Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Nine Things I Think

Nine Things I Think

Last updated on: April 10, 2014 at 5:31 pm by John Beckett

Nine Things I Think 2014-04-10T17:31:58-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Nine Things I Think is an irregular feature whenever I have a list of things I want to talk about that aren’t long enough for their own individual posts. Normally there’s no theme, but this time there is – these are the odds and ends from last month’s trip to England, Wales and Ireland.

Bath, England

1) England drew the short straw on this trip in both time and impressions, but I hope my English friends don’t think I don’t like their country. It’s beautiful and fascinating and it has more history than I could absorb in a lifetime. But all five of us had been to England before, so we cut our time there short so we could spend more time in Wales and Ireland.

My long range plans (i.e. – before I die) include at least two more trips to England – one an extended stay in London with a side trip to Canterbury, and another to Glastonbury and points west. Plus I’d love to participate in a seasonal ritual at Avebury some time, preferably with a local group.

2) Neither the English nor the Irish can make a decent sandwich. But other than that, the stereotypical bad British food was more urban legend than fact. Now, none of it was pizza-in-Sicily good, but I didn’t have a bad meal the whole trip, and the fish was excellent – whether it was fish & chips (I so wish we could get that here!) or grilled fish or one of the seafood soups/chowders. And English bacon is about a hundred times better than American bacon – it’s more like a mild version of country ham.

Two other nice things about eating in the Isles: whether we were at a deli, a pub, or a restaurant, I don’t recall one time when someone tried to sell me something I didn’t order. And the price on the menu is the price you pay – taxes are included in the menu price.

3) Guinness tastes better in Dublin. I don’t know why, but it does. I’m sure some of that is due to it being fresh, but it was better in Dublin than in Galway, all of two hours away. And the bartenders know how to pour it – slowly, in stages. It’s just not the same out of bottles or cans in America. If you’re going to drink beer, drink local beer.

4) I didn’t watch much TV while we were gone, but I did catch some newscasts here and there. And when I got back, it struck me just how bad American TV news is. I’m not talking about Fox’s right-wing propaganda or MSNBC’s ineffective attempt to provide balance. I’m talking about the vapid emptiness of local and national news: cutesy anchors and mindless banter, meaningless remote locations, endless teasers, obsessing on celebrities, and an emphasis on personal anecdotes instead of the big picture. I’m not sure when news stopped being news and started being entertainment, but that’s all it is any more.

Galway

5) I’m done with rental cars outside the US and Canada. I had a stressful experience driving in England in 2007, and the mechanical problems with our car in Ireland on this trip cost us a significant amount of money and time, including our planned stop at Rathcroghan. Trains, buses and taxis are far more readily available in Europe than they are here, and the added cost is more than offset by the lower stress of not driving on the wrong side of the road, dealing with narrow roads and heavy traffic, and shifting with your left hand.

6) Dublin is great and Dublin has a lot of cool stuff in or near it, but for just hanging out and relaxing, I loved Galway, on the west coast of Ireland. Lots of good food, lots of good music, and it’s all walkable. Yes, it’s a bit touristy – especially on the weekend with all the bachelor and bachelorette parties – but not in a bad way. Just remember you’re on the Atlantic coast – you’re going to get rain.

The Old Library, Trinity College, Dublin

7) As a bibliophile, seeing the Book of Kells was an amazing experience. But walking through the Old Library at Trinity College in Dublin was even more impressive. My vision of the afterlife includes a place very much like this – only without the green ropes to keep the tourists out of the stacks.

8) Did you know that beard trimmers can change their settings when they’re packed in your luggage? Either that, or the Welsh faeries decided the visiting Druid needed a much shorter beard. I keep my trimmer on “5” and use it about twice a week. On the last morning in Wales, I picked it up and turned it on for the first time on the trip. In my half-awake state, the first hint that something was wrong was after I had already made a pass along one side of my face and realized “that’s a lot more resistance than I’m used to…” followed by a rather panicked look in the mirror. The trimmer was on “1” – the shortest setting. Nothing to do at that point other than trim the whole thing short.

Oh well – my beard is more white than brown these days, but it still grows fairly fast. All was back to normal in about a week and a half.

9) My Paganism is both Nature-centered and Deity-centered and I’m in a constant dance to find the right mixture of the two. But on this trip – and especially in Wales – I felt a deeper connection with the land than I’ve experienced in many years. I had that connection to the land when I lived in Tennessee, particularly when I still had access to the land where I grew up. The land is different here in Texas, and I haven’t developed a deep connection with it even though I’ve been here for 12 years.

I think it’s time to make that connection a priority.

That’s the last of my trip-related posts, although the impressions and memories – and the pictures – will keep coming for a very long time.

Previous Post

April 8, 2014

From the Cauldron Born

Next Post

April 13, 2014 Water in the Desert

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to Ecclesiastes 2, what did the author try in search of meaning?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Teaching, healing, and prophecy Worship, prayer, and sacrifice Fasting, solitude, and silence Pleasure, work, and wisdom