Mosquito Coast

Above- Ardmore, a Carna neighborhood

Recently, many people came to the clinic with various rashes. There were localized areas of red swelling, some as large as a small apple. Typically there was only one lesion per patient.No one had seen an actual insect. At first, my inclination was to call them spider bites. Dr. Casey theorized that they were mosquito bites. Dr. Hooke reported that he had seen mosquitoes, and that they had bitten his legs multiple times. He is a hardy soul, who tends to wear shorts, year round. Finally, I was nailed by one, confirming to myself that the anopheles mosquito was the culprit.

This was quite fascinating, as nobody here, even the elderly Irish, has ever seen a mosquito before. I would show them pictures, and they would be amazed. I captured one in a jar, and the patients would be fascinated to see it. The typical bite would swell up 2+ inches, maybe due to the "virgin" blood. Dr. Casey went on the Irish language radio station, informing the listeners about this unusual phenomenon. Dr. Hooke hypothesized that perhaps a storm carried them across the Atlantic. Historically, a non endemic bird would be blown over to Ireland, from thousands of miles away. Typically, they would not survive, as they would have no mate. Some patients attributed this to global warming. Dr. Hooke mentioned that the Tiger mosquito has invaded Italy, from Africa. It carries Chikungunya fever, like "break bone disease". This awful infection causes such severe body pain, you feel like your bones are breaking. Another result of climate change? Well, last night it was near freezing (with beautiful moonlight over the coastline), so I suspect this unusual mosquito infestation is thankfully finished!

Autumn Beach Walk in Carna

Photos, top to bottom:

1-4 The Sanders kids

5-6 Sand art by Summer

7-8 Exploring the beach

9 "Hello America" in Irish

10 Old rock fence, note our house is to the right of the yellow house

on the far right, just out of the photo

There is a beach about 5 minutes from our house. The kids and I went there for a walk this week, as we have been having great weather, "promised fine" as the local people are fond of saying.

Death,Southpaws and "The Jab"

above- October sunrise, home in Ireland

Dr Hooke is full of interesting historical information. He says that surgeons are addressed as "Mr." instead of "Dr." here. This is because, historically, surgeons were barbers. When you needed surgery, they would do it. Then they would hang their bloody white rags outside their shop, to dry out. Somehow, those red and white rags became the genesis of the red and white barber pole. Anyway, the surgeons are quite happy to be addressed as "Mr." I would not try that with my surgical colleagues in the states.

Deaths are a big event here. The body will first travel to Galway for embalming, then back to Carna, to the person or relatives house. Most of the town will go to visit, and pay their respect. Dr. Hooke counselled me it is appropriate to say "I'm sorry for your troubles", to the relatives. There will be a large crowd, jamming the house, and parked for blocks up and down the road. Everyone will visit, remarking how the person who has passed looks well now, and is better off. The priest will come and say the rosaries. Then, typically the next day, there is the funeral, again attended by most of the town, and the subsequent reception. My duties include pronouncing a patient who has expired, and unfortunately I have had to do that more times than I have done in the states all my career. There are also anniversary events recognizing a death, sometimes more frequently than annually, involving a service.

I am a southpaw. I have always thought that southpaws have had it bad. In school, the desk would be built to support the right hand when writing. I can give many examples about how we southpaws are discriminated against in the world. The elderly Irish often notice and comment when they see me writing with my left hand. They are all right handed. They tell stories about how as a child they would have their left hand tied behind their back, forcing them to use only their right hand. One patient even showed me her left thumb, broken from a ruler strike, so she would not use her left thumb. After hearing that, I have nothing to complain about.

Everyone here is quite compliant in getting their flu shot. They ask for the "flu injection" or "the injection" or they saw "I need the jab". It is a quick visit, so I get to socialize, and learn about their trade, their political opinions and about where they live. Their home location prepares me for home visits at night, as there are no streetlights or street signs.

