13 January 2017

Could Winter be turning to
Spring after last night’s snow?

A walk on the beach in Bray, Co Wicklow, this afternoon ahead of a busy working weekend (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Patrick Comerford

Despite the light dusting of snow that fell on the ground overnight, this afternoon returned to the night, crisp winter weather we have been enjoying in the Dublin area for the last few weeks. Despite the cold snap, the sky was bright and blue, and as I travelled out into the countryside it looked as though the fields are already about to turn from the brown of winter to the gold and green of spring.

Perhaps all this is just my imagination. But I went for a brisk walk on the seafront in Bray, in the early afternoon. There were few people on the shoreline as a I strolled along the pebbles and the sand by the gentle waves, with clear views out to Bray Head to my right and in front of my cargo ships pling their way in and out of Dublin Bay.

It was a calming scene before a busy working weekend. The academic semester begins later this evening with the return of part-time students on the MTh course, and I resume teaching on the Anglican Studies module with two lectures this evening, and two more lectures tomorrow morning [14 January 2017].

This is my last teaching load on the part-time course, and I am in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on Sunday morning, preaching for the last time as canon-in-residence.

There is a busy week ahead, as teaching resumes, along with tutorial groups and dissertation supervision. Then on Thursday afternoon I travel to Rathkeale, Co Limerick, for a rehearsal that evening for Friday’s service of welcome in Holy Trinity Church and to move into the Rectory in Askeaton.

After a short walk on the beach in Bray this afternoon, two of us went for lunch in Carpe Diem, a glass of wine, and the mandatory double espressos. The restaurant closes next Tuesday [17 January], as the staff return to Italy for holidays. I hope to back there again soon after it reopens three weeks later [8 February 2017].

The fields of south Dublin and north Wicklow seem to be turning to the Spring colours of green and gold this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

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