Praise be the world beyond Facebook

Double Vision with Charlie Adley

Last week I was lost for a moment between two worlds – the real one in which we taste chocolate, smell farts and feel the power of loving hugs…and the world of Facebook, where those with opinions dare to feel powerful, because nobody is staring them in the eye.

Packing Blue Bag I headed south for one night at my excellent friend Angel’s gaff, down in Co. Kerry, and one night on my own in West Clare.

What a great time of year to see Ireland. With high pressure keeping the rain belts out in the Atlantic, I drove on empty roads, barely offering a brake light all the way from Briarhill to Abbeyfeale.

My heart felt light, my soul singing as I drank in the amber grandeur of the Kingdom’s hills; the rare sullen stillness of its bays.

Angel’s mobile is perched on a clifftop, so as we drank 325 cups of tea, talking nonsense of profundities and profoundly of nonsense, my eyes kept glancing out of the window, drawn below to great waves pounding jagged black rocks.

Forget that stuff about blokes not sharing their feelings. We have known each other for many years, understand each other’s madness and whilst keeping the industries of Sri Lanka and Kenya alive, we sat from 2 ’til 11:30, pondering life’s quandaries.

Then I fell asleep to the sound of Atlantic breakers, waking in the morning refreshed and eager for the day.

No schedule.

No rush.

Never have I seen that road from Dingle to Tralee so empty. In the summer it becomes a hideous snake of tourist traffic, but on a sunny cold Thursday morning at the end of February, it was all mine.

Much of the time I drove in silence, and then I whacked on Christy Moore, singing along with the uninhibited vigour that solitude allows.

Eventually I felt I ought to see what was happening in the world, so I hit the radio, where all the talk shows were pondering the Florida school massacre.

To read Charlie’s column in full, please see this week’s Galway City Tribune.