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linesonscreens · 5 months

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Let's Read Peanuts (Yes, all of it) - September 1952

There are lots of great strips I just don't have room to comment on. I strongly encourage everybody to read the full month at the official GoComics page. Today's month starts HERE.

Sep 8, 1952

Credit where it's due for accurately capturing how literally every child watches TV.

Sep 14, 1952

Something about Charlie Brown's face in the “Thump” panel is incredibly funny to me.

Sep 15, 1952

See, this right here is why old school Charlie Brown rules. Get her ass!

Sep 18, 1952

This one is interesting to me. It feels like Schulz acknowledging a fundamental shift in how people spend their spare time.

Sep 19, 1952

Well look who it is!

Also that baby definitely needs a tetanus shot now.

Sep 24, 1952

Like Schroeder, early Linus is basically a prop early on.

Sep 28, 1952

Damn, Lucy can telepathically levitate that ball for a really long time.

Thoughts:

Why yes, that baby up there is in fact Charlie Brown's emotionally stunted BFF Linus. What's that? Aren't he and Charlie Brown supposed to be the same age? Aren't they even in the same class later? A very astute observation and I have some theories that may explain this.

~pulls out a slide projector~

You see, I believe it started with animal testing at a secret government facility called the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm...

[several pages of fan theories removed for your convenience]

...and that's why I'm fairly confident that Lucy was a part of the MK Ultra program. But I digress.

Anyways, Linus (named after one of Schulz's friends) is very loosely based off of Schulz's son Monte who had been born in February of this year and I'm guessing that a lot of his and Lucy's interactions seem based on those of their IRL counterparts based on how authentic they can feel.

Honestly, I used to straight up not like him very much but I think that's because I was basing my opinion on memories of the TV specials where his main role was to dispense bible quotes and give sage advice in a way that could be preachy and annoying. Now that I'm reading the strip directly I'm finding Schulz does a much better job at balancing those know-it-all aspects of his character with the fact that he's still a dumbass little kid with who has no idea what he's doing, which makes him a lot more fun and likable. He's still not my favorite Peanuts character (That would be “5”) but I can see why he's popular.

Peanuts was written and drawn by Charles Schulz and is owned by Peanuts Worldwide LLC. Please support the official release.

#peanuts #comics #comic strips #peanuts comics #lets read #charles schulz #charlie brown #patty #snoopy #lucy #Linus

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supersunshine10 · 8 months

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Something Interesting About Snoopy

I've been thinking about Snoopy, and I’ve thought about something interesting about him.

In the first year or two of the Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy was actually a fairly normal dog at first. But around 1954 onward his character changed to him performing fantasies and not wanting to just be a normal dog, albeit they started off as Snoopy pretending to be other animals or other people only, until later evolving into more crazy ones like pretending to be a WW1 Flying Ace, Joe Cool, FlashBeagle, etc.

But what’s really interesting in some of these 50s strips, is that there are multiple strips I’ve seen that show Snoopy actually hating to be a dog.

Even though later on Snoopy can be proud to be a dog, there are actually multiple strips where he used to be really sad/self-loathing of being a dog and even wishes he wasn’t one (There was even one where he thought “If I was a human being I wouldn’t even own a dog!”).

Now think about how later on the strip reveals that Snoopy used to have a previous owner named Lila. Lila and Snoopy really loved each other, he was so heartbroken when she had to leave. It was too much for him to see Lila again when she came to visit, he raced as fast as he could to the hospital to see her, and he burst to tears in Snoopy Come Home.

But if you think about it, when Snoopy was with Lila, he acted completely like a normal dog with her? Aside from playing instruments in a band as a puppy, when he was with Lila he acted completely like a normal dog, even happily playing normal dog games such as playing fetch (While Snoopy later on almost always refuses to play fetch with anyone).

In fact Snoopy only started to refuse to do things like a normal dog like doing dog commands incorrectly, walking on two feet all the time, sleeping on top of his doghouse instead of in it, etc., was right after CB adopted him.

And I know it was different in the strip, but in the the special Snoopy’s Reunion it was stated that Lila had to give up Snoopy back to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm because no dogs were allowed in her apartment.

