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Happily touring around Ireland enjoying the lush richness of every shade of green imaginable, from lime green to kelly green to deep sage green, we could hardly believe how beautiful it was.
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Our B&B was lovely, but with icy cold bedrooms, as most are. The outside day time temperature in winter in Ireland is crisp with an average between 5 and 15 degrees C. Electricity is very expensive in Europe, so many people heat only the center of their homes, and reluctantly turn on the heat in the bedrooms only if urgently requested (begged), despite the fact that it takes two days to heat up the room sufficiently to reduce the need for 3 sweaters, wool socks and slippers, a warm hat, a wool scarf, and gloves – indoors! On a sunny day, it’s warmer outside the houses in Ireland than inside.
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We had just finished another “Full Irish Breakfast” in the pretty dining room.
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With eyebrows raised, our hostess told us we might want to have a wee look out the window before we leave…
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We could not believe our eyes when we looked outside that early morning!
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To our astonishment, the ground was white, and big fat white fuzzy things were falling like thick feathers tossed down from the sky. What is that? Is someone blowing in feathers?
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Snow? Really? We were as aghast as everyone else was. Even though we were used to cold Canadian winters, we never expected snow in Ireland! Rain, yes, but not snow!
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When we walked out, we watched with great curiosity and amusement as the B&B owner rushed out to a man’s vehicle with pots of boiling water that the car owner was frantically pouring over the car’s ice-covered windshield. As fast as the boiling water was poured on to the sheet of ice, it froze to the windshield. It was amazing as well, that the windshield did not crack or shatter from the sharp contrast in temperature.
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The whole car was covered in ice, and the doors were frozen shut as well. The vehicle owner was an Irish local and he urgently announced that he had to get to the airport because he had a sales meeting in Dublin. Desperately using the sleeve of his coat to try to rub off the ice on his windshield, he wasn’t making a lot of progress.
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Before we could suggest that he use a credit card to scrape off the ice, he left with a little hole at the bottom of the windshield from which he was able to peep out and drive – a rather dangerous way to drive.
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Since snow is almost unheard of, no one in Ireland keeps an ice scraper in their vehicle.
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We started our car, and waited until it heated, and with the help of the sun, the ice on the car windows melted fairly quickly.
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Out on the highway though, the roads were terribly icy. There were no snow plows in sight. Fortunately, there was very little traffic, so we puttered along up hill and down dale, slowly and carefully on the winding slippery roads. The snow kept falling. We muttered that the reason we left Canada was to get away from the snow and and ice and cold. How could this be happening?
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Down the road, we stopped at a station for gas. The owner shuffled out with a big sweater on, looking absolutely miserable. He didn’t say much, muttered to himself under his old wool cap as he filled the gas, and went back inside. T followed him to pay for the gas.
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“It ‘asn’t snowed ‘ere in 30 fuckin’ years!” he announced loudly.
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Glaring at T, he added, “Christ Jaysus, yer musta broot it witcha, yer sonofabitch!”
(Translation: “Christ Jesus, you must have brought it with you, you sonofabitch!)
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“Well, we came here to get away from the snow, but at least they clean the roads in Canada!” T scowled back.
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“Well, oi tink oi already towl yer it only snows ‘ere every 30 fuckin’ years. Why wud we nade ter ‘av a fuckin’ snowplow?!”
(Translation: “Well, I think I already told ya it only snows here every 30 fuckin’ years. Why would we need to have a fuckin’ snowplow?!)”
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T smiled, and nodded politely. Although he was a little taken aback at the brutal honesty of the grumpy old man, he was quite charmed with his mocking jocularity.
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The snow stopped in a few hours and the sun quickly melted the roads. The green hills were again bright and shining with the melted snow.
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We continued on our way through the whimsical, once-in-a-blue moon… white Emerald Isle… come rain… or snow.
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