This peacock is perched in a tree visible from our window at our B & B near Nenagh in Ireland.  How strange it is to walk outside here on the beautiful grounds and see so many plants and birds that I don’t recognize.  There are also ducks and herons and starlings… those at least are familiar, and of course the two peacocks and two peahens that are so photogenic.  We have had very spotty internet access, which has added to the feeling of disorientation–I have become so used to finding immediate answers to questions, and connecting to long distance friends.

On my first walk yesterday evening, I was delighted to find a familiar friend–the beech tree, my dear buddy from back home… except I have never seen a whole forest full of them.  I have only seen huge single beauties in the US.  But all along the driveway here they grow, dozens of them, huge and covered in ivy, and I also found more along the backs of the buildings and the garden pathways.

Touching the beech tree helped me to feel connected in a strange land.