It’s possible that Snoopy was so heart broken being left by Lila, along with other things (Other strips show Snoopy struggling/hating the fact that he had to be separated from his family in the first place, getting kicked out of places that have no dogs allowed too, and more stuff like that), so he could have internalized hating to be just a dog, and so that's how he started to become the dog that refuse to be an ordinary beagle we all know and love.

#Yes this is meta/analysis about Snoopy #People write think pieces on CB's depression all the time online so #snoopy #peanuts #charile brown #peanuts comics #peanuts strips #meta #headcanon #theory #anaylsis

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randomvarious · 9 months

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Today's compilation:

World Domination or Death, Vol. 1 1990 Alternative Rock / Indie Rock / Goth Rock / Thrash Metal

So, according to a 1988 Rolling Stone profile that I just read about Björk's old band, The Sugarcubes, and the Icelandic music scene more broadly, the small island nation was pretty musically desolate until about 1981, when UK punk had finally made its way up there. And even after that, Iceland still only had one TV station and one radio station well into the 80s—both of which were state-owned—and the radio station almost exclusively played US top 40 fare.

So, given that landscape, it's then pretty remarkable just how downright weird Icelandic music managed to get so quickly by 1990, which is when this pretty eclectic sampler from The Sugarcubes' own label, Smekkleysa (Bad Taste in English), was released; because it wasn't like Icelanders had a collective easy access to any avantgarde traditions, and they certainly hadn't been organically forging their own either. But if all you and your fellow countrymen have access to for decades is US hits, then I guess the eventual backlash to that can and will turn out to be severe.

So, here's a strange brew of alternative Icelandic tunes that were recorded and released between 1986 and 1990. This label showcase's biggest draw is, naturally, The Sugarcubes, who were one of the first bands to ever receive attention from outside of Iceland (the first was jazz fusion band Mezzoforte; h/t to @dropdead-celebration), when their song, "Birthday," managed to peak at #2 on the UK's Indie chart in 1987, which then caused industry types and journalists to flock to the country itself in order to investigate just what the hell the conditions were like in this small, isolated nation that could lead a band to make something that sounds like that.

But while their exclusive, "My March," received its own sticker on the front of the CD's jewel case—so you'd know that this album had The Sugarcubes on it without having to pick it up and then turn it around in order to view its tracklist—there's actually another band on here that plays the nutty, hall-of-mirrors Sugarcubes style on here too, and with a very similar type of touched little girl vocalizations as Björk as well, but their pair of contributions are, dare I say it, actually better?

Reptile is a band that comes with the following assortment of instruments: your standard drums, guitar, bass, and keyboards, but also a saxophone, a violin, a banjo, and a marimba too. And while that combination sounds like something a bunch of smirking college stoners would probably torture their fellow classmates with, this group actually seems to squeeze out the best sound that anyone possibly ever could with what they have. "Gun Fun," which also appears on their only album, 1990's Fame and Fossils, and their exclusive, "Ó," really do sound a whole lot better than you'd think; a pair of quirky tunes that are unpredictably fun as hell.

But this album's not just made up of a Sugarcubes-type sound; there's also goth rock, thrash metal, industrial, even rockabilly, and also a band called Daisy Hill Puppy Farm (named after Snoopy's home), who deliver a song that totally flies in the face of the vibe that you'd think a band with that name would have; "Young Blood," which also ended up leading their final release, a 1989 12-inch called Spraycan, is a great, ploddingly heavy, downtempo indie rocker that sounds like it came from the States.

So, truth be told, I did not really end up enjoying most of this album, but it's still definitely interesting and worth it to hear some of the varied sounds that this little country that seemed to be pretty culturally isolated from the rest of the world for a really long time for was able to muster in such short order. Other places with far more ease in their many avenues of cultural access seem to have taken a whole lot longer to get to a similar point of weirdness when compared to this small island nation. And while weird stuff tends to stay underground and indie most everywhere else, it seems to not only just rise to Iceland's mainstream, but it becomes their most popular music attraction, overall.

