When God created the Universe, He decided that some things should remain a little mysterious.  Some things are meant to inspire awe and wonder, and questions as well.  They were created to ignite our own creativity, in poetry, story, art and song.  We went to the Giant's Causeway on Sunday, and the mix of legend, science and history that surrounds it is fascinating.

Our guide was Catherine, park ranger and naturalist, who told us how the hexagonal rocks were either formed from lava flows, or built by a giant trying to reach Scotland to fight an enemy.  She told us about the Bay of Cows, where farmers would graze their herds in the winter in the sheltered bay but did risk losing some to a watery demise whenever there were storms.  There was also a bay for the sheep, too, and a path leading down to it from the cliffs where shepherds would take the sheep down on their shoulders in the spring, one by one.

Catherine also knew plenty about flora and fauna and told us about wild orchids, sea otters, and the rare chough.  The chough is a type of crow that is very rare Ireland and supposedly only 50 breeding pairs remain.  One such pair lives at the Giant's Causeway.  Seeing a chough is a rare treat for Ireland birders, and I hope to be able to see m myself one day.

A pair of chough also raise young on Rathlin Island, a small 8-mile piece of rock between Ireland and Scotland that has a village with 70 residents and a school of 7 students.  It can only be reached by a thirty-minute boat ride, which for us was pretty much the greatest thing ever because the water was choppy and we had an unbelievably good time sitting out on the deck.  We went to Rathlin primarily to reach the seabird colony on the northern side of the island and find Atlantic Puffins.  The colony was amazing, but we didn't really get great pictures of puffins because there were few of them, they were far away and were surrounded by thousands of guillemots and gulls.  We found them by looking for their little orange feet.

On Rathlin, we also saw seals, eiders, and a rare wildflower known as the early-blooming orchid.  We found those nestled in the grass of a churchyard, and it turns out they were blooming late, seemingly just for us to be able to delight in seeing them.  God is good.

One of the men who had been on the crew of the boat was also standing in a local craft shop that we entered after we had toured the colony.  We were in the shop marveling at some beautiful photography of the puffins and other Rathlin wildlife when a woman told us, "Those are Tom's.  He's standing behind you."  And so we were introduced to Tom, whose job is literally to ferry people to his island on a boat and do wildlife photography.  He is very skilled and you can see his work here.  He talked to us for a while about photography and the plants and animals of Rathlin, and back on the boat on the way home he told us to watch the waves, and maybe if we were lucky we'd see a minke whale or bottlenosed dolphin.  We asked to take a picture with him when we left the boat, and I think we're all somewhat envious of the life he leads, because it seems amazing.

Traveling to another culture does put one's place In the world in perspective.  How many people, if they met me, would be envious of my career path as a veterinarian, the place where I live and the culture I am part of?  I have many good things... And yet I see these seemingly happy Irish people living in this harsh and beautiful landscape and wonder if there's something I'm missing.  Can I just share things about nature with people who come visit me and give it expression in art?  That's what I really want to do.

The Giant's Causeway and Rathlin were also in the same vicinity of Carrick-a-Rede bridge, a popular place for tourists to see and cross a rope bridge that was originally built by fishermen to haul salmon out of the bay and over to the mainland.  Melinda and I had a great time crossing the bridge, and Anna gets a gold star because she managed to cross as well, putting aside a tremendous fear of heights.

We stayed in the north for a couple nights, and there are so many good memories... Visiting the dark hedges, befriending an adorably silly group of old Yorkshire motor bikers who decided to teach us about their home (most of which we didn't fully believe), eating amazing food at the inn at Bushmills, and finding out about the mysterious widgets that live at the bottoms of cans of Guinness and make them foam when you open them.  Driving the Coastal Causeway of Northern Ireland, "an area of outstanding natural beauty," we headed south on Monday for the Cliffs of Moher and the next part of our adventure.

We were made to fulfill dreams.

The Ouessant sheep (pronounced "wessant" by some of the people we met) are thought to be the tiniest sheep in the world.  The rams only stand at their tallest 50 cm high, or about up to my knees.  As you can see from some of the pictures with a group of ouessants standing next to a giant Swiss Black-nose, these are tiny animals.  They are hardy, easy to keep in harsh conditions and have been bred to produce black wool, though other color varieties exist.  When we first stepped into their pasture the babies all came running up together to investigate, which was one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.

