season of mist and mellow fruitfulness

So, fall is just around the corner and if you look carefully, you can see the leaves on the trees beginning to turn. I'm not complaining; one of the unsung pleasures of Dublin is walking through the residential areas on a sunny fall day, kicking your way through the piles of leaves on the ground. One windy night can knock a lot of leaves off, and it takes the city workers a while to get through them -- the upside is that all the children, and this blogger, have a lot of fun stomping through the crunchy piles!

Seriously, though, Dublin is great in the fall. The students are all back in college, so there are lots of young people everywhere, including all the wide-eyed first years from small towns and villages, loose in the city for the first time. You gotta love 'em. There's lots to do and, let's face it, the Irish look their best in the more muted colours of fall/winter wear. They're always very eager to strip down to their smalls when the sun shines, but they look somehow unconvinced in their caribbean colours. For my money, there's nothing more handsome than a pale-skinned Galway man with dark hair and a granddad shirt. Maybe that's not a trendy look, but it's a good one.

Here in Ireland, Heritage Week is underway. Work has prevented me from seeing much yet, but things are a bit less hectic for the next few days and I'm hoping to attend some events. Apparently, it's great. There was a big queue on Grafton Street for a lecture about the history of Dublin, so there must be a lot of interest out there. Saturday's the last day of my babysitting job, because I'm getting more horus in the restaurant, so I'm looking for something to take the kids to as a goodbye. So there's my plans for the weekend!