Highlights:

Reptile - "Gun Fun" Reptile - "Ó" Daisy Hill Puppy Farm - "Youngblood"

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pansyfemme · 2 years

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"Marbles" THAT'S SUCH A CUTE NAME,, I don't know much about Snoopy's siblings. Can you tell me anything about them :0? I wanna say the animated little movies showed off at least one of Snoopy's siblings before but I could be totally wrong

Yeah!! So its been a little while so i may be a little foggy but snoopy often mentions his time at Daisy Hill Puppy farm where he was born. Snoopy is one of eight siblings in the litter!! The most prevelant one by far is spike! He’s snoopy’s brother from Needles, California. He has several strips about him and he’s a recurring character in both the strips and the cartoon specials. His whole thing is just kinda wandering the desert and being really depressed all the time. He’s definitly a self depricating contrast to snoopy, who often has more ego and enthusiasism. The rest of the siblings are recurring and do get shown from time, but none of them are really given distinct personalities iirc. Generally they're just pretty cute and lovable lol!! I like spike a lot bc I used to love reading the strips that featured him- but I like Marbles' design the most I think!!

[ID: Concept art for Snoopy and his seven siblings. end ID.]

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myandrewstest · 1 year

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'Unconditional love'

Spending time with animals proven to benefit seniors and people living with dementia

Carol Mussel will never forget her final visit with Shooter the therapy dog.

It was a Friday, the day Shooter always came to visit, and Carol was sitting her in usual chair with Shooter at her feet. She was petting her when, suddenly, Shooter reached her paw up, rested it on Carol and snuggled into her. While Shooter had always been friendly, this was out of character and it took Carol by surprise.

“She never did that before,” Carol said. “I looked it up afterwards when a dog puts their paw on you like that and it means they love you.”

A few weeks later, Shooter passed away after a lengthy battle with thrombocytopenia, an autoimmune disease that impacts dogs’ blood cells, causing low platelets.

The news was a blow to Carol, who, due to her own autoimmune disease, was avoiding visitors as much as possible during the pandemic. Her visits with Shooter had become something she looked forward to.

“I knew when she’d be coming and I’d be waiting,” Carol said. “She had unconditional love. She was a great dog.”

It’s an experience many seniors share and one of the primary reasons pet therapy or animal therapy, is part of regular activity programming at Andrews Senior Care and ProTem Memory Care. Studies have shown spending time with animals can reduce the risk of depression, lower levels of anxiety, reduce feelings of loneliness and improve social skills.

“I don’t think people realize what a benefit it is for mental health,” said Kim Jay, a registered nurse at our Summerside home.

Kim was first introduced to the idea of animal therapy through her daughter, who had been spending time at Island Hill Farm as a way of coping with post traumatic stress disorder.

“It’s her happy place,” Kim said of the farm. “It’s where we go to unwind and destress. It’s pretty amazing.”

After seeing the positive impact spending time around the animals was having on her daughter, Kim, who volunteers at the farm, arranged to have some of the animals visit Andrews of Summerside.

“You certainly see them soften when you bring an animal in,” Kim said of the residents. “They were so excited when they came in.”

The benefits for people living with dementia are even more profound.

“It’s a source of powerful non-verbal communication that fulfills that basic human need for touch,” said Danielle DeAgazio, a sales and relationship manager at our Moncton dementia care home. “Everyone wants to feel connected and it’s simple to do when you have a pet there.”

She added, for many residents living with dementia, spending time with an animal can help trigger positive memories of their own pets and can lead to conversations and increased socialization.

“It’s a real mood elevator,” she said.

Debbie Miller, Shooter’s owner, couldn’t agree more.

Debbie has been volunteering with St. John Ambulance to provide pet therapy to senior homes for three years. She said the experience has been extremely rewarding.

“It’s been fabulous,” she said. “Through the three years I’ve been going to Andrews I’ve made friends. I’ve bonded with people. It’s almost like they’re a member of the family. You develop friendships.”

Which is why Debbie intends to have her new puppy, Daisy, follow in Shooter’s paw-steps and become a pet therapy dog.

“You have to agree to this for the long term,” she said. “Once you start going, you have to keep going because people look forward to it.”

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peterschlehmil · 7 years

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animated Peanuts_The First Time Charlie Brown Meets Snoopy at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm Snoopy’s Reunion (1991) directed by Sam Jaimes prime-time animated TV special

characters created by Charles M. Schultz

#animation #Peanuts #Charlie Brown and Snoopy mett for the 1st time #Daisy Hill Puppy Farm #animated TV special #Sam Jaimes #Charles M. Schultz

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ohmyitsfaith · 2 years

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Part 6: Friendly stream

Between the holidays, you and PJ decided to finally play a game together on stream.

