I was up at 5 a.m. to do some writing before leaving for Cliffs of Moher and Galway on Wild Rover Tours. It’s clear across the country, as Dublin is on the east coast and rather central and this day trip would take us straight across the the west coast and the Atlantic Ocean.
We met the bus at 6:55.
We left the hotel at 6:30.
I experienced some unusual motion sickness. So M took that as an occasion to drug me on the way home.
We stopped at a service plaza where I purchased overnight oats that turned out to be the best oatmeal I ever had.
The Cliffs were gorgeous but they had a lot of wind. The wind tossed people around.
Ireland has stone walls that serve as property lines and date back 5,000 years. I knew that, in a way, but I did not suspect how many there are. They are everywhere. The Burren, as Stephen the tour guide said, had some of the most welcoming, beautiful scenery anywhere in the world. As M said, “I don’t usually get off on a field of grass but…”
I don’t have many photos because I needed to save my phone’s battery life as we were away all day. The bus had USB charging ports but I have a USB-C cord. Perhaps if M reads this he will send some of his photos.
But I do have a video of some unusual, but also ordinary, traffic. Keep in mind, they drive on the left in Ireland so that narrow passageway in the video is indeed the other lane. “This is what we call gridlock traffic” Click here.
The craziest part of the day was when we reached Claddagh Jewellers on Shop Street in Galway, I felt something family about the branding of the shop. I studied the window displays and I found the wedding rings Darrell Parry and I ordered from the Irish store, Donegal Square, in downtown Bethlehem. We spent hundreds of dollars on them and waited for months for them to arrive from Ireland.
And we got compliments on them all the time. In the last photo in the series, the gold ring directly in the center of the bottom row is the men’s version.
What we heard: The Guinness Storeroom has the most amazing view of Dublin.
What they don’t tell you: The Guinness Storeroom is a seven-story funnel designed to cram as many people as possible into a glitzy special effects zone that glosses over the basics of beer production.
The self-guided tour functions in a spiral that forces the visitor upward until they finally reach a rooftop bar surrounded 360 degrees by floor-ceiling glass. That’s where the ticket holder gets their pint, while surveying some of the most beautiful views of Dublin. But at the time, you get to share the space with hordes of other people, not enough seating and some of the loudest music you’ve ever heard.
So, it’s like a crowded bar on the weekend in vivid daylight.
And for fans of industrial history like me, it’s a disappointment.
And who decided to pass out lots of alcohol and tell people to climb stairs and escalators…
I probably would have paid extra to skip the fields of barley and cascading water to focus on a quiet room with historical artifacts.
The cask-making room was the best done– with displays of all the tools and photos of the men working. There were videos of how it was done and signs about how back-breaking the work was. But it was tiny, with ginormous piles of casks that competed with the actual history.
And the trains were on the same floor as the cafe. It made the trains feel like an afterthought instead of the exhibit.
But next to the trains there was an interesting piece of artwork. A sculpture listing the surnames of the workers. That was a fascinating recognition that industry is built on the backs of people.
I wish I had some exciting reason that it’s been two weeks without a post. The reality is that I’ve been ghostwriting a novel and that every free moment I have has been dedicated to that client who is currently paying my mortgage. Luckily, I love the client, I love the story and I love the whole experience of being a part of the project so it’s not a hardship by any means.
The book publishing entity– Parisian Phoenix Publishing— has been paying the other costs of life. If you follow the blog there and/or read the Substack newsletter, you will see we are always doing something to keep the company and its authors growing. And if you need another reminder of why and where to buy books, check out the shop we’ve curated at Bookshop.org, where you can shop online and designate your favorite independent bookseller to receive the profits from the sale.
So, rather than try to catch you up with every bit of crazy while I’ve been away, let me provide this fine list:
The Initial Joys of Summer
The Teenager only has a few more days of Teenagerdom and she has spent much of the last month renovating our garage into an indoor/outdoor living space. She is hosting her birthday party out there and I can’t wait to show you the final result.
