An Epic Journey

Yesterday in Cork I treated myself to this book, Tim Severin and his companions
sailed in a boat that had been made using only techniques and materials
available in the sixth century A.D. The vessel was modeled on a boat
that the Irish monk St. Brendan supposedly sailed to America during that
time. The boat was wooden framed and was covered in forty nine ox-hides
stitched together in a patchwork. Severin and his crew sailed from
Bandon Creek on the Dingle peninsula to Newfoundland, surviving Atlantic
storms and a puncture from pack ice. Their journey proved that the
voyage undertaken by St. Brendan would have been possible. Sounds like
its going to be a great read!
The sculpture of St. Brendan stands in Bantry square. His incredible
journey known as 'The Voyage of St. Brendan the Navigator' took seven
years to complete. He encountered saints and sea monsters and visited
The Faroes, Iceland, Greenland and the Americas. Incredible to think
that this treacherous journey took place five hundred and forty years
before the vikings reached those shores and nine hundred and fifty years
before Columbus made the voyage!
I'm certainly not making any comparisons with St. Brendan's achievement
and my reaching 365 blips!! However for me personally it has been quite a
journey with many little adventures and some wonderful encounters along
the way. I've never managed to write a diary for more than a few months
so keeping a photo journal going for a year has been quite something.
During those first few months and especially on wet Winter lunch breaks
at work I wondered what on earth I would find to blip but inspiration
was found and I only resorted to blipping the contents of the shop
shelves twice. I took photos in the coarse of my day but there came a
transition and I sometimes found myself taking trips especially to blip!

What a wonderful community of people blip is. I have enjoyed visiting
journals of folk around the globe, Yuba in Finland, Kendal in America
and Ceridwen in Wales, to name but a few. I have been inspired not just
by amazing images but by interesting and informative write ups or those
that just make me laugh like the witty write ups from Covered In Bees
and Patrona.
I'd like to say a big thank you to Freespiral for introducing me to blip
and everyone who has taken time to visit my journal and maybe leave a
comment. I've enjoyed the blip connection with local friends Bat and
Lulubelle, as well as meeting Serpent who visited Ireland earlier this
year. Most especially my virtual connection with Earthdreamer has become
a very real one and he is now a regular visitor to the Sheeps Head
peninsula. Back in May I was lucky enough to have him as my guide when I
visited the wonderful landscape of the Yorkshire Dales, where I also
had the added pleasure of meeting Muddy Shoes and Covered in Bees.
Finally a big thank you to all in blip central who have made the whole
experience possible.