My driving skills have really improved since arriving. I still feel like I am driving on a race track, on the narrow, curvy roads here. There is little margin for error, you really have to pay attention, getting tense as a bus or big tractor goes by, with minimal margin for error. In order to get an Irish driver's licence, you have to know, and be able to demonstrate how to change the oil in your car. Traffic jams are called "tail backs". Cars are taxed based on engine size, and emissions.

Photos, top to bottom:

1-5 Daring air dancer

6- Air dancer, and Clifden parade crowd

7-rest Clifden Parade participants

Recently, we went to Clifden, our favorite local (35 minutes away from Carna) shopping town. Our primary mission was to get our visas extended to one year. We had to see the local Gardia (police) there. The one who did the visas was working the late shift, so we hung around the town. Fortuitously, it was the last day of the well known Clifden Arts Festival. We saw lots of local art. It would be displayed out town, in storefront windows. Then, we saw this "air dancer" for lack of a better description, hanging from a crane, over the town square. She was quite graceful, and she did some real acrobatics, high up in the air.

At dusk, there was a town parade. This was a joint effort between a professional organization and the local school children. Apparently, the professional organization helps local communities put on a parade. They supply lots of equipment, and some ideas. The community decides what they want, and there is a synergistic display of this collaboration. The schoolchildren are intimately involved in this event. A good art adventure! Justine said it was the best, and wildest parade that she has ever seen. There were lots of loud instruments, and great lighting. The children's costumes were brilliant. I have no idea what they guy with the toilet plunger was doing. Yikes.

After the parade, we trudged over to the local Gardia. We learned some interesting facts as we completed our visa extension process. The local police do not carry guns, and only recently they got mace, after their guild lobbied hard for that. There are only 2 patrol cars at night, covering from past Carna to Clifden, a fairly huge area. Fortunately, the population is pretty well behaved. No drug scourges. It kind of feels like the wild west around here, but fortunately it isn't very wild.

A Trip to Westport

Photos, top to bottom:

1,2- Connemara Mountains

3- Kilarny Fjord

4- Road sign

5- Westport, St Patrick statue, town centre

6- Westport

7- Guiness ad

8- Stephen Summer and Paris, in Westport

9- Stephen hiking above our house, coastline and islands

This past weekend, we drove thru some of the prettiest Irish countryside, in Connemara. Our destination was Westport. This town is located an hour north. It is larger than Clifden, which is our most common destination for stocking up, when we do not want to drive 1.5 hours to Galway. We say a beautiful rainbow (no gold), and stunning views of mountains and lakes. There was the Kilarny fjord, which is the only fjord in Ireland. Just a reminder, a fjord is a glacially made valley, now a salt water inlet. During WWII, a British and a German sub both sought safe harbor from an Alantic storm, going into the fjord. They agreed not to fight ech other while they were there, and they even dined together! The fjord is between the Mweelrea mountains, and the Twelve Bens, which are peaks in Connemera. Oscar Wilde described Connemara as "a place of savage beauty." We also saw a local hotel offering seaweed baths, for 25 euros.

We find that we all tend to get a little carsick, due to the bouncy winding roads, so we take a lot of breaks along the way. The terrain differs from Carna, it is much less rocky. I had begun to think that Ireland was only a lot of rocks. Prominent components of the rocks are limestone and granite. I don't know how they get them cleared out for farmland, I suspect they just leave the boulders.

Westport had plenty of shops to keep everyone happy. We enjoyed some fish and chips for lunch. Excellent local fish, and the chips are potato slices. The town's patron saint is St. Patrick, and one of the Twelve Bens is named after this Saint. Croagh Patrick is where pilgrims come from around the world to climb this mountain, many barefoot or on their knees. It is believed that the saint fasted here 40 days and 40 nights, and the mountain was crucial to his campaign to convert the Celtic people to Christianity. We saw Halloween costumes in the stores, firing the kid's imaginations. They were happy to hear that Halloween is celebrated in Ireland!

The prior day, Steve and I finally went hiking behind our house in Carna. There are miles of trails, and big hills to explore. We saw some lakes, which we will explore in the future. I included a photo of Steve, in front of the panoramic coastal view, from just above our house.