spittle

when i was in enniskerry i sat on a bench next to john, he was eating his lunch - looked like a ham and onion sandwich and lost of mayonnaise, much of which squeezed out of the bagette with each bite he took and clung to the corners of his mouth. i intended to ask him about glencree and if he knew if there was public transport to get there or was i going to be walking, we ended up talking about faith, more so hope, and touched on politics, economics, and astrology (or 'solar philosophy' as he called it, which, apparently, Jesus was into). As we talked he splattered the ground in front of us with bits of his sandwich, and when that was gone he splattered his chin with his own spit from time to time. he asked me, when i told him i studied the bible in college, if i was a christian...er born again or something, and i told him that it depended a lot on what he meant by that; i told him i would certainly not deny my christian faith, and certainly aim my life at following Jesus, but that sometimes, i think, labels like 'christian...er bornagain' can be less than helpful if you really want to get to know what a person is all about. we talked about how sweet it is to be young, to explore and open up to the world, even to be idealistic. he said that ireland has lost much of its youthful idealism, and we pondered whether or not to lament that. i asked him, if there was a positive sort of idealism, what he though it would look like. he said it would look like openness, exploration, and hope for the future. then he wiped the spit off his chin, offered me half of his chocolate bar, he ate his half, i ate mine, he said something about not thinking that any one denomination, sect or even religion quite grasped - all by itself - the 'totality of the situtation', well said, i said, and we parted ways.

that was a few days ago. since then i have experienced some of the delights that can be found in county wicklow on the coast; specifically i enjoyed the delights of greystones, and delighted in the company found therein.
now i'm in edinburgh (arrived yesterday) - we're getting acquainted, the city and i. i sat on a bench today facing toward the castle, eating bread and cheese, reading 'lady of the lake' by sir walter scott (out loud, in the best accent i could muster). then i turned around and realized the large beautiful structure behind me was the sir walter scott monument.

what next?
Who knows.