The first part of my day is fairly slow-going. After my usual morning routine, I do some reading for the next section of my CMA study programme, which is about all sorts of budget variance calculations. The weather starts off sunny in the morning, then turns grey with rain in the forecast for later on. My walking buddy CJ texts to see if I’m available for an outing, and I gladly accept. We meet near my place around 3:00pm then walk to a bus stop next to Trinity College Dublin. Our destination is Sandymount Beach to the southeast, then we’ll have a long walk back to city centre.
The tide is extremely low, with the beach extending far out into Dublin Bay. There are lots of seashells mixed in with the clayish sand, and CJ points out the bumpy mounds with small holes in them where long razor clams have burrowed themselves downwards. We hop over the small channel out to the sea, slogging through wet mucky sand and getting our shoes and jeans rather splattered. Once the sand dries out though, most of it is easily brushed off.
The familiar home on Pearse Street that always has a rainbow flag out is now decorated for Easter (having swapped out from St. Patrick’s Day):
Speaking of Easter, when I return to my apartment I find that my neighbor Irene has left a unopened package of hot cross buns from Tesco at my door. The package has an expiry date of today… perhaps she’s just passing them on to me in hopes they don’t go to waste? Hot cross buns are a spiced sweet bun usually made with dried fruit (e.g., currants, raisins, etc.) marked with a cross on the top, and they are traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the UK, Ireland and other commonwealth territories — hence why they’ve been suddenly appearing in the shops lately, alongside with lots and lots of chocolate Easter eggs.
The rain starts up in the evening, and it looks like it will continue on-and-off for the next several days… I’m glad that I got a good walk in today.
