My Lady Bird

I had the pleasure of spending a week in London last month, little did I know the outcome would result in become completely besotted with a lovely British bird named Clare. We actually met 4 years ago in Utah, friend of friend, rarely kept in contact since. Before I went to London I thought it'd be nice to meet up with her and hang out for a day, so we did. We had an incredibly romantic 5 days together and needless to say we were more than friends by the time she dropped me off a the airport. We kissed eachother goodbye but both knew we'd be seeing eachother soon. As soon as I got back to the farm in Ireland I called her when I walked in the door, to my pleasant surprise she had already looked up flights to visit me in Ireland. 5 weeks later I met her at Cork Airport and was never so happy to see someone. We spent the next 5 days in the countryside walking through fields, over rolling green hills and cow pastures, along seaside cliffs, picking blackberries, pulling potatoes in the garden, painting the old farm house, hitch hiking to nearby villages, working on my old sailboat and riding a ferry boat out to a gaelic island. We also did lots of cooking and baking together, ate cheese and a massive amount of chocolate. It really was the most ideal 5 days together we could ask for. I was absolutely gutted to see her go but she'll be back for my birthday next month so I think I'll survive.

This has all come so unexpected to me. Here I am on my travels, just living day by day, making the most of the world at my disposal. I definitely wasn't expecting to find the love of my life just yet. Couldn't be happier.

Mountain Song

As of late, the warm sun, wood smoke, and smell of the chill in the evening air has made me undeniably nostalgic for the end of last summer in the woods and mountains of the Carolinas. Last summer was by far one of the best summer of my life. It's was The Endless Summer with four of my best friends Barb, Adam, Ben, and our dog Tank. Doing what we love most, being in the mountains. Running through the woods barefoot, sliding down a rock face and plunging into the fresh river water, roaring camp fires, cooking feasts for breakfast lunch and dinner, climbing to the highest point and looking out over the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains, lying in my hammock between tall pine trees as the wind rocks me to sleep. It had been many years since I played in the mountains of North and South Carolina, returning to them made me fall in love all over again. Listening to Fleet Foxes always brings me back to that summer, driving through the mountains listening to Ragged Wood in our Volvo stationwagon, windows down, Tank's face in the wind as our packs in the back shift from side to side as we sway up the shady wooded mountains roads. The voices of Swedish duet First Aid Kit covering Fleet Foxes Tiger Mountain Peasant Song also really brings me back to the mountains and woods I love dearly.