling almost 24 hours and so it was that soon into the flight, I fell asleep and didn’t waken until we were touching down at Minneapolis.

I think, even though I awoke to the sound of applause from my fellow passengers, which might indicate that the landing was a little rocky and everyone was relieved to be on Tierra firma, that our flight came in after the worst of the storm had passed. The principal thing is that all flights touched down safely that night and everyone reached their destinations safely.

My destination was, as usual, everything I knew it would be and a good night’s sleep in that beautiful room that I have now come to know so well and a shower to get rid of the trail dust had me fit and ready and looking forward to seeing Sarah and the boys, Davey and Derek, the next morning.

The boys, Davey and Derek, knowing grandma was on the way were well primed and ready for fun.

Judy has well documented the day on her blog and I have a couple of extra pictures that I hope you will enjoy.

Judy flying high

Derek on the slide

Visit to Devils Bit Mountain

Monday, the last day of Maria’s visit we decided to accompany my daughter, Eileen, and two of my grandchildren Claire and Anthony, to visit a local mountain know as the Devils Bit - named for the bite taken out of it by the devil as he rode over Ireland. Devil's Bit Mountain provides spectacular drives and stimulating walks.

Anthony and Claire on the drive to the mountain

A nice view on the drive to the mountain

Beginning of the steep climb to the top

The panoramic view from the top is spectacular and on a clear day you can see for many miles around - the only problem being, you have to get to the top first. Most of the way there can be made by car up a long winding road that takes you to the base of the mountain and here the fun ends as the final assault on the top has to be made on foot up a long steep rugged path for about 400 yards. This is the kind of path where you take one step forward and two backwards but undaunted by this we began our climb.

Taking a rest on the way to the top

It wasn’t much of a problem to my four youthful companions but for me, restricted by 69 years of roaming this earth and a heart bypass a few years ago, I wondered if taking on this climb was one of the smartest things to do. However, I pride myself in the fact that I am still pretty fit and I decided that I would start out and see how far I could get - promising myself that I would stop and return to the base if the going got too difficult.

In the event, I made it without any great difficulty to a plateau and picnic area about three quarters of the way up. Here the picnic table and seats were too tempting to pass by and I decided in the interests of common sense to pitch my base camp and wait for the others to return from the top. I was really quite pleased to have made it so far and I decided enough was enough.

View from the picnic area where I decided to wait for the return of my companions

Enjoying a picnic before returning home

One of the many wind farms that now dot the Irish landscape, supplying over 25% of our electricity to the National Grid. Pictured on the way down the mountain

Finally, a sign of the times we now live in. It's sad to see this evidence of Litter Louts who care little for the preservation of such a beautiful amenity and the image we present of ourselves to the many tourists and other visitors that come to this area.

Maria's Trip To Tipp (Tipperary)

Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end and so it was with my niece Maria’s visit to Ireland. I drove her to Dublin Airport yesterday to catch her flight to return home to London. It was a sad parting and I certainly hope she will return to see us all soon again.

In the short time she was here, we managed to get a lot of things done including visiting a couple of historical places but of course the best of all was visiting family and her meeting her uncles and cousins again after such a long time.

She has promised to do a post for my blog that I will publish as soon as it arrives. In the meantime, I am including some pictures from her visit that I hope you will enjoy and give you an opportunity to meet some of my family.

My sister Freddy loves to entertain and anytime a special visitor arrives amongst us, she will always use as an opportunity to bring the family together for a celebration. Here as some family members around her ample table partaking of her hospitality on the occassion of Maria's visit.

My sisters, Freddy, Kathleen, Biddy, and brother Jim

My niece Ann and my grandniece Kate on a visit to Ann and her husband, Dave's, house at Galway. Kate proudly displays the cake she made especially for our visit

There is a beautiful wood near where my sisters live. There is a little lake in the centre that you can walk round along a path for a distance of 1 1/2 miles approx. Here is Maria feeding the swans on our way round the lake.

My sister and I on our walk round the lake

Maria and Freddy on our walk

Son Tim, Daughter-in-law Mary, Grandson Anthony, Granddaughter Elizabeth and Maria on our visit to their house.

I am blessed with a lot of nieces and nephews. Here is a small selection of my beautiful nieces - Fiona, Maria, Siobhan, Alanna, Jackie and Lily, Aurlie.