Camping at Lough Dan

This past weekend, I headed down with some friends to Lough Dan - a ribbon lake in County Wicklow.  (lough = lake in Irish) Haven't camped since I was about 7 and it was at 'church camp', which wasn't really camping so much as extended Sunday School on location.  This was real camping.  Tents and fire and marshmallows and everything. I wore four layers of heavy clothing with a rain jacket on top, woolen mittens, wooly socks, a thick scarf and brought with me a fancy sleeping bag and tent.  Yay Irish summer! 

All of which is to say I slept a total of 1 hour through the night and sat shivering next to the dying embers of campfire at dawn, stoking the flames and rocking back and forth like a junkie in the effort to keep warm. 

But oh my, is Lough Dan wondrous.  These Irish got it good.  Drive 40 minutes south from Dublin and you're in a magical fairy land, replete with stony, electric green mountainside, misty mirror lakes and air so fresh you get a headache.  Growing up in the suburbs of midwestern America, I was so starved for nature that a group of trees on the side of a highway was akin to a nature preserve.  Look - a tall tree!  Some mulchy dirt!  And oh look, a bird.  That was it.  

It takes about 30/40 minutes to hike down to the beach, once you pass the 'No Camping Allowed' sign just opposite a field of sheep.  Descending into Lough Dan, there were moments when I fully expected the scenery to be one big green screen - Cabin In the Woods style.  Truly, this bounty of nature couldn't be real! I brought the camera along and ended up taking 1200+ pictures.  The sun began to set around 9pm and night set in just after 11pm.  I was grateful for sunrise (at about 4:30am) cos I got to capture some pretty amazing mist rising up from the lake. 

Here are some of my favorite shots from the trip:

The pathway in.

The beach. 

 The campfire kindle.

The rocky mountains next to the beach.

 Natural wine cooler. 

That morning mist.

After the mist. 

Hello stranger

It's been nearly seven months since my last post on here.  Part of why I haven't updated is because I wanted to post something really stellar upon my return - some real good, quality piece of writing.  But seeing as how I am awash with distraction (despite being unemployed), for now, I will just update on a couple things.

I finished up my post-graduate social policy course at University College Dublin a couple months ago and was recently accepted into the two year Masters in social work at Trinity that I've been vying for since Korean times.  I start this autumn.  So that's another two years guaranteed here in Dublin, which is wonderful.

Last month I started my own little picture shop on Etsy: Candy Mountain Photos, which you can view here: www.etsy.com/shop/candymountainphotos

Most of you know that I've long been fond of (obsessed with) picture taking pretty much as soon as I got my first passport in 2009.  The majority of the listings on the shop are for pictures I've taken in Ireland this past year, though I hope to add my Asian collection sometime soon. 

I've been in Dublin now for just over a year.  Now that I've this Masters to start and finish, Dublin will be the city I've stayed longest in since New York City, three years ago.  The novelty of living here hasn't worn yet and so I hope to be reporting more on things like Irishisms and whether or not it becomes natural for me to insert silly u's into words or break into song for no reason whatsoever. 

Here's a photo I recently took in Phoenix Park (bigger than Central Park!) that I feel represents the mood of where I am right now.  That sounded way more hipstery than I intended, but sure - I'm a grad student who's trying to sell photos, so what are you going to do.