Dia is Mhuire díobh go léir a chairde, and welcome to my weekly report.
You’re never too old to see or learn something new. They say there is always a first for everything. The latest mini-heatwave came as a bit of a surprise, well I wasn’t expecting it anyway. I always take cover indoors when the sun is too hot. It’s another advantage of being on the non-working list. Those engaged in outdoor employment have the take the heat. God love them. Animals can also be affected in their own way and if they are free to do so can head for cooler terrains. But one of our family canines wasn’t so smart recently. Not yet a fully grown Labrador with a satin furry coat, he basked in the noon-day heat for longer that was good for him and got violently sick. From both ends of his little body and couldn’t even stand up. The concerned owners took him to the vet and were shocked to hear that their beloved pet had sunstroke. There wasn’t much to be done except wait until he cooled down, had plenty to drink and take cover from extreme heat for a while. It was our first time hearing of a dog getting sunstroke.
First Holy Communions took over the past weekend. 17 boys and 21 girls had their Big Day. For parents, the long search for Virgin white dresses for their little daughters was always a task which needed your dedication full on. Even at the tender age of seven/eight they can be quite decisive about what the like or dislike. Your own opinion counts for very little and if by chance that you’d have to insist of a certain model, perhaps because of the price or appearance and take it home it wouldn’t pay you. You’d always have that feeling of guilt and ask yourself should I have gone that extra few bob and given her the one she really wanted. On the whole families are small in number now and the days of the hand-me-downs are fading fast. They worked very well where there were many girls in a family and lots of cousins coming on stream. In fact it became a system to be treasured when a grandma came up with a hand-made fragile ensemble which she wore for her First Holy Communion all those years ago and was made for her by her own grandmother. Down through the years it was lovingly rinsed in Lux flakes after use and dried on the hedge pressed and folded in white tissue and returned to it’s box, in readiness for the next little angel. The life of the ordinary Holy Communion Dress also went on in other guises following the Big Day. Any tell-take decorations, such as tiny bows, sewn on frills, buttons would be carefully unpicked with a blade and the dress dyed in some pastel colour and the length adjusted to make it look like any dress. But the trimmings which were removed were not thrown away but kept to be used again in some other garment some other day. Buttons were consigned to the button box. A vital extra that no self-respecting Bean ‘a Tighe’ would be without. Buttons played a big part in our everyday lives in the days before Velcro and when zips a belts hadn’t reached their full potential. A man’s pants could sport and number of them. About five from down there, up to the waist, in front another four to hold the braces or galluses and two at the back for the same purpose. At first they all matched, but as time went on and the poor old garment fell from possessive lofty uses of going to weddings or to Mass or funerals and buttons became unhitched, any colour could be used to save a fellows dignity while going about his daily labour of thinning turnips, saving hay or going to the Creamery. Buttons could be very historic in ways. For when seeing an un matching one holding body and soul together the make or colour or texture of it caused to mind to flask back to the grand coat or dress that it was on it’s heyday, for a memorable wedding or outing of yesteryear. The old button box was full of such mementos and every time we went to it for a replacement, new memories came to mind. But to go back to the little Communion Dress. In it’s new life it looked well going to Mass every Sunday, topped off with a matching hat or cap. Headwear was obligatory for all girls and women going into the church that time. The boys and men on the other hand had to remove all head ware when they went there. Men who stayed at the back of the Church were there when there were no seats, made a handy cushion for one knee by placing their caps, on the floor during the kneeling down parts of the Mass. When I was going to primary school there was a written exam. For those who were in sixth class called the Primary Cert and it gave the girls the opportunity to dress up for that day. In many cases, the altered Communion Dress came to the fore. Not all efforts of changing the colours went according to plan with the rather primitive products that were on the market at the time and many a little girl like myself, had to swallow our pride and sit on our Primary Cert in a rather curious looking blotchy coloured outfit. TG it didn’t stop us from passing our exam. But in hindsight, if we only knew it we were ahead of our time. As the years went on the invention of tie-dying hit the fashion world. No “mistake” was gaudy enough to create an eye catching ensemble and everybody just had to have one.
