nostalgia

maybe because its been raining all morning. or maybe because the kids have been especially trying today. or maybe because i've been listening to my favorite celtic singer today but right now, i'm nostalgic for our traveling days sans kiddos.
when matt and i had been married about 6 months we spent a week traveling the coast of ireland. we rented a car and stopped in little villages, ate horrible irish food, stayed in beautifully quaint b & b's, stopped the car as herds of cattle and sheep crossed the street, listened to great irish bands in old gothic churches, drank plenty of guinness and stomped our feet with the fiddlers in dirty pubs....wonderful.


i've been making strawberry rhubarb crisp the last couple weeks. Rhubarb showed up at the farmers market and i jumped at making the crisp. the first time i had it was when we were in ireland. we were on a tiny island that we had to ferry too. we rented bikes and spent the day riding around the stunning countryside. we stopped for lunch at a little cafe on the cliffs. it was all organic and fresh and amazing. we finished lunch off with strawberry rhubarb pie. i thought surely we were in heaven. 


we always tend to remember things better than they were dont we? i guess thats a good thing. because if i really think about it, i was pretty cold the whole time we were there. it might have been june but that doesnt mean anything when you are on a the water in ireland. bring a jacket. also, irish food is kinda bad and i was hungry most the trip too. considering i dont like to eat alot of beef and dont eat pork....well, there are only so many times you can eat fish and chips. 
nostalgia is important. it helps us remember wonderful things and helps us dream for the future. it points to a longing thats deeper than what even the most perfect of vacations can fill. i hope to long for that more than just a ride down the coast of ireland. 

this is one of our favorite b&bs that we stayed at. the hostess' name was Maggie and we decided then that we loved that name and if we had a daughter we'd use it!