The weather has been quite moody today — sunshine when I get up, then an icy blast of sleet/hail midday, followed by alternating bright and dark periods. I attend another webinar in the morning on nonprofit governance, risk and compliance sponsored by the Charities Institute Ireland. It’s rather ho-hum, and thankfully only 45 minutes. I’m itching to get out for a walk, but given the weather I opt to stay in and do an overdue cleaning of the apartment.
By late afternoon, the dark clouds have subsided leaving the air chilly and blustery in their. I take this chance to get out for a decent walk, heading westward into the setting sun to the modern James Joyce bridge and back. The Liffey is the lowest I’ve seen it, with patches of river bed exposed… I did not realise how shallow it could get. The seagulls seem to be taking the opportunity to hunt for treats such as crabs… I even notice one on the sidewalk alongside the river that must have been dropped by a seagull attempting to crack it open.
Blue skies as I head out on my walk:
The modern James Joyce bridge built in 2003:
Seagulls taking advantage of the low water line to hunt for treats:
Once I’m back home, I stay in my “outing” clothes and collect the rubbish and recycling to take out to the street since tonight is the weekly scheduled pickup. The skies are turning dark again, and not long after settling into the apartment for the evening, Dublin is blasted again with another shower of pea-sized hail, enough to accumulate on the window sills. The people out on Crow Street huddle under awnings to wait it out.
In COVID news, the EU has approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine although doses probably won’t be available for distribution until May. Ireland will be receiving 46,500 extra doses of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine under a new EU deal, but efforts to secure “extra” doses from the UK or other countries has been unsuccessful… there aren’t any “extra” doses.
There is a small piece of good news today. Starting March 22, nursing homes that have gone through a vaccination programme will allow residents’ loved ones to make two “compassionate visitations” per week, which will be the first time visits will be allowed since Christmas. Although there is hope there will be further easing of restrictions in April, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said barbers and hair salons won’t open until May at the earliest. Meanwhile, the daily count of new cases for the last couple of days has been back over 500 again.
Until next time….
