left

© kjm

On a trip to Alaska many years ago with Andy, we were preparing for a short jaunt into Denali National Park for some backcountry camping. At the visitor center, where you obtain the frighteningly deeply scratched bear-proof food containers, the park service requires you to watch a safety film. Andy and I snickered at the film's backpacker, who was dressed in a late 1970's outfit, and walked through the tundra yelling, "Hey, bear!" in order to warn of his presence. Funny thing is, once you're actually out there in bear territory, you find yourself shouting the same call (albeit in cooler clothes).

I'm in Ireland right now, and it struck me as I left the Shannon airport for points north, that I've been driving on the right side of the road for about, well, 25 years. Driving on the left is an odd sensation, and I've thought about the usefulness of that film in Alaska. So everytime I get into the car, and at odd intervals while driving, I'll shout to myself, "Left!" And because there can be sheep in the road, ocassionally, "Sheep!"

I'm here for an airline magazine, and when on assignment, I'll never post images here prior to their publication. But I'll still shoot pictures for myself, like this one, above, of a random piece of linoleum in the village of Roundstone. If it were a map of Ireland, I'd have started somewhere above the lowermost diamond, and am now out of sight above. Hopefully driving on the left.