Hart Journeys

I clearly remember my first sight of Ireland. I had just finished organizing, facilitating and presenting at six three-day conferences all held within three weeks. Working that hard had caused terrible insomnia. I hadn't really slept in months. I finished my last conference on a Friday afternoon. The next afternoon I was flying to Dublin to share our successes and challenges in California with full-service community schools, called "Healthy Start." I barely dragged myself through packing and getting to the airport. The exhaustion helped me to sleep all the way to Ireland and through terrible turbulence and my seat mate's motion sickness.

My first glimpse of Ireland was the wetlands around the River Liffey as it ran to the sea. The Liffey is a dark river that runs through the middle of Dublin. The meaning of Dublin is "dark pool." And for two weeks in the middle of November it lived up to its name. It was rainy and cold nearly every day I was in Ireland for that two weeks. It even snowed a bit. But that first glimpse of Ireland set the tone for all of my trips. No matter the time of year the Irish landscape never appears by half. The hills are intense green, the mountains are black, in autumn the ferns are red and the ocean is an ever-changing palette. The clouds are cloudier and the sun shines brighter. The countryside alone is reason to visit Ireland. And the weather is reason enough to visit in May!

Won't you join us in May for the trip of a lifetime?