By Peg Prendeville

What a pleasure it is to wake up to fiery sunrises and blue skies and to end the days with fiery sunsets. There are only a few hours of darkness these nights as nature is rejoicing and showing off all her radiant colours. We had been getting used to yellow and red alerts for rain through the year but now we have a yellow alert for heat! No, I am not complaining, but heat brings its own troubles to some people and animals who find it hard to cope so we should be on the alert to help those in need. Let us hope that everybody will have enough water and that the reservoirs do not run dry.

Last week was Water Safety Week. Glin pier is a hive of activity and enjoyment in these days for both young and old. It is lovely to see everybody enjoying themselves. Fr. Crawford, at Mass last weekend, was advising everybody to stay safe in the water – it is so easy for accidents to happen, as we are well aware. 

I was interested to see how much demand there would be for tickets to the Papal Mass for the World Meeting of Families and despite all the negativity by the press was glad to see that Knock was booked out by 9 am on Monday and over 300,000 tickets were booked for the Phoenix Park Mass. Of course there are many more tickets available yet for those who want to be present at the Mass. We live in an entirely different country to what we were in in 1979, and it was obvious that there would be less excitement this time round, but, in spite of all it is good to see that the enthusiasm is there to a lesser degree. I would feel sorry for Pope Francis if nobody turned up to see him. It would be bad manners on our part!

Sounds of Summer 

Rocking in my garden seat,

Creaking gently to and fro

Watching life continuing on,

 Like a stream in constant flow.

Listening to the chirping birds

Busy at their daily tasks

The leaves are whispering in the breeze

A honey bee goes buzzing past.

A tractor drones in a neighbour’s field

Boasting of a  busy day

Taking advantage of the sun

Cutting silage, turning hay.

A cow concerned for her calf

Calls him back with a gentle moo

The clothes are flapping on the line

Peaceful times like this are few.

Children play out on the lawn

Sending out their squeals of joy

Laughing, singing, cheering on

Their playmates in a rugby try.

I close my eyes to appreciate

The restful sounds that I can hear

It’s easy to believe in God

When His presence is so near!