wild melody

dear rend collective experiment, i think it was love at first listen. partly because it was my favorite hymn ya'll rewrote. partly because let's be honest, i've been obsessed with Ireland & my irish heritage since age 5 and its incurable after visitng the island at 21. mostly though, its the way you draw my heart to see Christ. your music is a tool He uses. like putting a filter over my camera lens, one that causes God's beauty to sharpen in focus & the flashy cheapness of the world's pleasure to blur.  i love the way you speak what my heart feels. i love the fresh words you use--they're not big or new words. simple, honest words; the kind i use to speak about my relationship with God that i rarely hear in songs. our language is so tired in the church, while our story is quite the opposite! for example  keep me near : "rescue me in weakness of mind...You are everything that is beautiful, You are all that i want to see in me; create in me a hear...

dearest Eire. i love this place. i left my heart here, (^see photo) on the cliffs of moher 2 years ago... sásta Lá Fhéile Pádraig! ((happy st patrick's day)) its one of my favoritest days! some irishness for you poor souls who are lucky enough to be irish today, but not lucky enough to be irish forever. ;) forgive me for the sentimental cheesiness...love has a way of doing that to folks...and i am def in love with Eire . this one is sickeningly ridiculous...but it says in love with the ocean and God and so hey. that saves it? what shall i say about the Irish? The utterly impractical, never predictable, Sometimes irascible, quite inexplicable, Irish.Strange blend of shyness, pride and conceit, And stubborn refusal to bow in defeat. He's spoiling and ready to argue and fight, Yet the smile of a child fills his soul with delight. His eyes are the quickest to well up with tears, Yet his strength is the strongest to banish your fears. His hate is as fierce as his devotion is grand...

N and I share an affection for Indiana Jones & Lego's . So I took his Lego Indy with me to Eire. He lost his fedora and whip, but had a marvelous time so we're still friends... He played the balloon game with us in Chicago: toured dublin hung out in a lil surf town explored the Cliffs of Moher enjoyed Killarney National Park... & hot cocoa in Lahinch!

Our 5th day, Paddy's (aka john) cold from the day before became a horridness of sick. No driving allowed. He slept the whole day. Beks wasn't feeling well either. Sarah, Steph, Luke and I couldn't bear to spend the day inside (even if it was an irish cottage) so we went on a walking tour. After exploring countryside, chasing sheep and climbing fences for photoshoots in ruins; Lo and behold, we were practically on top of the Burren! Rock + ocean + gorgeous views... Even the rainy days have a sunrise in Eire. Poor Patrick. :( I left my camera behind because the lens cap ran off with a leprechaun. These pics are from our resident Galen Rowell, Luke. "Our" castle. Exploring the Burren. This little cave/hollow place was incredible. You could hear waves crashing into the rock face, the winds blew incessantly into it. It was also littered with shredded cheese and seaweed-like soggy pretzels. The fantastic four! :) It rained our whole walk home. Steph sang for us. Soaking...

We saw an entire rainbow. It was more vibrant than any Florida rainbow... I don't get the appeal, but the guys really wanted thier picture at the end of the rainbow...we didn't find skittles or pots of gold. Dingle Harbor.

John was getting a bad cold but he was still willing to pull over for photo-ops every few minutes. Steph, Luke and I wandered down a hill (hence this shot) while Sarah and Beks talked to an American couple. Prehistoric...umm yeah about that. They're not actually prehistoric. It was a fun side trip though. John chasing sheep. He didn't catch one. Irish surfing. This cove was lovely! One of my favorite places. All of us scattered and explored on our own.