2. I have started using the outdoor patio more as the Internet extends that far and there’s really no excuse.
3. We decided to try the Papa Johns Cheeseburger Pizza and their new Spicy Lemon Pepper Wing Sauce. The boneless wings are terrible, but the sauce is out of this world. And the burger pizza– especially with the $10 promotional price point–might be our new favorite food. The Teenager has proclaimed that all pizza should have pickles.
4. I spent some more time with my cat, Fog. We normally use a “crate and rotate”-style system for all the animals. For the last year, my boy Fog, our old tripod Opie and the cat the rescue gave up on, Canyon, have been in my room. We decided to let them free roam and this meant I got to spend some time during my long work days with my man, Fog.
5. Speaking of cats, our houseguest, Paulie, still loves to bite me, but he has gotten quite forward about being in my business.
6. We pre-gamed the Teenager’s birthday by going to Dave & Buster’s for some arcade time and then visited this strange convenience store with the old style poker video machines, alcohol, vaping supplies, penny candy, ice cream, strange snacks and all the household goods one would expect from a convenience store.
7. I made some new recipes including rhubarb quick bread (think banana bread but with rhubarb) and my own twist on fried pickles. I smeared/shredded cheese on a kosher dill pickle sandwich slice and then pinched it into a piece of Italian meat before breading and frying. Both were amazing.
8. My 2015 Jetta turned over to 71,000 miles. The Teenager has been driving it for work, so it only had 55,000 on it when I got laid off from Stitch Fix in September. But in other exciting news, before the end of the month, the Teenager should pay off her 2012 Nissan Rogue which we’ve had two years when we only planned to keep it for six months. It’s pretty much ready for a demolition derby now, but it was The Teenager’s first car loan and she paid it off six months early.
And lucky number nine….
(The Celts believed 9 was a holy number, because nine was a collection of three sacred threes.)
9. Today, I got to have a lavender matcha latte with my book-making, mixed media, painting artist friend Maryann Riker of Justarip Press. We stopped at Spectacular Coffee at Easton’s Silk Mill after indulging in a green sale (yes there is such a thing!) at Vasari Oil Paint.
Today I had the pleasure of hanging out with one of the Parisian Phoenix authors in the morning and to go on a job interview this afternoon.
Both of these activities reminded me of the different types of intelligence and social interactions people have.
I have been working hard with my freelance clients and working on building the presence of Parisian Phoenix that I had forgotten that sometimes it just feels good to interact with new humans and to help people already in one’s circle with situations I have faced or thought about before.
I was not necessarily energetic or feeling like I was putting my best food forward before the job interview today, despite having a stellar morning with someone I respect and enjoy. Even now, I feel a little exhausted and out of sorts.
Maybe because I am learning to take care of myself in a new type of professional landscape.
The interview went very well, and even if I am not their final hire, I gave them some ideas that they can use. And the interview reminded me that I have more knowledge and experience than I sometimes think. Sometimes we are ready for the next adventure and have all the necessary skills without having scaled that exact mountain.
And sometimes it just feels good to have conversations with new people.
And when you are me, it always feels good to take photos of trucks and industrial scenes and blue sky.
Even before the month went off the rails, Gayle and I made plans to visit the fashion exhibits at two of our local Lehigh Valley art centers: the Allentown Art Museum and the Banana Factory. The teenager’s work schedule allowed her to join us, and she had been to neither spot in probably a dozen or more years.
Her father and I once held memberships at both the Lehigh Valley Zoo and the art museum– as both are great places to entertain a preschooler.
Gayle wanted to see the art museum exhibit because she had some of those clothes from the Sixties, and I wanted to see it because I love post-World War II history and I have a minor obsession of fashion in the artistic sense. If you’ve read my Fashion and Fiends novels, this makes sense.
I took sooooooo many photos and honestly– hey, Joan, take note: I’d like to go back and bring a sketch book and some implements. And if I had a camera…
Our first stop had to be the Frank Lloyd Wright library. The Teenager has always loved it, and today proved no exception. She had a magnificent time pointing out how all the details fit together and complemented each other in clean, minimal design.
