Derry Day

My friend Julie’s sister Caroline rented a house in Dunfanaghy for a week so I drove to Derry this morning and Julie and I drove to Dunfanaghy for the day. I spent the night at Julie’s in Derry then drove home Monday morning.

I absolutely love my time with Julie. She teaches yoga to young people with a range of mental health or behavioural difficulties. She teaches yoga to blind people and people with Parkinson’s. She just went to a 10-day silent retreat, something that boggles my mind. She does fundraisers for Amma, an Indian woman who does amazing work with orphans and destitute people in India. She also visits her parents every day--they are a few blocks away. She has two sons (18 and 21) and a house humming with the comings and goings of them and their friends. Her husband does the food and laundry but there’s still household responsibilities (feeding the dogs, cleaning the bathrooms). Julie also does something each day to help her younger sister, who is widowed with three young children. And she calls her sister Moira in England every day. She has very little time to herself and I almost feel guilty for using any of it. But she says she enjoys talking to me and I certainly enjoy talking to her. Our conversations are pretty deep. She’s one of these people who try to see the good in every person and every situation. I think I go back and forth between saturnine and sunny dispositions--she shores up the best in me. An ideal friend.

I got to visit with Siobhan Bigger while I was in Dunfanaghy for a while (she lives nearby). I went to high school with her older brothers, and her mother was a mentor to me. Another great chat, this one about politics and global warming. I spend so much time alone in Belfast that these conversations were almost thrilling to me--joy in meaningful human interactions with people I know and admire.
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