Still raining this morning. I'm fortunate to have used the dry Sunday and moved my rest day to Monday. Wouldn't have happened if Galway wasn't full up. I'm very sleepy right now. I'll probably nap most of the morning, then hopefully tool around when the rain clears up (scheduled to this afternoon).
Went to take a nap after typing that and had the weirdest dream... 'twas about a dystopian society in which Canadians had exterminated all of the world's peoples and were using eugenics to repopulate the Earth. Part of this was super fertility, and if a woman wasn't pregnant after 7 days of marriage (begun at the start of her scientifically derived fertile period), she was killed. Men with low sperm counts etc killed as well. I followed the narrative of a newlywed couple and woke up some time after the woman came home from testing on the 7th day, sobbing, because all she wanted was children and she hadn't produced any. But the husband loved her and was going to go down fighting for her. And then there were kids playing real life mario kart on a waterslide. Brain, what is your problem?! Seriously.
Anyway. Before my nap I was scratching my bug bites like mad, so a guitarist guy here offered me some tea tree oil to put on them. I did and it worked like a charm. Strong smell but man did it work, and quick! So I bought some of my own just now, along with some sort of herbal concoction that's supposed to be insect repellent. (I don't like the idea of rubbing things into my skin that aren't safe to eat, since the skin is an organ too and all. The only exception I make to that personal rule is for sunscreen. Even my face lotion is 99% edible... And I even switched from using petroleum jelly for chafing to a balm made from jojoba oil and plant waxes. But I digress.)
Since mosquitoes don't like me, I don't typically wear insect repellent. I'll literally get just one bite to another person's ten. But I guess midges are different. They do live and breed in feckin *clouds* after all. Didn't know the bites would last so long since the little buggers are so small but... Yeah. Tea tree oil is now an item that will always go in my first aid kit. And some manner of repellent, too, I s'pose.
Also bought food for lunch and dinner in the store here. This town is small and adorable, the people are imminently friendly... There are three hostels here, and tons of tourists (I hear a lot of French being spoken), but not the snobby kind like I seemed to find in Clifden and most of Co. Clare. These are more like folks who want to hike in the national forest right near here, climb mountains, take a boat out on the lake. More like me.
Mmmm, turf bricks smoking in the fireplace. I may never get up.
This hostel is so quirky. Lights don't work in the bathroom so blue fairy lights will have to do. Junk and stuff tumbled everywhere. Books. Maps. Animal skulls. Flowers and strings of paper hearts. Radio always on in the bathroom, making for a relaxing shower or a creepy and tense middle-of-the-night potty break depending on what's playing. They did my laundry (I assume; dunno where it's hanging to dry tho') and mended my money belt for me no bother. Some weird social situations I found here, but social situations are always at least a bit confusing to me, so whatever.
Didn't do anything of note or leave hostel for more than grocery run. Chatted to Mama on phone for almost two hours. Tried to eat some vegetables for once. Spent a lot of time reading blogs or facebook on my phone by the fire.
Tomorrow I'm heading toward Westport. We'll see what happens. This was a nice rest at least.
Pax.
P.s. -- b'cause I'm interested: if you read this blog yet have never met me in person, throw me a comment below or at jameverywhere at gmail. I'm curious about my audience. This blog is me stretching out and honing my storytelling skills; while it was originally for Mama etc. to keep track of me, I definitely think it would be cool to watch it grow a bit...
Aunt Becky likes to keep track of you, too. :)
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