BLATHER REVIEW

Good Day, Bad Day

The more I eat the more I want to eat, and the less I eat the less I want to eat. I forgot to eat yesterday.

Actually I had some small breaded fish fillets with tartar sauce at some point. But when I got up this morning I was feeling pretty yukky. I took a shower. Dry heaving from the taste of toothpast in the back of my mouth didn't exactly settle my stomach. I thought about making some scrambled eggs, but, while my stomach was empty and hungry, I was also kinda on the verge of dry heaving again. Sorry for the details. I lied down for a nap.

Anywho, today was day 2 the 19th annual Fairfield County Irish Festival. Lawruh came by to pick me up at around 1:30 or so. I had to get some food in me or pretty soon I was not going to be able to stand up anymore. Weak and light-headed, we stopped at McDonald's. I got a double cheeseburger, small fires and a coffee. My first mistake was forgetting to say "hold the mustard".

I got through half of the burger and gave up. The mustard was just too sickening a taste for my gag reflex to tolerate. My second mistake was trying to drink the coffee. I hadn't had a cup of coffee in about two months and the acidity was too much for me. I drank less than half of it. Then I knew that I could go no further until I had a large liter-sized bottle of ice cold water. Oh, that hit the spot.

We got to the Festival at about 2:45 and, lemme tell ya, that's one long steep hill between the parking area and the festivities. Sister the Elder had already arrived and she foundd us right away. Cousin B couldn't join us, unfortunately, as he was in Virginia to attend a graduation ceremony.

Hungry and weak, but still pretty queazy, I decided not to try to eat anything else yet. We looked around the merchandise tent. Books, CDs, clothes, jewelry and all sorts of other Irishy stuff. Didn't buy anything, of course.

The Fairfield Gaelic Pipe Band was great, as always. Even though the main tent was pretty huge and had open walls, when you get a dozen or so bagpipers blasting away it's pretty darn loud. Add the pounding of the snares and bass drums and it's quite an experience.

Then one of my favorite bands, The Highland Rovers, played for about an hour and a half. Great music. I decided to try and eat something, but all I ended up getting was a cup of watermelon Italian ice. Very tasty.

The highlight of the day is almost always the dancers from the Lenihan School of Irish Dance. They come out in seperate groups based on age and experience and their outfits -- especially the younger girls' -- are adorable. The dancers range in age from about 9 to late-teens, but there are also the "veterans". The oldest of them seemed to be in her 60s. Seeing Riverdance on tape is fine, but it can't compare to seeing the dancers up close and personal with their shoes pounding in unison on the hardwood platform.

I finally got down a slice of pizza and a Pepsi and was beginning to feel better. Then the air got very heavy and humid. It wasn't a hot day today. It was overcast and actually kind of cool. Humidity like that just saps my energy anyway and my blecchy condition was exacerbated a bit.

Anyway, we looked around some more and sampled another band in another tent. Sister the Elder wanted to by me a ring for my birthday, but the ones I liked didn't fit well. So, eventually, we decided to call it a day. I finally had some dinner a little while ago; a chicken pot pie. Feeling much better now.

All things considered, I had a good time at the Irish Festival. If you're there next year, look for me, I'll be there. I'll be the guy wearing a green shirt.

Posted by Tuning Spork at June 17, 2006 10:55 PM | TrackBack