Melinda loves these sheep to death and her enthusiasm for them is contagious.  They are not a common breed and to see them in a location such as the Isle of Man is amazing.  We may have got made fun of by the locals a little for flying halfway around the world to find sheep, but it has been worth it in every way.

The flight to the Isle of Mann was amazing, and I have never met more friendly security guards than in the Dublin Airport.  I have this little spork multi tool thing on my bag that really threw them off, and it was hilarious.  The man checking the screens that scan carry-on bags told me it "looked really strange on my screen," and another asked, "but really, what's it for?!"  But it didn't make them angry or suspiciously; they were smiling. And people apologize whenever something inconvenient happens, such as when I wasn't able to carry a drink onto one of the buses.  

We arrived on the Isle of Man two days ago not really knowing what to expect (or at least I didn't).  I didn't even really know this tiny island existed until recently when I found out from Melinda that we could find the Ouessant sheep on a certain farm there.  I mean, that's what this trip was all about, finding this rare breed of the tiniest sheep in the world!  I don't know quite how to classify the Isle of Man.  It uses the British Pound, is only a short plane hop from Dublin, and has a rich heritage of intermingled Vikings, Celts and Christians.  Oh and there's Manx cats, and a big motorcycle race called the TT, too.  But even after learning all that, the only thing I understand for certain is that this island is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Think, for example, of waking up every day to see the sea framed by rugged hills and green pastures full of cows and sheep.  The fields are full of rabbits, pheasants and jackdaws (there don't seem to be many natural predators).  The banks lining the roads are covered in different flowering plants of all kinds.  There are only five or six major fishing towns on the island, which you can easily reach within a few hours' drive.  Between that, there are farms.  That's it.

We had a cottage booked, but we had not arranged transportation and were planning on using the bus system.  We knew our destination to be Cammal Farms in Kirkmichael, but had no way of contacting anyone and had to ask many locals before we found our way.  

This video just about sums up everyone's feelings during that time.

Julia: Is the Go Pro actually on?

Anna: omg where are we going?  How are we going to get there?  We're lost!!

Melinda: sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Two buses and a few hours later, we ended up in The Mitre, the oldest pub on the island.  The staff there kindly provided us directions to the Farm and made us sandwiches and chips to go (best tasting chips ever because by this time we were starving!).  We walked the rest of the way, about a mile up into the hills with our luggage.  But it was so beautiful and we were so close to our destination and we had chips so it didn't matter that much at all.  We finally reached the farm and settled into our little barn-like cottage, watching the sun set over the hills.

The next day we visited an ancient castle in Peel, learned some history of the island in the museum of Mannanan, and climbed a hill that gave us gorgeous views of the surrounding country.  When getting directions, we were given instructions like, " just go down the hill," or "just head north for a while."  On the first bus we took, a whole village of old fishermen took it upon themselves to help us find our way, but finally just wished us good luck and instructed us to talk to "the nice young bus driver."  And half of them looked a little tipsy so we did decide the bus driver was the best bet.

We never became seriously lost, and on an island of 85,000 people, most everyone knows how to help you or where you're supposed to go.

Standing on a big hilltop overlooking Peel, I thanked God for this trip, my friends and the unbelievable view.  It was a mountaintop moment for me and I hope the memory will nourish me in those days to come when acedia sets in and life seems like endless drudgery.

If I didn't need to make a living, I would go back to school in a heartbeat, and if I could, I would go to Trinity College.  The library would be reason enough.  At the Long Library, books are treated with the respect they deserve.  We watched a member of the restoration team painstakingly dust the individual pages of one volume.  They also had a children's exhibit running and I was able to find my favorites.

• We received a tour around Trinity's ground from a Ph.D history student named Caoimhe (pronounced "Queevah").  She did a great job and told us to go look in the geology building as well as seeing the obligatory Book of Kells.  The geology building has stone carvings along the outside depicting native Irish flora and fauna, but as Caoimhe informed us, the sculptors got more creative towards the top and added animals like flamingo, monkey and platypus.  Inside the building were two skeletons of the extinct giant deer that used to live in Ireland.