"Okay, but like what?" he asked as he sat down next to you on the couch.

"Good question. I don't know yet" you answered as you looked through your twitter feed to see if anyone recommended anything.

"We need multiplayer games" they said.

"I am aware PJ" you sighed and scrolled down.

"Wait! There" he stopped you and you immediately lifted your hand from the mouse. "What about Stardew Valley? It has co-op and you always wanted me to play it."

"Why didn't I think of that?" you questioned yourself. "That's the perfect game!"

"Alright, so it is decided" the got up from the couch.

"Where are you going?" you looked up at them.

"I'm gonna quickly buy and download the game. Then we can start streaming" he smiled.

"But Peej!" you tried to stop them, but they were already in their room. So you just sighed and headed to your room.

You set up the stream and launched the game. When PJ messaged you that he was done, you started the stream.

"Hey guys" you greeted and watched as more and more people started coming in. "Hello everyone, good to see you. Hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrated."

You watched the chat go by and soon the questions about the stream started coming in.

"We're gonna play Stardew Valley with PJ" you explained. "Yeah, I just thought I'd let them greet their chat first."

PJ was faster at calling you through discord tho.

"Oop, here we go" you said and you answered the call. "Hi Peej."

"Hi. Ready to start?"

"Born ready" you smirked. "I'll set up the game and send you the link."

"Alright" they agreed.

"Okay what should the name of our farm be?" you asked him.

"Oh, uh… I don't know. How about Daisy Hollow?"

"Did you search cute farm names?" you joked. "Alright, Daisy Hollow it is. What animal do you want? There are cats and dogs."

"Cat, obviously. Is there a grey one?" he asked.

"Yep. Okay which farm type? We can have four corner, standard, riverland, beach, hill top and even forest" you listed.

"I think maybe standard. So I can get used to it" they explained.

"Alrighty. I'll start the game and send you the link in a few."

Not even a few minutes later, PJ was standing in the game running circles around you.

"Yay! Okay, we have parsnips to plant" you told him. "You have your own tools, let's get to it."

You showed him the basics and explored the town together.

"Aw, here's Maru wifu" you smiled and greeted her.

"Wow, Y/n, you just met her" PJ joked.

"Technically in another universe, we're married and have an adorable kid together" you explained. "So she's my wife."

"Are you gonna marry her this game?" they asked.

"I don't know yet. We'll see."

A few days into the game, PJ started getting the hang of it. He really enjoyed the fishing and mining. You did most of the farming, but you helped out with fishing.

"How do you catch so many fish?" they asked.

"I have a mod that skips the fishing mini game. After not being able to catch literally any harder fish in the game, I had enough and downloaded the mod" you explained.

"Ah. I get it. But it's also fun" they said.

"I mean sure. For a while. But you just wait until you try to catch a Legend."

Time passed by quickly and you found yourselves already 12 days in.

"Damn, it's been a long time since we started streaming" you sighed and rubbed your eyes as you glanced at the time.

"Yeah. Should we finish?" PJ asked.

"No, wait. One last day. Tomorrow is the egg festival. And I want to beat Abigail in the egg hunt" you explained quickly.

"But it's almost nine…" he started.

"Please Peej" you requested and looked into the camera with your best puppy eyes even tho he couldn't see you.

"Alright, alright" they sighed. "But that's the last day."

"Thank you" you smiled and went back to some last minute farm work before the clock hit 1am.

"But you should get to your house" they said.

"Just this one tree" you got out before finally cutting down the tree and you started racing towards the house closest to you.

Turns out it was PJ's and you quickly slipped in next to him.

"Sleepover!" you shouted as you clicked on the yes option.

"You always do this" they sighed.

"Yeah, well, I'm the reason our farm looks great. I cut trees and grass and stone and I build the farm buildings" you listed.

"Who earns the money you spend on farm things?" they questioned. "Me!"

"So? That does not mean I cannot just slip in your bed" you shouted out, before laughing. "That did not come out good."

"No it didn't" he laughed too.

"But you know what I mean."

"I do. But please click on continue" they pleaded.

You giggled again and clicked the button. The day of revenge arrived. First you had to water the crops tho, so you sorted that out.

"The Egg Festival has started" you read. "Here I come. Abigail, fear me! This revenge is going to taste so sweet. You won the egg hunt instead of me three times, but I'm here to take your place" you ranted, making PJ laugh as you entered the festival. "I'll be the one- ooh, strawberries. How much should I buy?" you switched.

