Between the days....

I like this picture. I took it on a day that was quite the opposite of most the days I've been living here. Not good or bad. Just opposite.

This day in particular, I was walking the harbor in Dun Laoghaire. By myself. Didn't know a single person I passed. Had no where to be. Slow and full of room to think. Slightly lonely, because even if I wanted to talk, I had yet to make friends in Dublin. Lots of paths to walk and plenty of time to walk them. I looked at everything around me. Took in every detail. That's when I saw these little flowers coming out of the wall.

These days, the feelings of loneliness come in a completely different way. People everywhere, acquainted with most of them, but all of us in too much of a hurry to do much about it. There's always something more to do or think about or figure out. And although much of these things are good and profitable, they don't leave room for free thought. The pace of my steps is a bit quicker here than that day. It's a Dublin city-center kind of pace. Point A to point B.

A song that I discovered while I was abroad has some great lyrics that apply to both of these days. It's called "In Between the Days".

"In between the days,
sometimes you need a change.
I want to do something
that takes my breath away.
And makes me not want to go home
at the end of the day.
In between the days."

And though these days are different, they're still comical... For lots of reasons... Because sometimes I wear slippers outside after a heavy rain. (Sorry, Mom). Or because solace comes in cups of tea. Because sometimes having a Zimbabwean meal is necessary on a Sunday evening. (Note to self: look at these oddities more and enjoy them.)