Private Driver West of Ireland

The clocks have gone back and early signs of winter are appearing. It has not been that cold yet but we are beginning to notice the shorter days and the wintry feeling in the air. It has been wet and windy and not too nice. The tourists are now few and far between and i can begin to relax a little as most of my work at the moment concerns airport transfers or just simple day tours in my own locality. People are always wanting to visit the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, and Connemara is popular even in the winter also. I can cover both of these areas from where i live without having to overnight. It is amazing how popular the cliffs can be at this time of the year and of course when the ocean is stormy the spectacle can be even more exciting. The wilds of Connemara are also very different in the winter and it helps us to picture just how hard it must have been for people to live in this region in olden times when there were no real roads or transport. There was a large population there before the famine as these people had been evicted from the good land in other parts of the country and driven into the barren rocky and mountainous regions of the west of the country. How they survived at all is a mystery but many did not, and those who did had many problems. When the famine struck they had no chance as their main source of food was the potato. Emigration was the only hope for many and even then many died in transit. Those who did manage to get to the USA had once again to struggle to survive but over the years they put a life together and were there to look after those of their own who followed them to the new world. They also did their best to send whatever they could home to their families and the letter or parcel from America was always a blessing, especially at Christmas time. How things have changed and when people talk about feeling the pinch nowadays with the recession they really do not know what real poverty is. I am not suggesting that people are not experiencing real problems now but we do not see many on the side of the road....not yet anyway.
Modern Ireland is a revelation and it is hard to imagine that anybody is short of anything as you travel though the countryside and see all the magnificent houses, the landscaped gardens and the two cars outside the door. Hopefully the recession will not last too long and the panic will be over and we can get back to sensible living. Maybe we are learning a very hard but valuable lesson.
Maybe we should all have a long and serious look at our Christmas shopping lists this year and get a little sense. Do the kids really need all those toys and gadgets that we buy them and which are obsolete in no time at all? And just what do we need ourselves? If we could just stick to what we really need then that would make sense but do we really need the extras? Do we need to fill shopping trolleys to the top with all kinds of rubbish that ends up untouched in cupboards when Christmas is over? We shop as though the shops are going to close down for a month when they are only closed for a couple of days at the most. How much food do you have left over after the Christmas dinner? We cook enough to feed the neighborhood. Maybe this year we can be a little more sensible. If we were i think we could maybe have an extra few days on holiday during the year, and how nice that would be. Think about it.....it might even help us to keep the weight down, and in my case that would be no harm. I will try to be sensible.....but maybe just a little kind to myself. If we could do with a little less ourselves this year and maybe give a little more to the genuine charities who look after the poor and underprivileged then it would be a better Christmas.....and one that would truly reflect what Christmas is all about.
Comments welcome.