North Down Muse

My summer golf membership is coming to an end. I have fallen in love with Belvoir Park. It is a parkland golf course, which means it has mature trees--a lot of oaks, my favourite. And an apple tree! I played today and felt a bit sad that I’ll have

I saw a physiotherapist yesterday who told me the pain in my shoulder is bursitis. I need to not overdo it and I need to ice it. Most of the time it is a niggling pain. Last time I overdid it, it was three sleepless nights of pain. Tonight I

I’m catching up the blog nearly a week late and I’m on a bus to the airport--I’m struggling to remember what I did over the past week. Of Mon-Weds, the highlight was Wednesday, when I went to visit Marshall in his new apartment. He is quite settled

Yesterday we saw lots of empire butterflies: And peacock butterflies and fritillaries. We also rambled among the 52 acres at Rowallane. And today I finished a book by Kate Raworth, a British economist. One of the things I loved was how many other women economists she cited. I don’t

I’m sorry yesterday’s screed was so screed-ish. I do not lack empathy for the people made homeless by flooding in Texas, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. To lose everything--especially control over your life and where you’ll lay your head at night--is devastating. It could be months or more

I’ve been watching the devastation from flooding in Houston, Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. I spend my days researching the cost of renewable energy vis a vis natural gas, trying to build the case for investors to put pressure on utilities to transition to clean energy. I spend my evenings

Today David and I saw the film Detroit, which was excellent. I knew of the Algiers Motel, but I couldn’t have told you what happened there. The sad thing about the film is that it isn’t history. Police brutality against black Americans is if anything more lethal now.

I took the bus back to Belfast, glammed myself up a bit, then took the train to Bangor, where I attended the Festival Ball, a 20s-themed swing dance. I spent the night at the hotel after the dance, sharing a room with Rhoda, my dancing buddy. Some nights I dance

Two amazing Saturdays in a row. Today was a bit more frenetic than I would prefer, but what a day. It began by taking a long walk along Lough Foyle with Julie and her two lovely dogs, Chip and Beau. Chip is a field springer spaniel and Beau is Chippie&

I went to Derry this afternoon for a quick weekend visit to Julie and her family. I saw this poster a few times on my trip: I thought it was funny that the prayer gathering would be at Nutts Corner. I’m a religious sceptic--sceptical about prayer and about to

For several months, my schedule has involved three morning runs/week, two morning swims/week, two evening golf games/week, and one or two swing dance lessons. I guess it is not surprising some part of my body gave out, i.e. my shoulder. This week I’m doing nothing.

I spent three or four days researching and writing letters to Vanguard’s two new leaders, who take up their positions on January 1. Here’s an excerpt from one, to the new CEO: Vanguard has an opportunity to go beyond quietly supporting resolutions at the most egregious firms, such

...is being co-hosted by Dublin and Belfast, where the semi-finals were held today. I watched the New Zealand Black Ferns walk all over the U.S. Eagles and I watched a well matched game between England and France. Here is a French-English scrum. And here is a NZ-US line out:

When I was in Zurich in July 2015, I met a charming young woman named Si Chen. She’s from China but was doing her master of laws in Denmark, I believe. While we were at the summer program, I edited one of her papers. She e-mailed me another paper

I went for a run this morning, which finishes on a long stretch of the Comber Greenway. Huffing and puffing, I managed to swallow a wasp, which stung the back of my throat on its way down. Pain!! OMG. I was in a total panic--I don’t handle pain well,

Today was hands down the best day I’ve had since I’ve lived in Northern Ireland. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration. But only slight. The hardest thing about moving here was leaving behind so many wonderful friends. I’m an introvert who enjoys knowing a few people

After work today, I took the train up to Portstewart, where North Coast Swing organised a dance at the golf club. The view from the practice putting green: The cars in the distance are at a popular restaurant called Harry’s Shack. Once inside the golf club, I went out

Six posts in one! Friday's highlight was talking to Mary Minette of Mercy Investments about their climate strategy for 2018 AGMs and having a G&T at the golf club after a round of golf. Here’s the view: I’ve had beautiful weather every time I

Here are the festivals on right now (that I know of): East Side Arts Festival [https://www.eastsidearts.net/festivals] Bangor Open House Festival [https://www.openhousebangor.com] Feile an Phobail [http://feilebelfast.com/events/] (Festival of the People) Donaghadee Summer Festival [http://visitdonaghadee.com/news-posts/donaghadee-summer-festival-august-2017/] I bet there

Here’s myself at the end of the hike. There’s a layer of red rock at the bottom of some of the cliffs, visible here. It’s referred to as Mahees’ blood. We are on Mahee Island--the Mahees being a Scottish clan that settled here and fought with other

I just do boring stuff Tues-Thurs so I’ll continue with The Gobbins photos. Here’s a bit of the old path. Our guide said this was the first place reinforced concrete was used on the island of Ireland. Wise had been to Chicago to study the use of concrete

Why is it called The Gobbins? "Shut yer gob” means shut your mouth. The Gobbins is near the mouth of Belfast Lough. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British isles--Ben meaning sharp rocks. Our guide thinks “ben” became “bin,” denoting the sharp rocks at the mouth of

I did nothing today b/c I was so tired from swing dance lessons. So I’ll get a jump on tomorrow, when I spent the day at The Gobbins, an engineered coastal walk. I took this photo on the walk from the Ballycarry train station to Islandmagee, which isn’

I spent today in Portrush, a seaside town on the North Antrim coast, complete with arcade games, pizza shops, ice cream, and places selling plastic buckets and shovels. It’s like the Ventnor or Margate of my childhood. I took three swing dance classes--six count, shim sham, and eight count.

I played Tuesday and Friday this week. Today I played with only one other person and I really enjoyed it, partly because we are well matched and partly because the game goes so much faster. I tried to capture how beautiful the course is, but these photos don’t do