It was a simple choice: stay home, watch the Budget and S-L-O-W-L-Y get rich. The other option offered instant gratification with a physical and mental health boost. Restless walking boots, longing for road, forced the issue with the Ballyhoura’s winning out.
Yet again the road layout north of the tunnel threw a spanner in the works, but happily a Plan B came to our rescue. Likewise the roads beyond Mitchelstown, Kildorrery and Gleann Oisín attempted to puzzle so that landing in Greenwood Carpark produced a feeling of real achievement.
The set challenge of the “Blackrock Loop” helped some of those from “real” Blackrock cope with homesickness as we walked ever deeper into Co. Limerick. Willie Fitzgerald was our leader as we began our walk/climb in autumnal cool and Alpine surrounds. We were at the centre of a vast outdoor venue. Drawing on his huge experience, Willie gauged our abilities and set a pace that enhanced the walk. He telegraphed the likely hard bits and robbed them of their sting. We
were kept aware that we shared the space with scrambler/push-bike enthusiasts, whose skill and kamikaze daring has made the best of them world class.
The spot chosen for our lunch had nature-provided seating in the form of felled logs. Nature, sad to relate, did not provide a white cloth nor silver spoons. It is with regret that it is brought to he attention of the wider membership that a blatant attempt was made to bribe the scribe for favourable mention. To punish the offender, the bribe was accepted but the favourable mention sought was not given, as a matter of principle. Somehow it seems anything less than a FULL bar of Cadbury’s mint was bound to fail……. All too soon we were heading back to the carpark where Willie and his back three sweepers were thanked.
Still on a high, some of us headed to Hunter’s Lodge in Mitchelstown. While we were a mere seven, the food and service were excellent. The company at table was first class and “war stories” of Covid long ago helped us realise what a blessing such outings as today truly were. Then it was “Home, James, and don’t spare the horse.”
On reaching home we discovered An t-Aire, Michéal McGrath TD, had a crock of gold awaiting each one of us!!
Seán Ó Callanáin
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