Prisoner of Hopes

Category: Hardships

  • The Canyon Remembered: Rural Road Trip

    We are standing in Palo Duro Canyon. A roadrunner follows us around the parking lot. He assumes an assertive stance on the red dirt hill just off the sidewalk and challenges us to follow along the trail to the river. Of course I tag along. He is cute and I love to hike. It is…

  • On The Road Again: Rural Road Trips

    As we head out on another adventure, I am oddly ambivalent. I don’t feel ill, but I also am not myself. Usually I am giddy with excitement. Today, I could just as easily go back inside and hide under a blanket. But grand adventures aren’t for the timid. So we load up, hook up the…

  • Revolutionary Countess: Travel Goals Ireland

    We visit Lissadell house on a warm summer afternoon. The family home of the Gore-Booths, Lissadell sits outside of Sligo, Ireland. It is now owned and lived in by Irish attorneys who allow tours to offset the upkeep. The estate had a great location with both Ben Bulben and Knocknarea mountains in view as well…

  • Feast or famine

    Inequities. The rich get richer and the poor get the scraps. Until the chasm gets so wide the system collapses. It is a tale as old as time. People get richer and over time they lose sight of the labor and infrastructure that supports them. They want more for themselves and take more from those…

  • Arigna: Travel Goals

    We arrive at the Arigna mine without preconceived ideas. It is something to do while staying in County Leitrim, Ireland. The woman at check in shows us to an area where we see a brief film that explains the history of the mine which was shut down in the 1990’s. We look at photos and…

  • Country Roads: Travel Goals

    Detours are what you make of them. My husband has a no back track rule. He doesn’t like out and back journeys. I don’t know why. In his view, we can go out of our way as long as it leads to somewhere we haven’t already been. I, on the other hand, am paradoxical. I…

  • Along the Cladagh: Travel Goals

    Sitting at home this morning and arranging photos from a recent trip to Ireland, I sorted pictures taken from County Fermanagh. We stayed within a few miles of the border with Northern Ireland and found ourselves in Fermanagh several times during our trip. It rained a lot during our stay so the grass was green…

  • Derry Girl: Travel Goals

    I love the television series “Derry Girls”. The sitcom follows the antics of five friends during the 1980’s in Derry, Northern Ireland. It makes light of coming of age in a town rocked with sectarian violence. Five friends rely on each other as the struggle to make sense of a world that makes no sense.…

  • Leaving in a Jet Plane: Travel Goals

    I used to love air travel. It seemed glamorous and uncomplicated. Over the last two decades, while prices have gone up, the experience has definitely lost its luster. Perhaps I am jaded or turning into an old curmudgeon. Or perhaps profit motive and misguided security measures have ruined the experience. I used to call a…

  • Ships Ahoy: Travel Goals

    The Bygdoy maritime museum complex is an all day adventure. We opt to visit all three museums in the complex. We start with the Norwegian Maritime Museum where we get to see a man building a Viking ship using ancient methods (and a few power tools). It is fascinating to see the overlapping construction and…