"I don't know. How much does it cost? Is it even worth it?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. We'll use speed grow on it and they'll be ready in no time. Also, it's money" you sang the word. "So yeah. How much?"

"Maybe around ten? Can we afford it?"

"Yep" you nodded. "Okay, back to the revenge."

PJ chuckled and you walked around, greeting everyone before you started the countdown to the hunt.

You were subconsciously mumbling all throughout the egg hunt, which PJ enjoyed listening to. In the end, you were sitting on the edge of your seat.

"Come on Lewis! Say it! Who won?" you were almost shouting at your screen, really wanting to win the game.

"Calm down, Y/n" PJ sighed.

When the screen said your name, you jumped from your seat and pressed a button on your stream deck to start the celebratory music. You danced a bit to the music, very happy that you finally beat Abigail.

"Congrats" PJ laughed.

"Hell yeah! Thank you everyone! This is a great honor" you smiled and sat down in your chair. "This means a lot to me. I'd like to thank my father…"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get home" your best friend stopped you.

"Alright" you sighed and did what he said.

You both got to bed and ended the day. You both closed the game.

"Thank you PJ for playing. This was so great" you thanked them.

"Honestly I really enjoyed it. We definitely have to stream again" he smiled.

"Definitely. Well, see you in a bit" you said your goodbye.

"Yep, see you!" they replied and you hung up on discord.

"Well guys, thank you all so much for joining us in this madness. Thank you to all the subs and gifters and the bits as well" you looked at the chat. "I don't know when we'll stream again, but I'll be sure to tweet. Let's see who's streaming."

You looked at who was online and found someone playing Stardew Valley.

"Alright, we're gonna raid a Stardew streamer. They seem to be having fun and their farm is coming along nicely. So, be nice guys" you warned them. "Join the raid and I'll see you guys soon."

You ended the stream and joined the raid. The person you decided to raid was really nice and they kind of freaked out when they saw the amount of people. After the heat of the raid died down, you switched your computer off and stood up. You stretched before going out to the living room, where PJ was already sat.

"What should we have for dinner?" they asked, not even looking up.

"I think just bread, because I ain't cooking anything" you plopped down next to them and their arm went around your shoulder immediately.

"Alright, bread it is" he sighed. "But seriously, the game was so much fun."

"I agree. Kinda sad that we had to stop" you sighed.

"You're addicted."

"You'll be too, don't worry" you smiled at them and you gently slapped their thigh before getting up. "Let's eat dinner. I'm starving."

#kickthepj x reader #youtubers x reader #x reader #kickthepj smau #lost time ff

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slackerrrr · 2 years

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daisy hill puppy farm plushes (snoopy and his siblings)

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ashipwreckcoast · 4 years

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Do you think that when the Counting Crows sang about “paving paradise to put up a parking lot” they were referencing the fact that the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, birthplace of Snoopy, was turned into a parking garage?

#peanuts #snoopy #counting crows #or Joni Mitchell

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snoopyaday · 2 years

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#peanuts comics #charles schulz #snoopy #woodstock #snoopyaday #The Daisy Hill Puppy Farm

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hannahstocks · 4 years

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We drove off the ferry and into the arms of warmth; sunshine and blue skies, revealing our bare white arms to the world for the first time in a while. The faint mutter of ‘I’m too hot’ ashamedly beginning to leave my lips as I change a very smelly nappy in the confines of our transit in a supermarket carpark. From Belfast we drove west, past both familiar sights and unknown territory, weaving our way into late afternoon, finding a camp-spot and watching the sun disappear, leaving behind a sky full of every shade of orange imaginable. One lone fisherman out on the rocks. We walked, we cooked and we started our evening rituals, the babe falling asleep to the rhythm of the audio book as we all fell into slumber.

The surf forecast gave us a few days to play with, to not be dictated by tides and swell, wind direction and conditions, we fell into the mercy of flat seas and found our spot on a little island, parked up next to the beach with our own natural swimming pool and kelp forest to swim through. A gully made the perfect swimming start line, protected from the wind by the cliffs.

