Fire on the mountain

I was determined to do something fun this Saturday. So I headed to the Mourne Mountains to meet up with my friend Aelish. Sadly, there were fires all over the mountain. This was as I drove into Newcastle.

When Ireland is dry and full of tinder, it drives home the extent of climate change. So much for escaping from my day job. I was on a call yesterday with the investors engaging the largest oil and gas companies. So connecting dots is easy for me.

Aelish, her daughter Jo, Jo's boyfriend and I headed to Tolleymore Forest with two dogs. It was the perfect antidote to the "burning down the house" atmosphere locally and globally.

Paddy (visible in the top left corner above) was in and out of the river the whole time. That was a downside, as I'm always nervous of him getting into something he can't get out of.

Here are my walk companions. Their dog Lily is not terribly keen about the water.

I stopped and got ice cream on the way home to add to the day's festive feel.

Addendum: This is a photo from Newcastle of the Mournes the night before I arrived:

The Mountains of Mourned were the inspiration for C.S. Lewis's Narnia Chronicles. As an ethicist and Christian philosopher, I wonder what he would have made of climate change.

April 24