Happy Noise
And here’s the thing with traveling, if you’re open to it
You have a destination in mind and / or perhaps an event
On this trip, we flew to Ireland to attend a wedding
A destination (Ireland) and an (wonderful) event (a wedding)
But part of traveling, for us, for C & S, we like the “good unexpected”
One big “good unexpected”, it’s crossing paths with people
Crossing paths with new people, people we’ve never met,
We enjoy crossing paths - with people - from different walks of life
We enjoy crossing paths with people(s) who walk in - different shoes
^^^^^
Brian -
A well kept, nicely groomed gentleman was seated at the table across from us on our train ride from Cork to Dublin. He wore a clean, new sweatshirt with 5 non-descript letters printed on front. I thought perhaps he was a Dublin business man at first, sizing him up, checking him out.
And then I saw an unknown American football helmet decal, on top of his closed laptop. I picked up on the football helmet sticker and used that as my lead in, a chance to speak. I asked him if he was an American. A fellow Yank?
Affirmative.
And we talked, the train ride from Cork to Dublin went by quickly. Brain is a product of New Hampshire. He lives somewhere in southern New Hampshire on a nice 3 acre lot. His Son’s dog, is now his dog. Brian, his dog and his Wife live on 3 acres in New Hampshire.
The football helmet sticker on his laptop, it’s from the University of South Carolina, where either his Son or Daughter attend Pharmacy school. (The letters on his sweatshirt are an acronym for the school. Something like U-S-C-C-O-P. (Something obscure, something like that.)
Brian is a dog lover. A proud Father. And, Brian (we learned) is - a Great Boss.
Brian was in Ireland (first time ever) on a business trip. Brain’s schtick is some sort of software. Paper elimination software, let's call it. (Go to factory floor and where you see people making notes on paper - eliminate it - the paper. Replace the ink and paper with bits and bytes. (Save a tree. Well, really efficiency. Put the data in the cloud.)
I asked and Brian told us he manages five employees. He spoke of them glowingly. He tells them to - “Make Mistakes”. He tells them - “Family First”. He tells them - “The buck stops on My Desk.” (“If you make a mistake, I will own it. Don’t worry. I am your Boss, a Boss who has your back.”)
I asked Brian about - His Boss. His face scrunched a little. (He said that his Boss was good, but not as good a Boss as he was. He said his Boss asks him for words of advice on how to be - a better Boss.)
That’s Brian, the Boss, on the train from Cork to Dublin. Brian - the Boss everyone always wanted. Brian, Father, dog lover, Boss - first time in Ireland.
Brian.
^^^^^
Aoife -
Take a stab at that one (rookies). Aoife. What?
A real Irish name. Aoife. Pronounced with a long letter “A”, the phonetic pronunciation is Ay-Fa. (Bet you didn’t get it right, first go.)
After the train ride, we took a tram ride. And while tram riding we spoke with two young woman. I asked C to take an empty seat. C did not want to sit and told me to take empty seat. Two young women told me to “Just Sit”.
Three women telling me to sit. Outnumbered, I obeyed. Good boy. Scott sat.
C and I asked the two young women seated next to me if the tram we were riding on went to the airport (where our hotel was located).
The two young Irish woman looked at eachother and shook their heads “no”. They said that the tram we were riding on did not go to the airport, but at the same time “we were not wrong”. (What?) “Although the airport was a good ways distant, we were headed in the correct direction.” (So there’s something to grab on to. In a foreign place. On a tram to God knows where.)
And it’s there and then, that another young woman, standing next to C, she chimed in. Joined our happy Irish tram talk. She said. “I am going in that direction. I will take you. I will take you there. I am going that way anyways. Come with me.”
(What? Was this a scam? People… people are not this nice. People, people like this don’t exist - do they?)
It’s then and there. We met St. Aoife (Ay-Fa), dear St. Aoife. (The patron Saint of lost Irish tram Tourist.)
Aoife (Ay-Fa), thirty something, pushing forty year old Aoife (Ay-Fa), she is a spitfire, a joyous soul, a beacon and an open book. (I love open books.)