Caoimhe let us take a picture with her!

The Book of Kells is one of Dublin's most well-known attractions and was well worth the visit.  It's a beautiful illuminated manuscript of the 4 books of the gospel.  One thing that isn't apparent from pictures is the decorated lettering and illustrations are ridiculously intricate but also very tiny.  The most famous page is the Chi Rho, which symbolizes Christ and is full of other icons of faith.  It's beautiful.

Another interesting thing about the book was the monks put their own personal touch on the pages, leaving messages outside the borders of the text.  One such message was about the monk's feelings of solidarity with his white cat, Panger Ban. 

I was so inspired by the Celtic art that I drew my own depiction of Panger Ban, too.

we're in Dublin!  After a long trip from Orlando to Toronto to Ireland, we decided to fight through jet lag to get on a somewhat normal sleep schedule as quickly as possible.  

In Toronto, we had an 8-hour layover at the airport so we did everything we possibly could do in the confines of our terminal.  We played card games (which I am sad to report amazed some people around us; most travelers were using the provided I-pad stations to isolate themselves from each other), did a lap of lunges around this interesting piece of art, and stared in total amazement at the way Canada markets cigarettes (or doesn't market them), with zombies.

When we got to Dublin, we spent the day walking around and taking the tour bus.  We ate a late lunch at a restaurant called The Turks Head, found Trinity College and the Jameson Distillery and watched birds at St. Steven's Green.

Trinity College was gorgeous, and there I found my first bird that wasn't a rock dove or a mallard: the elegant, playful and smart Eurasian Magpie!  It was entertaining itself by grabbing a stick and running across the lawn like a little velociraptor, which was adorable.  I love corvids (crows, jays, etc) in general because they're so smart and sassy but this guy might be a new favorite!

At St. Steven's, there were plenty of gulls and more mallards, but the species that most stood out to me were the Tufted Ducks.  These are a migratory winter species for Ireland but I have no idea if some stay on the sheltered ponds of St. Steven's year-round.  Anyway, they floated around in pairs and were quite handsome.

We ended the night early to try to get on a somewhat normal sleep schedule.  More adventures to come!

I feel all grown up, and yet terrified, because really, I'm not grown up at all.  I still think of my friends' parents as "so-in-so's mom and dad" and I still coast on shopping carts through the parking lot sometimes.  I am, however, embarking on my first adult vacation and I am going to make an effort to document it.

We're going to Ireland and the Isle of Man!  For me, I'm hoping that it's going to be somewhat of a spiritual journey, a chance to regain energy and heal and try to see God in day-to-day life in a way that I lost during school.  I also want to share with you what I learn about Irish culture and creatures.

Yesterday we drove to Orlando to catch a flight to Toronto and then on to Dublin.  In south Georgia we rescued two turtles from the perils of crossing human migratory paths.  Unfortunately in my eagerness I did not actually press the buttons on my Go Pro  (though I tried) and can't share with you the footage of our daring rescue.  But be assured both turtles are safe!  I think saving turtles is one of the easiest ways to help wildlife.  As long as the traffic volume is low and you can park in a relatively safe place, you can simply put the turtle on the other side of the road in the direction it was heading.  Preserving the lives of individual turtles can really make a difference since they live such long lives (eastern box turtles can live 50 years or more!).

When we got to Orlando, we went to get dinner at Downtown Disney and watched the performers.  And we got Anna a corndog, of course.  Next stop, Toronto, then, IRELAND!!

Spike Jr., our traveling stegosaurus enjoyed his fries and beer from the food trucks at Downtown Disney.

Being a devoted fan is hard work.

Around the time when I got to first wear contacts and my teeth were beginning to look normal as the braces did their job, I decided that the Lord of the Rings was cool.  I don't remember why I decided that it was cool.  Probably, as with most things, it was because some people I held in high esteem liked it.  For instance, around the same time I had decided that playing the saxophone was cool, mostly because the barry sax player in the jazz band at school was the kind of person I wished I was.

