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Weekend recap, New Year’s projects

The reality of the New Year is setting in. The remnants of Christmas decorations that still hang above Dublin’s streets have gone dark. Last week’s cold snap has abated, with the return of mild temperatures in the mid 50s F / mid 10s C. The weekend went by all too quickly. On Saturday, after my usual weekly SuperValu grocery delivery in the morning, I met up with my friend CJ for a...

Frosty weather, Nollaig na mBan (“Women’s Christmas”), back to work

The rest of my time-off since New Year’s has been quiet. I went on a long walk with some friends on January 1st, and have seen a few other people over the past week. After weeks of mild weather, Ireland is finally getting some truly cold winter weather with lows falling below freezing at night. It’s still mild compared to many other places, but much colder than it ever got in San...

COVID cases skyrocket, quiet New Year’s Eve

Ireland has been experiencing a record number of new daily COVID-19 cases over the last few days. Yesterday’s tally came to a mind-blowing 20,554, although due to limited testing capacity, the true number could be closer to 30,000. I’ve been in close contact with two people who have come down with cold/flu symptoms this week — first, there was S. (with whom I spent Christmas) who...