We’d swim, we’d snorkel and attempt to fish, fruitless, but fun. Walk soggy sand at low tide and wonder about the potential should there be swell. It was two days of cold wind and sunshine mixed with cloudy stillness and pure glass. We watched people come and go. Walkers, climbers and sea swimmers. A nod to camaraderie as they passed by.

With time came a change in forecast and that much anticipated swell. We pushed on, left the gully and the cliffs and the little white sandy beach, a treasure to be told. The wind blew as we made our way south and the bad weather followed, it was October in Ireland and we’d caught the end of a heat wave, we couldn’t have asked for more.

The first waves of the trip were surfed, a little beach break. I was hungry, I didn’t need to have a closer inspection, I just needed to get wet and feel the board under my feet and quite honestly, since having Billie, each surf was a test to see if I could even do it anymore, if my muscle memory would hold me up, if my arms were strong enough to pop. It was tiny but I tucked myself in the corner and found a few little peelers. I watched from the sea, onto the shore and towards James, Billie and Dillon as they played in the sand, the water spilling over me as I sat on my board feeling the warmth in my belly for all that I have.

An old man sat in a plastic chair, set amongst the rocks just shy of the shoreline, reading. Four others sat on the rocks above, looking out and into the ocean, eating sandwiches, walking poles resting next to them.

By the time I got out of the water, Billie was as she should be, completely covered in sand. We got the trug bucket down from the roof box, filled it with warm water and suds and bathed her sandy skin, sand in all the rolling creases. We listened on as our fellow van dwellers were ‘talked at’ by an eager group of English hikers keen to be acknowledged for their time spent in Switzerland, where the couple were from. Dominating the conversation as the couple sweetly replied, politely answering where there was any room to. We’d parked the van so the sliding door opened on the other side, it had been a good idea. As we left, we looked on to say goodbye, the hikers had left but the couples doors were tightly closed. I didn’t blame them.

We rolled into a concrete beach carpark in the dying light and negotiated the sloped terrain with rock piles, levelling ourselves off as we looked towards our neighbours bright yellow chucks sitting perfectly underneath their tyres. I maintained that make shift was way better and came with definite satisfaction guaranteed, all this said as I sat with the babe in the warm, dry van as he scouted for rocks on the beach in the cold drizzle, head torch guiding the way. The morning was filled with promise so we ate dinner and got our heads down, sure to be woken by the little girl sleeping on the worktop next to us. The van was rocked by the wind that night and the carpark toilet door acted like our lullaby with it’s constant banging.

Past the homemade knits and the lady waving in the window, over the fence and across the farmers field, a stone wall guiding us down into a make shift fence and a pile of beach litter; rope, latex gloves, bits of plastic. The cove gifted perfect right handers peeling into a conveyor belt rip, pulling you back out into the line up. No one around. No other footprints on the beach. That you could be the first ones of the day to walk on that beach or any beach, is worth spending a little bit of time thinking about and feeling thankful for.

We tagged teamed. I watched on as he, ‘the magnet’, caught wave after wave, cruising and turning. I bobbed along the shoreline with my hot water bottle as she peered over the top and into the direction of her dad.

I wasn’t as lucky. It was tricky, hard to find the right position, the tide changed and directed the waves differently, I felt weak. I felt sad. I felt disappointed in myself. I got out and cried. I just needed a few minutes to pull myself together, to laugh and to remind myself why it is that I surf in the first place. It was a special place to have a moment like that, sat on the boulders, Dillon bounding towards me. I promised myself to be kinder.

Our pile of washing had mounted and was spilling out of our bags, we found a DIY laundrette at a garage, possibly the worst and most expensive in all the land. But it was getting done, no more washing our pants in the stream. We found where we’d call home for the next few nights and the best house mates you could ask for. Positioned a stones throw from the water and a lesser distance from a concrete mini ramp. Chickens and roaming dogs and flat seas (for now). Diving in, off the natural rock spring board, the water shocked our bodies into a state of alert, feeling alive for the rest of the day. And then it was a case of waiting, watching, waiting, watching, scrolling on phones until it was time to go.

I sat on the grass overlooking the waves, Dillon by my side and a little girl full of intrigue as she picked the daisies from the grass. The swell bounced off the cliff below and formed together into wedges, waves filling the bay. Sat on the perfect viewing platform, I watched on, mind surfing and just appreciating where we were.

