Travel Agent

When I was ten-years old, I wanted to be a travel agent when I grew up. To me, this meant sitting down with adults in my 'office,' talking to them about their interests, and then introducing them to a 'country' that would offer them the opportunity to explore their interests. These professional aspirations took root on an overcast day when I accompanied my mother to the Williamsville branch of the Buffalo Public Library. I strolled into the travel section and saw books about strange, distant lands with names such as 'Albania,' 'Scandinavia,' 'Madagascar,' and 'Indonesia.' How could one possibly not be instantly drawn in?

I distinctly remember reaching for a book entitled Ireland: The Emerald Isle. As green was my favorite color, it made perfect sense to have a look. Inside were crinkled pages filled with pictures of nothing but green hills, green pastures, and green bogs. There were photographs of crumbling castles and strange beehive huts. There were drawings of misshapen mounds and circles dug into the dirt labeled 'fairy forts.' Surely there was much to learn about this extraordinary place.

I began to read, and by doing so, learned about shape-shifting changelings (sídhe), leprechauns (lepreachán), and half-man/half-seal selkies. Thus began a lifelong fascination with folklore - not just that of Celtic lands - but of lore from around the world.

I am looking forward to spending time this summer musing about the stories, poetry, and songs of Ireland that I have read and heard over the years. This blog is intended to be a collection of, well, ideas... musings about things I find amusing, questions about riddles, connections between tales of peoples from different parts of the world, and interpretations of song and poetry.

I hope you enjoy scrolling around this blog from time to time.


Cheers!

Bill