Photos, photos everywhere and no USB connection!

I'm here, i'm alive. If I had left the U.S. a day later I might not have been able to leave at all - a major snowstorm Thursday closed many airports and cancelled many flights out of the East coast.

The weather here is uncharacteristically cold, sunny, clear, and dry - people who live here who have visited America are calling this "American weather." Temperatures are below freezing at night, very slightly warmer in the day, but the sun is gorgeous - I don't understand how the locals aren't collapsing from sunstroke. (Good thing my sister convinced me to take my sunglasses!) I've got some beautiful pictures so far but my friend doesn't have a USB connection on her PC, so unless I can find one somewhere I won't be able to upload any of my photos until I'm home.

The dry air means that I don't feel clammy-cold all the time, but it also means that I'm missing one of the things I experienced very strongly both times I've visited before: the smell. No smell of sheep or cattle or goats wafting through the air, no charcoal smell of burning bituminous wafting up from all over town. I smelled the seaweed smell of the sea just outside of Shannon airport, and I got a brief hint of goats at one point yesterday. We may be traveling south later tonight past some cowfields, so maybe I'll get to experience it there.

Met quite a few locals these past two days. Got some pictures. Maybe I'll post those, too.

The local accent is nearly impenetrable. Accents on Irish TV are a little easier to decipher. Easiest of all are the Australian accents on "Home And Away" After watching that show, the American accents on "Joan of Arcadia" were difficult to understand!

Went for a walk today to mail my first few postcards and look around for souvenirs, and halfway to my first stop I stepped into a gently sloping driveway and damn near sprained my ankle. I managed to skin both of my knees without tearing my jeans. If the weather holds I'll be taking quite a few more walks while I'm here. I'll just have to be more careful of trip hazards!