Due to the recent pursuit of a piano (precipitated by the demise of my Plantingfield Way piano - literally, with the bed, a chair, and a table, the only things we owned as a young family moving into that house), a project that took me to Boston on the only day I had available, my birthday on Saturday October 22 - a fitting enough day to indulge myself, I'd say - I was also able to take in the Bunratty seisiun that afternoon. The day began auspiciously enough, with smooth sailing on the 7am ferry and an easy drive to Boston; the return, however, was anything but smooth. There's nothing worse than driving a couple of hours at the end of the day, tired, then having the (all-too-brief) satisfaction of arriving at the ferry terminal exactly on time, only to be told "All the ferries are cancelled due to the wind." Okay, there are worse things, and I'm an Island girl so I can go with the flow (after I've had a good night's sleep, that is). Edgartown to Boston: 3 1/2 hours; Boston to Edgartown: 17 1/2 hours. At any rate, I did end up with a piano I like - and this will go in the dining room, right where my childhood piano sat, coming full circle and making all things right again: though I have a nice keyboard in the studio, a home is not really a home without a piano. Happy birthday to me (and future generations). The session was frosting on the birthday cake.
A reel set, starring Liam, Frankie, Connie, Colin, Pat, Joe, Wynter, and Laura.
6:30 a.m., Vineyard Haven Harbor, with the dory Grace gracing center stage.
M/V Island Home.
Look who came out to see me at Bunratty today - little Finbar (and his parents).
Joe, Wynter, Laura.
Wynter, Laura.
Frankie
Colin
Joe
Joe, Wynter.
Wynter, Laura.
Liam
Frankie and Connie.
Laura
Joe, Wynter, Laura, Liam, Frankie, Connie, Colin (and Sara's pint) (Pat was here, too, but I guess he arrived later).
Joe, Wynter, Laura.
Joe, Wynter, Laura.
Wynter, Laura, Liam.
Liam, Frankie, Connie.
Joe, Wynter.
Connie, Colin.
Liam, Frankie, Connie.
Wynter, Laura, Liam, Frankie.
Sunday morning: the Woods Hole in Woods Hole. This is the new freighter/passenger ferry (I have yet to ride on her). The first boat to sail was the 10:45 Island Home. Sitting in Woods Hole all morning (I arrived at 6:30) reminded me of the old days when only a few ferries a day ran and if you missed one it was a long wait in a very bleak Woods Hole with nothing open.
All in all, a successful birthday. Thanks, everybody!
Still catching up with myself. Here are a few favorites from my birthday party down on the Vineyard back in October. This was an amazing and wonderful weekend - there will be more of these Vineyard Sessions to come. Stay tuned.
Liam
David, Seanny.
David, Liam, Sean
Laura, Stuart.
My favorite photo from the weekend: Sean, Laura, Liam, Eric, and David.
Post-session session, Stuart and Mark.
My house was built on land that was farmed by my great-grandparents. The original farmhouse, next door and shown above, was my great-grandparents', Charles and Mary Isadora Lawlor Shurtleff's home, and is where my grandmother grew up, and where my mother spent summers as a little girl - playing games with her cousins in the glow of kerosene lantern light. Mary Shurtleff''s parents were Mary and James Lawlor, both born and died in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, really my only biological connection to Ireland. On some level, this party was a nod to the Lawlors. Isn't DNA grand? Who really understands why we follow the paths that we do? Coincidentally, Charles Shurtleff and I share the same birthday, October 22.
