"I DON'T BRAY."

*That line was stuck in my head all day. I just had to put it out there.

Today was a very pleasant day. I slept in again - it's becoming a bit of a habit, I'm afraid - and I wasn't really feeling Dublin too much. (Never thought I'd say that.) But the thought occurred to me in the shower that I could just go to the beach again and illustrate pictures for the short story I wrote yesterday. That sounded really nice, so I went down to breakfast, feeling quite pleased with myself. As I entered the kitchen, Carole said, "It's a lovely day out, Laura!" I saw that she was right - the sky was clear, the window was open and the air that was coming into the house felt WARM for the first time all month. Almost immediately after, Ray poked his head in (he was working with Mark in the garden) and said, "You're missing a beautiful day out, Laura." Alright, alright. I said I was thinking of going to Dun Laoghaire again, and Carole told me that I ought to go to Bray, because there's a lovely walk along the beach there. Although my cozy plan of drawing on a familiar rock on a familiar beach had sounded nice, this one sounded better - it WAS far too nice a day out to spend looking down at paper. So I ate breakfast, waited around for lunch and ate that, and headed out the door.

Oh - that reminds me. On the way to the DART station I dropped off some postcards for the family in the mail... so you guys should be getting those in a few weeks.

The town of Bray itself isn't much to talk about - kind of grungy, actually. But as soon as you get out of all the streets and buildings and get to the sand (I should say rocks), it's lovely. There's a long, wide stretch of pavement that runs parallel to the shoreline and everyone and their mother was out on it today. So I hopped the little rail and walked on the beach, down by the water. There's not much sand on the beach there, but they have nice rocks and I found quite a bit of sea glass. Eventually the beach stopped and the rocks were replaced by the side of an enormous hill - so I decided to climb it. Apparently the "hill" is Bray Head, and I was wearing completely the wrong shoes... but I didn't know that until I was already near the top. Well, first of all I followed the path and hoped that it was the one that went to the top. It was a nice path, one that sloped only gently, and went along the cliffside overlooking the sea. It was beautiful! So I walked on that for a long while... and a while longer... and then I saw a sign for Greystones, which is the next town. I think I'd followed that path for about 4 kilometers. So I turned around and walked 4 kilometers back, and turned left. THEN I found the path to the top of Bray Head - which isn't wide, sloping, or gentle. By this time I'd taken out my ipod though, and The Decemberists make great seaside-climbing music. (I thought of listening to them because the train-stop before Bray was Shankill. As in, Butchers.) So I was quite enjoying myself. There was a man walking ahead of me, and after awhile he struck up a conversation with me about my being an American, and how he had lived in America for four years, walking race horses. Normally I try to avoid talking to strangers - I've always been a bit paranoid, I guess - but this guy didn't bother me. It was actually really interesting hearing about the horse-racing business - even if he was a bit too angry about all the Polish guys that kept stealing his jobs. Also, the government taxes. And how much better America is than Ireland, because Ireland is boring and has too many Poles. I guess he was a bit tangenty.

The way up was quite treacherous, actually - it was either very rocky or very muddy. (I actually slipped on the way back down, but I wasn't hurt.) The fellow told me that the key thing to remember when traveling anywhere is to bring the right footwear - and then pointed out that my "slippers" (my tennis shoes...) will be the death of me. I certainly hope he's wrong...

Eventually we got to the top, and boy, what a view! There's a massive cross at the top, too, which was cool. It kind of reminded me of the hill with the cross in Ventura. It was really neat seeing the county from the opposite side - normally I see Dalkey Island on the southern horizon, but today it was as far north as I could see.

On the way back down, my horse-walking friend commented on the fact that most people won't have a conversation with a stranger. He said that most people he tries to talk to leave as fast as they can, and that it was nice that he could have a normal conversation with me. Which made me feel kind of bad - because even though I didn't mind talking to him, I was always very aware of our surroundings and I made sure that I could always see another hiker either in front of or behind us. And I'd lied when he asked what city I was staying in. (Which was stupid of me, really, because there are so many people in this county that it doesn't matter whether they know your city or not.) And then he found the parking lot with his car, said "good luck", and went off.

I guess I'd rather be safe than sorry, but I think I AM a bit too suspicious of people, generally speaking. There are so many interesting people with interesting stories - especially in busy counties like Dublin. It makes sense that people are interested in learning about each other.

ANYWAY. By the time I got to the beach again, it was after 5. I walked around there for a bit more, because the crowd had thinned out and the water had drawn back so that I could walk on what sand was there. The weather all day was just so pleasant - it was the first time I've gone out without feeling cold once. If there's another day like today, I may go back - even if it's just to sit on the beach and read. It was lovely.

Well. I should go to bed now, because tonight is spring-forward night for US. So now I'll be 8 hours ahead of California again. If I'm not mistaken, this upcoming Monday will be my fourth away from home. Is that right? That's ridiculous. I mean, I can't say that it feels either longer or shorter than that... but still, the fact is weird. Okay. Goodnight, everybody. Enjoy your Saturday. :)