Aoife is a Sister to another unusual Irish name, Brother. A Pogue (or something close to that). Aoife (Ay-Fa) flipped her car on the way to Pogue's wedding. Aoife (Ay-Fa) lived to tell the tale and told us that her Mom was happy she lived, because - get this - her Mom would have hated for it to be the day that both her Son married and her Daughter died. (That would have been bad wouldn’t it?, Aoife (Ay-Fa) said. And S & C nodded our heads “yes” - that would have been bad.)
I told Aoife (Ay-Fa) that I like to write. And guess what?
Aoife (Ay-Fa) likes to write too.
Aoife (Ay-Fa) is working on a story. In Aoife’s fictional work in progress, there is a Nurse who works in a hospital (guess what, Aoife works in a hospital) and there is a Fireman who she is dating, who her Nurse character met in hospital AND there is a Doctor who wants to date the Nurse character, but the Nurse says “No” (in an Irish brogue) to the Doctor. “I have a Mate”. (You want me but you can’t have me. I’m taken.)
And a twist… the Fireman and the Doctor are - - - wait for it - - - Brothers. (“It’s a girlie book,” says St. Aoife. And the bubble over Scott’s head says - “I think fantasy is the correct word, Aoife.” But I don’t verbalize that. I leave it there, wrapped in my head bubble.)
And St. Aoife, a hoot, a joy, a living Saint. She takes us by our tired hands. She gets us on a bus (somehow for free, because we don’t have cash and the bus does not take credit cards). And the bus takes us to her car. And Aoife drives us to our hotel, near the airport.
We ask her to come in and join us, that we might buy her some dinner or at least - a drink.
“Ay, no, I don’t want to drink and drive and you don’t owe me nuttin’”
Saint Aoife (Ay-Fa)
Yes, God. People like this - they Do exist. They walk among us, on this day, in our time.
Unbelievable.
^^^^^
And more, we don’t always catch the names. I wish we did, but we don’t always get the names (data).
But it is the people - their spirit - that’s what matters.
A woman working on the train, going the other direction, Dublin to Cork. She shined.
A woman pushing a beverage, food cart, she served us tea. We inquired and she told us that she was from Portugal. We inquired and she told us that she was working the Irish train because (she rubbed her thumb and first two fingers together, I guess a universal sign for moola, money, cash) the wages in Ireland were markedly better than in Portugal.
She told us that she is a Single Mom with two kids in College. One is studying to be a Nurse Practitioner and the other is working towards a degree (back home in Portugal) for something medical related, something equally prestigious.
She told her kids, she was doing this work for them, paying for their college - but it was a One Off - one chance - don’t screw it up. I will do this for you - Once. Make the most of it.
What a great example, right? What a wonderful Mom.
(I said, you must be very proud. And she is. She said that she was. She shined.)
We talked about other things. We talked about the state of the world. Smart lady, busting ass, for her kids. We liked her.
A wonderful path to cross, such a lady. An inspiration.
^^^^^
On way to the airport next morning, hotel shuttle bus, we sat across from a woman who must have overheard our conversation (C & S).
She asked where we were from. (Well that’s a long story.)
We asked about her, her life. She hailed from Napa, California and then Carmel. She designed wine labels for a living.
She said she could live anywhere in the world, but was in the process of moving to Kerry, Ireland.
How cool. How cool is that?
^^^^^
We met Yoshi and Emma, an Irish Guide Dog Trainer and Pup.
And we reconnected with Joe, a Nephew.
Joe is into Buddhism, interested in the practice and feels called to it. After the wedding ceremony we sat together, had some time together. Reconnected for a few minutes.
I think maybe all the hub and the bub of this big gathering wore on Joe. And me too. I’m a bit like that too. I like these events, big events, but then - I need to pull back - retreat - reflect - regroup.
Sometime mid-event, high pitch, all the voices humming - it kind of hit me - a zen thing.
I looped back to Joe, to share my (maybe) epiphany.
I said, “Joe, listen, I mean pull back and listen to that hum. All these people here today, at this event. All the conversation and the bustle.
It’s a hum isn’t it? Don’t you think - a happy noise.” Joe shook his head, up - down, he said “yes”. “A happy noise.”
Crossing paths with Saints.
Happy Noise
^^^^^
Photo:
Night view from The Dock Wall, West Cork, Union Hall - Ireland