Signs

At the Celtic Festival in Snow Hill.

Beyond the edge of the world there’s a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future form a continuous, endless loop.  And, hovering about, there are signs no one has ever read, chords no one has ever heard.

~ Haruiki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Tuning up, a sign the ceilidh is about to begin.

The Daily Post photo challenge for this week is Signs.  My weekend was filled with signs, from the sign posts at the Chesapeake Celtic Festival in Snow Hill or on the roadsides along the way, to the quickly accumulating signs of autumn showing up as the trees and grasses change colors.

A sign that we might encounter giants.

The Celtic Festival is held in Furnace Town, located in the midst of the Pocomoke State Forest and the Nassawango Cypress Swamp.  The Furnace Town website describes the town as a Living Heritage Museum.  It is the perfect setting for a Celtic festival.

Sign that it might be time to dance

This was our first visit to Furnace Town, although we’ve passed the signs for it many times on our way to Assateague Island.  M and I want to go back again soon to hike.  I don’t have to work too hard to imagine how beautiful it will be when the fall foliage colors are at peak.  I’ve already had a glimpse of it.

Signs of more to come

We had a great time at the festival.  We ate some delicious Irish food, and listened to some wonderful Celtic music.  I also got the opportunity to try something I’ve been wanting to try for ages.  Scottish heather ale.

Directional signs

I used to homebrew beer and mead.  During my early days of homebrewing, I tried all sorts of what some brewers refer to as “weird beers.”  I made a spruce beer using the new spring growth from spruce trees (Norway spruce, in my opinion, has the best flavor).  I made beers with herbs and spices and fruit.  I wanted to make a heather ale, but heather wasn’t available in southern Ohio (or in northeast Ohio, for that matter).  I think some homebrew shops might carry dried heather now, but during my brewing days I couldn’t find it anywhere.

Food signs

For lunch we shared some Shepherd’s Pie and Colcannon.  The colcannon was made with cabbage.  I have a huge bunch of kale from our last CSA share, and I’m thinking of using it to make colcannon.  I’ve always had it with cabbage, and think it would be delicious made with kale.  Just about anything made with mashed potatoes usually is delicious.

A sign that it’s time to eat.

M and I took a short break from the festival to go to Assateague Island for a walk.  It was a beautiful day to be out there with the ponies and the seagulls.

Sunlight writes on the water in its own signs.

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything exciting, or maybe not so exciting but worth a mention?

At the opening ceremony. A sign that the fun was about to begin.

That’s about it from the Celtic festival and from me on this beautiful Monday.  It’s warming up a bit today and tomorrow, and then we’ll be back to more fall-like temperatures for the rest of the week.  The wind continues to drive the water to shore keeping the coastal flood advisory in effect for most of today.  I’ll be going out soon to see what’s happening in the woods.

A sign we should go to Loch Ness. I’ve been there, long ago. Maybe someday I’ll dig out the photos and scan them so I can show you a few.

Thank you for visiting.  The moon will be full soon, perhaps another reason the tides have been so high lately.  Let’s go out to the dock to watch the sunset (it’s at 6:38 PM today), and turn around every now and then to look for the moon as it rises.

I have not been to Wales yet, but perhaps this is a sign I should go someday. I’d like that.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

Looking for signs?

Life is one big road with lots of signs.  So when you riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind.  Flee from hate, mischief, and jealousy.  Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality.  Wake Up and Live!

~ Bob Marley

A lively sign.

Today’s joys:  A meeting with a naturalist to discuss what we need to do with the land that’s under a conservation agreement; learning more about this land; sorting through yesterday’s photos from the festival and from Assateague; an afternoon cup of tea; practicing a jig in the living room just for the fun of it.

Reminder:  If you’re joining us for the October walk, the dates are October 5 through October 26 (I added a day to get us all through the last weekend).  Post the link to your walk here:  Walktober dates.  (You can also find more information about the walk at that link.)