The swell over the next few days delivered waves for all. Reefs and river mouths delivering watery treats. The thing with tag team surfs is the high possibility of surfing completely by yourself. Daunting at new spots but with the added feeling of accomplishment and adventure, add onto that the high possibility of looking like a complete kook; sitting too deep, too wide, having to gauge position against monuments on the land and really, just a case of trial and error.

Like the swell, emotions come in waves; frustration, excitement, disappointment, satisfaction; post Billie I was becoming friends with all of them with even more intensity. A deeper satisfaction from just being in the water or just watching from the land juxtaposed with a deeper frustration of starting all over again.

His favourite wave started to turn on and the excitement in his step was like that of a bouncy puppy. The late afternoon light was magic as it bounced off buildings and with the drop in wind, the energy in the stillness was electrifying. Dolphins in the line up gifted the cherry on the top, jumping out of the water, frolicking in the waves, sat shoulder to shoulder with those lucky enough to be emerged in the water, and it would be a rare sighting we’d find out later. I looked on from the shore, babe missing the excitement through her slumber. The evening felt charged like we’d been gifted something pretty special.

Bad weather changed the course of our trip, we decided to head back up North, to cover ground we had missed through the eagerness to get south. Driving into the dark, burrito in hand we bee lined to a familiar spot and pulled off the road. Stars lined the nights sky, pitch black otherwise, no street lights, just the head lights from the odd car driving past. Being back in the area reminded me of a trip that came before, three girls sardined in the back of a van, hunting for waves and laughing for three days straight.

As we descended down towards the ocean, the Irish sun shone with as much force as early October can, stone walls cascaded down over hills and into gardens, dividing houses and farm land. The narrow road delivered us onto a bouldery beach, grass crawling towards the sea. Sheep grazing. A wheel barrow, shovel and plastic bags resting against a mound of earth. Peat rich soil territory.

The offshore breeze blew light, spraying gently off the back of each wave. Our gamble paid off. The swell pulsed and danced with the tide for a couple of hours. Harmonising and producing long walls of water, It was beautiful to watch.

The dogs descended on us, coming from nowhere, a pack of intrepid little fur balls, excited and boisterousness and taking quite the liking to Dillon. A courageous little puppy jumping in and out of the van, all to the disbelief of Dillon, gazing at me with a look of ‘what the hell is another dog doing in my bed?’ They humped it out.

He glided in from the sea, lost in a time warp of waves, salty and tired.

We’d spend the next couple of nights sheltering from a bad weather front and in the warmth and comfort of an air bnb, bathing in a free standing tub, cooking pies in the oven.

I’d talked quite passionately leading up to the trip about the best pizza I’d ever had last time in Ireland. We were back in the town and sat in the same restaurant. I could taste the sourdough base and tomato sauce already. Belly rumbling. It was reminiscent of the last time. Pure joy in every bite. I felt relief that it had lived up to expectation for the both of us. Billie had her first experience of Guinness, mainly just holding the glass and gumming the rim, but to my aunties delight through text messages later, a keen Guinness drinking since the ripe age of five.

The road took us deeper into isolation and beauty, with an undertone of mystery as we reached the port, ruins of a past village scattered in the hills, a jetty stretching out into the water and sea stacks; stacks of rocks disconnected from the land rising up towards the sky. A bay full of beautiful boulders in all different shapes and sizes, all tones of white through to grey, a monochrome carpet with the shoreline laden with a rich, thick kelp. White caps out to sea forming like icing on a Christmas cake, whilst the inner bay lay calm, our own private swimming pool. It would be our final camp spot of the trip and it appeared we’d saved the best till last.

The journey from the main road down to the port was long and with only one final destination, combining time of year and it being mid week meant that people were few and far between. Those that made the journey came and went, paying respect to the landscape and intrigue to the fallen village; still, when the sun started to sink, the port became all ours once again.

We stayed two nights, climbing what seemed like unreachable summits with roaring winds streaking our faces with tears, swimming in water as still as glass, biting in temperature and breathing in the beauty of our surroundings; a bay fringed with high cliffs and swirling birds and a wide ocean as far as the eye could see provoking contemplation and reflection.

It was our first van trip with our babe in tow; a beautiful mixture of fun and difficulty, joy and hysteria; a completely different experience than ever before with new life and new demands and personally, I couldn’t wait for the next one.

Thank you Billie. x

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