Blogtrotter

Ag súil i ngarran.

Tá mé ag súil beagán nuair téann mé ag baint mo mhac Leon de scoil. Tá sean-garran eoclaip bídeach ag trasna na lána. D'éirigh mé de mo ghluaistéan. Thosaigh mé ag dul amach ag spaisteoireacht ansin.

Títeann na duilleoga a chaitheamh go leor inniu. Seasamh mé coirt crainne ag déanamh cnagarnach os ard. Tá fothram glórach ó rúsc go leor ann.

Ach, níl mothar ann. Ní bheadh tú ag dul isteach fáschoill ar chor ar bith fós. Is maith gleo mór go bhfuil ag déanamh mé ann.

Feicim radharc a fháil ar Glen Naomh Gabriel. Níl mé ábalta fáil ar fad, mar sin féin. Bíonn amharc doiléir go hionduil ann. Tá aimsir smúitiúil le deanaí freisin.

Is cuimhne liom mo coláiste. Bhí tríoch mblian go ham seo ar an laghad anois. D'imir mé cluiche peile agus cluiche corr in aice leis ar an líne eoclaipe eile ansiud.

Ceapaim go raibh na ranga sean-crainn ann. Is docha go raibh siad ag timpeall dhá scoil ag chéile ag fáschta ar feadh laethannaí rhainseoireachtaí. Measaim go raibh céad os a chionn i bhfad ó shín.

Bhí grá mór leis Séan Ó Mordha nuair ag déanta a thuras de shiúl cos thar sliabh agus gleann ag imeall bealach cnocha go direach taobh thuas Pasadena agus Altadena de scoil Lheon ca mbeidh mé ag súil aríst. Is iontach liom. B'fhéidir, tá mé ag lorg Ui Mordha a leanúint gach uair.

Walking in a grove.

I am walking a bit when I go to get my son Leo from school. There's a tiny old eucalyptus grove across the lane. I get out of my car. I start going for a stroll over there.

The leaves fall down a lot today. I tread on the bark "making crunchy" loudly. There's a tumultuous din from so much bark there.

But, it's not a thicket there. You won't find going in any underbrush at all there either. I like the great noise that I make there.

I see to get a look at San Gabriel Valley. I'm unable to view for far, however. There's usually a hazy vista there. The weather's smudgy lately too.

I remember my high-school. This was thirty years ago at least now. I played soccer and baseball near the line of other eucalyptus over there.

I think that the row of trees was old there. It's likely that they were planted around the two schools both during the days of the ranchers. I reckon that was over a hundred years way back.

John Muir had a great love when he made his trek by footpath over mountain and glen around the Pasadena and Altadena hillside way straight on the slope over Leo's school where I will be walking again. I wonder. Perhaps, I am following Muir's steps every time.

W.C. Fitler, "Eucalyptus Avenue." (Photogravure). 1888. Captaen/Caption: "As the title page promises, John Muir's Picturesque California is a vast medley of different mediums of illustration, depicting the scenery and daily life of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific West. The boulevards of a new middle class mecca like the town of Inglewood, 'wisely chosen where grand avenues of eucalyptus and pepper trees are already grown' are accorded the same artistic treatment as the glories of the high Sierra. All sorts of illustrative media rub shoulders in Muir's volumes, as jumbled as the scenery."