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Ag Siúl i Nádúr Cathracha

Nuair chuir mé cuairt na bothán bhéar ag rince ina Sliabh Ghiúis, shiúl mé ina gairdin. Thosaigh teas ann. Bhreathnaigh mé dhá earc. Bhí siad glas dubh. Bhí breac leis ballógaí bideachaí. Throid siad. Nó, b'fhéidir, chúpailaigh siad! Níl fhios agam na difríocht.

Níor chonaic mé é aríst. Chuaigh earc eile ar ais ag áit príomha air faoi na céimeannái tosaigh na bothóg. Smaonaigh mé go raibh na earc amháin ag dulta a codladh ina scáth.

Rith siad ar gach taobh ina bláthannaí gorm agus buí. Shílim go raibh ag déanamh na bhfolachán. D'imigh laghairt ceánn ag dul i cró folaigh. Cheileadh sé féin faoi na lilí an earraigh.

D'fhan mé ar an bus an seachtaine caite. Chríochnaigh mé ag obair. Bhí sé aon ar an clog. Fhás an grein go laidir. Sheas mé in aice leis an crann. Stoip mé ar an cosán sráide ag imeall ar an bhfál. Eist mé dordán. Bhi fideach ag fústráil thart. Ach, níl na beach ag imeacht thart go déanfasach ar an aer. Chuala mé crónán níos lú sna cluasa agam. Thuisligh sé. Rinne an beach bheith ag fáinneail ar an cosán. Níl mé ábalta cuideamh é.

Inniu, tháinig fir tine ar an bothar seo. Dhóigh tine ar an cnoc tirim os cionn ár teacht. Ach, chruinnigh siad go luath. Nigh siad na tine air go tapaidh. Níor bhol mé deatach uile. Mar sin féin, d'éirigh toiteannaí ina mhullaigh timpeall an bhaile anseo. Choinnigh fir tine an chontúirt uaidh.

Fágann contúirt anois, ach fanann dainséar ina gach samhraidh go leor. Insíonn mé agaibh an praghas seo nuair maireachtaíodh sé ina Stát Órga. Is cosuil muid earcaí ag rith agus beach bocht ar aghaidh na cumhacht na nádúr.

Walking in Urban Nature

When I visited the Cabin of the Dancing Bear in Pine Mountain, I walked in the garden. The heat began there. I watched two lizards. They were dark green. They were speckled with tiny spots. They fought. Or, perhaps, they coupled! I couldn't tell the difference.

They ran all around in the blue and yellow flowers. I thought that they were making hide-and-seek. One lizard went into a hiding place. He hid himself under the spring lilies.

I did not see him again. The other lizard went back to his original place under the front steps of the cabin. I thought that the other lizard went to sleep in the shade.

I waited for the bus last week. I had ended working. It was one o'clock. The sun grew strong. I stood near a tree. I stopped on the sidewalk around a hedge. I heard a drone. An insect was buzzing about. But, the bee was not able to go buzzing in the air. I heard the smallish buzz in my ears. It staggered. The bee made circles that went around on the path. I was not able to help it.

Today, the firemen came to this street. A fire burned on the dry hill above our house. But, they gathered quickly. They washed the fire away rapidly. I did not smell any smoke. All the same, the smokepuffs rose up around the summit around the neighborhood here. The fire men kept the danger away.

The danger left us now, but much danger waits every summer. I tell you this price when one lives in the Golden State. We are like the running lizards and poor bee before the power of nature.

Iómhá / Image: Tate Gallery. Nicholas Monro: "Animals Running Through the Fire"