I am always drawn to certain items: the Tiffany glass, the writing set, the painting of the tall man with many eyes that hangs in the stairs, the man with the pipe that makes me think of Pablo Picasso, and the woman with cigar.
But then came the fashion…
I think I might wear these.Sixties profiles, note the white leatherclassic black pleats and burgundy boots that really accentA dress with see-through pants and bold gold jewelrymen’s paisley pants that I adorehosiery from Hess’s (What color!)So simple.I love boots.How far we’ve come.colors, patterns galoreI gasped in delight when I saw thesewhat delightful patternsI can’t even. Clown shoes.First glance: Kangaroo? Then, notice the lines, the overlapping necklines, how the zipper aligns with the ties
So much to explore. Colors and patterns vibrating through the room.
And since the museum no longer charges admission, I bought a very bold umbrella at the gift shop.
Next, we headed to South Bethlehem’s Banana Factory. At their exhibit, featuring the work of local designer Barbara Kavchok. The work blew my mind, and the paintings and fashion illustrations that accompanied the dresses… well, if I wasn’t losing my job I would have inquired how to obtain one or two. The flowers. The ruffles. The lines. All just flabbergasting.
I had to stop in the bathroom, where I paused to take photos of the paint stains in the sink.
I had been trying to eat healthy all day, and all day my blood pressure was low and my body wobbly (to use the teen’s words) and hands shaky. So I got a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s.
Every day I find myself more ashamed of my weight and my food choices– and every day I make more excuses. It has to stop. It just has to change. My body can’t take the extra pounds.
I loved being a newspaper reporter and I adored working for weeklies the best. Weekly newspaper reporters typically had a geographic beat, whereas daily reporters had a topic-oriented beat. I worked in Phillipsburg (N.J.) School District (Phillipsburg, Lopatcong, Pohatcong, Greenwich, and Alpha) for several papers and Bethlehem (Pa.) Area School District for another.
I covered Phillipsburg from early 2000 to late 2005.
I know so many things about the region, its neighborhoods and its nooks and crannies. It’s how Maryann Ignatz of Steve’s Café on South Main Street in Phillipsburg ended up in the Parisian Phoenix anthology, Not an Able-Bodied White Man with Money. (Which Amazon has a ridiculous deal on right now. $2.60 each, limit four. I don’t think I can order them from the printer for that low of a price. So I ordered some. This also allows me to see if they really do have as many of my books in stock as they say they do. But I may do a Parisian Phoenix blog to explore this more. I ordered some books from Bookshop and Amazon, the kind I did not publish.)
But I digress.
Feline Urban Rescue and Rehab at Phillipsburg Petco
The cat rescue for which I foster originated in the Phillipsburg area “back in those days.” Mars, The Teenager’s foster fail, and his sister, the shy Minerva I mention occasionally, spent time in the Phillipsburg Petco to improve their socialization with a certain cat volunteer who I believe is the only person who has purchased, read & reviewed all of my novels. I call her my only true fan. She even bought some as Christmas presents for family. (I swear to this individual, I am writing the next installment. I am.)
So, when they have a “Meet the Kitties” event, someone from that crew usually invites Minerva.
Yesterday I received such a text.
I was in my bedroom plotting my catch-and-crate technique for the shy girls. I had two potential crates at the Petco, so if I could nab Minerva and tripod Louise, then they could share the crate on site, and eight month old kitten Jennifer Grey could have the other. Except Louise knew something was up and hid.
That’s when my friend and Parisian Phoenix photographer Joan Zachary texted.
“You going to be around later? I have some stuff I forgot to give you.”
I told her: The only place I had to go was to the cat event.
“I haven’t picked up my camera enough.”
Joan said she’d like to come photograph cats, as she hadn’t picked up her camera enough and could use the inspiration.
