Irish Organic Lifestyles

Some of you know that I once lived in Ireland. Well, the next entries you'll get here will be from Eire. I'm going back to the Emerald Isle tomorrow for the rest of the month.

Donal O'Hare's place is one stop I'll make. Donal is a tree specialist with the Republic of Ireland. You see me with his dog, Sparky, at the top of beautiful Wicklow Mountain in the photo above. I'll tell more about Donal and his work in the blog entries to come.

Michael Cahn, "Frost", is another old friend I'll see. Mike lives in Wicklow, an idyllic town just outside Dublin. Michael is an organic farmer and software developer. He's active in the World of Organic Farmers (WOOF) - you may have seen WOOF stickers on cars resembling country stickers. Michael's farm is the subject of Dulra, a website among many he's done. Surf there and you'll find links to many other projects he's involved with.

I'll also visit Dearbháil, who works with the Irish Traveller children.

Donal O'Danachair (above) is my good friend in Dublin. He and I met during the 90's in the dot-com boom and worked together at a magical software company in D4, as it's known, the "southside" of the River Liffey. Donal publishes a website called Ex-Classics, and in my podcast Swampcast, I interviewed him one Guinness infested night in front of historic Davey Byrne's pub. You can listen to the podcast by clicking here. Then, you'll learn what Ex Classics is all about and hear the evil effects of "A Pint of Plain". Donal has been bicycle commuting in Dublin since before cars were popular, I'll get a photo of his "sled" soon... And, I am trying desparately to memorize the words from "The Workingman's Friend" before I leave tomorrow, because in Ireland, being able to recite poetry from memory is a respected skill. I encourage you to click on this link and watch and hear it recited properly. Here it is, in all its glory: 'The Workmans Friend'

When things go wrong and will not come right, Though you do the best you can,
When life looks black as the hour of night -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

When money's tight and hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

When health is bad and your heart feels strange,
And your face is pale and wan,
When doctors say you need a change,
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

When food is scarce and your larder bare
And no rashers grease your pan,
When hunger grows as your meals are rare -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

In time of trouble and lousey strife,
You have still got a darling plan
You still can turn to a brighter life -
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

I could go on and on, but then I'd have nothing to say in the next blog post. So, until then, I'll say Slainte'!

And, we'll continue as if I am nowhere different, because we're here in the virtual Zoobird world! Let me hear from you, as always, through comments, messages, and posts.

All the best, Michael

PS - If you have any questions about the work my friends do, please either post to them directly here on Zoobird or message me if they're not Zoobird community members and I promise your questions will be heard.