Anyway, it was a good time to decide to become a Tolkien fan, with the hype of the release of the Fellowship of the Ring movie building.  I was able to finish the first two books of LOTR before I saw the movie, and it’s for this reason that I think I can say I’m a true dedicated fan and not just someone who falls in love with the books after seeing the movies.  For me, things happened pretty much simultaneously, at least for the first year.  The next two years, I would re-read the Lord of the Rings in its entirety before going to see the next installment.  I started this yearly tradition of reading the book and it continued for quite some time after.  I was officially part of a fandom, I was a Ringer!

In those awkward adolescent years, I can honestly say that LOTR stands out as a positive force of good in my life.  I fell deeply in love with the story and characters, and it gave me hope and something to live for, but it really also became an obsession bordering on idolatry.  I wasted huge sums of money buying things for my collection: all of Tolkien’s books, movie books, those costly but precious extended edition gift sets, movie soundtracks, trading cards, replicas of the One Ring which I would actually wear around my neck… I even wanted a movie replica sword (thankfully I couldn’t afford one, though I did manage to acquire a miniscule letter opener version of Anduril).  

But I noticed that something troubling began to happen.  Because I loved the world of Middle Earth so much, I couldn’t stay away from it.  And yet each time I went there again, watching the movies or re-reading the book for the 20^th time, I loved it a little less – or it affected me less and less.  By that time, many words, phrases and character lines were so familiar that I could quote them by heart.  And I was troubled because they began to lose their meaning.  My heart didn’t catch at the place where Gandalf tells Frodo that “even the very wise cannot see all ends.”  I didn’t feel that swelling of love, admiration and pity when Samwise picks up Frodo and carries him up Mount Doom.  I could remember feeling great things, but those feelings weren’t there anymore.

I don’t often give my heart away to a story, but when I do, I do it completely.  For a while, I am utterly obsessed.  Then one tragic day when the winds are howling and the sky is the color of lead, I realize that the flames have died down and I can go back to ordinary life.  My current infatuation is Doctor Who, but I know that a time will come, sooner or later, when I will still love it, but will be tired of it.

Dare I say: the same thing happens with the Gospel.  That is the oldest story in my life by far.  Raised in the proverbial “Christian home,” I have been exposed to it since I was a small child.  I went to Sunday School and had primitive Bible storybooks and was told again and again the Christmas story.  Repetition has brought a certain tiredness to the words and a frustration on my part that I feel this way.  I know in my head that the story of Jesus is beautiful and powerful, but it’s hard to feel it in my heart these days.  I long to hear it for the first time, again.  Think of how different that would be.  To not know that the world was in the hands of an Almighty, holy God who was willing to become human to save us from ourselves and redeem the world.  And then to hear that story for the first time, to have a great swelling of hope and joy at the thought of redemption, healing, and impossible, enduring love.

I can’t just forget that I’ve heard the Gospel thousands of times.  But I can make an effort to refresh the story.  The Lord of the Rings recently was refreshed for me.  Why?  Because the Desolation of Smaug just came out.  Even though I think the new Hobbit movies are really quite terrible (besides brief moments of brilliance like Smaug himself), they reminded me what I loved about the Lord of the Rings.  The other night I watched the end of Return of the King and actually cried again, touched and moved by it for the first time in several years.  It’s hard to remain an infatuated fan.  There are only two ways: forget about it for a while, or explore it in entirely new ways. The only way I know how is to keep the story fresh and new, to explore it in novel, far-reaching ways through art and music, to talk about it and write about it and seek out similarities between it and daily life.

So I could distance myself from the Gospel and come back years later, when I’ve somewhat forgotten it.  There’s always the risk that I might not come back.  Or I could seek confirmation and truth in the Gospel in things that will touch my soul, in art and music, in good discussion, in beauty.

Some Christians think that the only way they’re allowed to connect with God is through reading the Bible.  Now of course I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and I think reading it constantly through life is extremely important for maintaining a correct lens about who God is.  I also think parts of the Bible are extremely beautiful and the book is certainly long enough to read it for a lifetime and still discover new or forgotten wisdoms.  But if I’m to taste and see that the Lord is good, I need to not only read the Bible but experience its Word playing out in daily life, everywhere.