I don’t know what made me say it, but I asked her: “Have you ever seen the dinosaurs in Alpha?”
I warned her that they weren’t that exciting, unless you had a thing for dinosaurs or were five.
“I’m five at heart,” she replied.
So I told The Teenager that Joan would be coming over and we would go spend some time at Meet the Kitties and I might take Joan to see the dinosaurs.
“Can I come?!?!?!” she exclaimed as if she were five.
I have taken her to see the dinosaurs probably every three years since she was not-even-two-years-old. And she still acts likes the random metal dinosaurs are exciting.
G.J. Oliver’s Dinosaurs
We drove Joan to the Phillipsburg Petco where she took some kitty cat photos (“you need them for the new cat book,” she said). Then, with two cats and The Teenager in the car we headed to Alpha to the Industrial Park to see the dinosaurs. I heard the story about the dinosaurs at an Alpha council meeting, when someone was talking about how confused the MedEvac helicopter pilot was when a dispatcher told him to look for the dinosaurs to find the small municipality.
The story goes that industrialist G.J. Oliver built the life-sized metal dinosaurs, complete with a rather blocky, Minecraft-style caveman, for his grandson. Online research reports that the Oliver operation is a steel fabrication company, which makes a lot of sense. We did a photo tour of small town Alpha for the newspaper “in my day” and included another Alpha icon, the now defunct Charlie’s Pool Room which was primarily a hot dog joint run by two brothers with some blue plates, a crock pot, a skillet and their grandmother’s secret sauce.
The dinosaurs have been standing now for decades. The main display of dinosaurs in the field are now white. The Teenager insisted that they had to have been primed as the white was too even and perfect. The dinosaur by the gate is still deep green, which makes me wonder if sun damage may have bleached the others. (As of this writing, Joan has only shared her iPhone photos. She has not played with the real camera shots yet. And both the Teenager and I, having seen the dinosaurs a dozen times before, did not snap token photographs.)
photo by Joan Zachary via iPhone
Ingersoll’s Valley View Neighborhood of Edison’s Concrete Houses
photo by Joan Zachary, via iPhone
As we departed Alpha, some random information about my newspaper days started tumbling from my mouth.
“Did you ever hear about Thomas Edison’s patented, single-pour concrete houses?”
The Teenager, who has a fascination with all things built, leaned closer. Okay, maybe I’m being dramatic. But suddenly she looked up from her phone where she was probably engulfed in TikTok.
Phillipsburg has changed a lot over the years. The Ingersoll Rand tract has finally been developed into warehouses. When I still attended Phillipburg council meetings (before The Teenager was born), the town council constantly discussed the land’s redevelopment and finally took the parcel by eminent domain. Or maybe they just talked about it. But I’m pretty sure they did. I also remember one property on the site I may have visited in the first attempt to revive the site, but that might be my imagination.
So, it’s no surprise I lost my bearings among the warehouses and had to google Gino’s Market, the landmark of the Valley View neighborhood where the concrete homes (one neighborhood of only three in New Jersey featuring the experimental quick-to-erect, low-cost homes by early 20th century standards) stand. I don’t know why I didn’t google Green Street School.
I had overshot the neighborhood by a street and that’s how I confused myself. I had the Early Childhood Center in view the entire time but I was on the opposite side of the building where I thought I was.
Now, honestly, I don’t know if Joan really needs all my quirky adventures. I’d like to think she does. And The Teenager laments that she never knew me as a reporter and that she would love to experience all these strange tidbits I have floating in my head. I don’t know what made me think of the concrete houses today, but The Teenager loved them. I suppose it’s no surprise that I write fiction because sometimes my paranormal stories are less strange than my real life.
There is an industrial site about a mile from my home, probably a brownfield. Everything on the property has been demolished, except for a mega-furnace of some sort, metal and concrete, far across the field like a spaceship from a 1940s science fiction movie.
This has fascinated me, again and again. So today I invited my photographer friend Joan Zachary and we went on a photo adventure. And trespassing.
Angel Ackerman 