Life has been busy! I haven’t posted since October, skipping November altogether… it’s the longest I’ve gone since starting this blog. Without further ado, here are a few brief updates from the last several weeks before any more time passes. Christmas time is here Dublin is in full-on Christmas mode. The street lights went up in mid-November, and the festive season has...
Happy Halloween / Samhain blessings! Samhain (“SAH-win”) is the ancient Gaelic festival marking the ending of summer and beginning of winter. It that starts at sunset on Oct 31 and ends at sunset the following day, Nov 1. Daylight savings time ended for Europe this past weekend, so it definitely feels like a shift in seasons with sunset before 5:00pm now. However, the weather has been...
Autumn weather is in full swing with more rainy days and cooler temperatures. I have resisted turning on the heat so far but finally succumbed this weekend, as it has been chilly with nighttime lows in the low 40s / upper single digits C. Christmas decorations have been going up above the streets of Dublin, although they are not being lit up yet. Rainbow over the Liffey Last weekend was filled...
It’s been another relatively uneventful couple of weeks in Dublin. There has been a noticeable shift in the weather, with the lows dipping into low 50s F / upper single digits C, and some rain although still plenty of bright, beautiful days as well. Work has picked up somewhat, which is a welcome change after a slow period from mid-August to mid-September. The news has been preoccupied with...
It’s been a busy past few weeks — a trip to Manchester UK a the end of August for Pride weekend there, multiple office social events, and various get-togethers with friends. It feels like today has been the first day I’ve been able to relax in awhile. The weather has turned rainy once again — a good excuse to stay in and write a blog post — after a stretch of dry days last week and...
Summer is in its final stretch. Work has been slow due to people being away on summer holidays. Weather is a perpetual conversation topic in Ireland. It’s been a mostly drab summer, with grey skies and rain. The August bank holiday was almost entirely a wash out. The forecast this week, however, is making amends for these past disappointments. St. Patrick Cathedral Park The Spire View of Dame...
Europe is experiencing an extreme heat wave this week. On Monday, a temperature of 33.1°C / 92 F was recorded in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, which makes it the hottest day in Ireland in more than more than 135 years. The highest temperature ever recorded in Ireland was 33.3 C at Kilkenny Castle on June 26th, 1887. Temperatures in London and Paris have topped 40 C / 104 F, so I am thankful for the...
Last Monday, I woke up feeling crappy with a headache and the start of a cough. I did a self-administered COVID antigen test that came back with a faint ”T” line, which was enough to indicate a positive result. At this point, I’m one of the few people I knew that hadn’t had COVID yet (at least to my knowledge), so I guess my number was finally up. There has been another wave of infections in the...
It’s been a warm but somewhat grey June in Dublin. Today has been one of the warmer days, with highs in the low 70s F / low 20s C, and humid – but nothing like the heatwaves that continental Europe or the U.S. have been having recently. There is no denying summer is here, now that we’re past the solstice. The sun doesn’t set until around 10:00pm these days. A well-timed photo...
After some downpours of rain during the week, the weekend has been blessed by some beautiful spring weather with highs in mid 60s F / upper teens C. It was a short week given that last Monday was the May bank holiday. It was good to be back working (still from home for now). Beautiful spring weather in Dublin On Thursday, I returned to Tallaght University Hospital for a follow up appointment two...