I Left My Heart in Dingle

From Conor Pass, we drove into Dingle. We found our B&B, settled in, and began to explore the town.




Once again we were overwhelmed with the colorful homes





and businesses,



the narrow streets,



and the massive quantities of beer the average Irishman consumes.

Because I love Irish harp music,the folk music, and the instruments, we stepped into a small music shop. After a few minutes, the shop-keeper asked if we were going to the folk concert that evening at the church. We thought about it for a moment and said, "Why yes, yes we are," and bought two tickets.



We listened to an Irish bagpipe, a violinist, and a singer accompanied by a guitarist in a church with a cathedral window with a view that revealed the wild mountains behind Dingle. The concert was absolutely wonderful--especially the vocalist. She sang songs native to the Dingle Penninsula with a plaintif voice and delicate gestures. I stood through virtually all of her act because I didn't want to miss a note of the vocal nor a gesture of her hands.

The concert ended about 10:00 that evening. Steve and I walked back to the B&B thoroughly pleased with our Dingle experience thus far.

After an Irish breakfast of muscli, scrambled eggs on toast, half a fried tomato, and some juice ("No. Neither coffee nor tea, thank you."), we met the town.

And then I found it--the store of my dreams! It had the most beautiful collection of

colorful, woven throws and neck scarves,

sweaters,

and art.

How many times have you said, "Why did I buy that?" compared to the number of times you have said, "I should have bought that?"

I could easily have dropped $1000 on textiles, art, toys, etc. in this one store. I even made a pile of stuff I fully intended to buy. But I looked at the stack and thought, "How are we going to transport all this stuff?" Then I thought, "This is only the second day of the trip. There will be many more stores like this one." Finally I thought, "It would be selfish of me to spend all this money," and I put it all

back.

I was WRONG about finding another store with a similar inventory. I will feel incomplete until I buy a purple throw in my favorite shop in Ireland. Now I really am going to have to return to Dingle and the little weavers' shop on Main St.