Boys nowadays wear their school uniforms both for their First Communion and Confirmation. Which must be a great relief both physically and financially for their parents. But this year posed problems like never before. For obvious reasons the date for these Sacraments kept on changing. It depended on how the pandemic was going, if the number of cases were rising or falling. As a result the dates kept on changing and parents were at their wits end at knowing when to buy their youngster’s style. All children grow fastest during summer. Shops were unpredictable, some open, others not, some experiencing problems with deliveries. The list went on. But to view the scene in our Church last Saturday, September 11th. you’d be forgiven for believing that there wasn’t a problem in the world. The 21 girls and 17 boys who presented themselves for their First Holy Communion, were a wonderful sight to see. The expert training by our Canon John and the teachers were evident by the way they each did their parts. I’m not sure of how many nationalities were present but there was just the one loving God to welcome them all on board for their long journey through life. Cameras abounded from tall models on tripods to tiny mobile phones, all doing their part to record these precious moments in the young lives of their children and flash them across the globe to loving relations who couldn’t be there. The weather played it’s own part, with brilliant sunshine and peaceful calmness. Baoischas le Dia.
Very soon barbeques were lit, marquees went up and there was fun galore for everyone. Families revelled in sumptuous foods and decorated cakes and the air was filled with the beautiful aroma of roasting meats. All finger licking. But alas finger licking has lost it’s joyful relish since the advent of covid and sanitising. It’s no longer the pleasure that it was to roll your tongue around the juicy drips that are trying to escape down through you fingers, since your taste buds are hit with that awful taste of anti-bac-sanitiser which we are getting the know so well, all in the name of our own safety.
In less than one month, all going well, the Sacrament of Confirmation will be administered in our Parish, but dare I say on what date. Because of the uncertain times we live in.
The lawn continues to grow lush and green and the smell of the new mown lawn is great. My struggling rowan tree in the middle of my garden is going through a period of rebirth. Earlier this year all the blossoms were blown off the limbs and most of the leaves also. So I’m in the habit of giving it very little attention, However at a glance I’ve just seen a blossom has arrived on one of it’s twiggy branches. Time will tell if it will develop into red berries. If it does, I’ll be the one most surprised. The lemon tree that I got as a gift for my birthday in April is putting on a great show. Still in a pot. It put out lots of new growth on its limbs and five or six lemons as big as any you’d see in the shop. They’re green at the moment so like everything else in the garden, we’ll wait and see. The bird that I spotted in the after grass in the back field looked a bit too big to be a pheasant, but on a closer look I discovered it was a heron. Or a crane as we always called them of old. There are more of them around than there were on former years. Nice to see them at closer range.
Here are the results of this weeks lotto draw which was held on Sunday night. Numbers drawn were13,22,27,32 and the Jackpot was not won. €100 went to Eoin OSullivan, Ballydaly. The sellers were Lehane & Guerin and they got €50 sellers prize. €50 went Pat Vaughan, Keale Bridge, €20 each went to Norma Doody, Altamount, Joan ORiordan, c/o Centra, Ronan Galvin, c/o Lehane, Claire, Lisa & Maggie Twomey, Theresa & Jack Carroll, c/o Tom Carroll, Sadie Cooper c/o Capabu Store. Medulla O Blomgate c/o The Marpasso and Mag O’Connor, Station Rd.
Jackpot for next week €15.600 the draw on Sunday night, September 19th.
There was great support for the return of the 45Drive which was held at the Canon O’Donovan Centre last Tuesday night. More of the same again tonight (Tuesday September 14th) starting at 8.30 sharp. Everybody wore a mask and sanitiser points were fully available. If necessary a second room can be used to facilitate extra the players. Admission €7. All welcome.
We wish fair weather to our local GAA club who are hosting their annual Golf Classic in Killarney today.
The Millstreet Vintage Car Club is gearing up for a run on Saturday next September 18th Register at the Town Square at 4.45 for a six o’clock, take off on a 40 mile route. This is their first time back for some time and we wish them a very enjoyable event. For details Ring Donie Lucey 086 8545873.
Sin a bhfuil, a chairde. Have a good week. Slán agus Beannacht libh go léir.
