Thru Ron's Digital Lens

We have been monitoring the weather in western Ireland recently and it looks like our Ireland weather should be relatively warm. (And everything is relative!) While the temps here in Wisconsin have been anywhere from -3 degrees F to +25 degrees F (evan colder forcast for this weekend), the temps in Tralee, Ireland have been from +41 degrees F to +53 degrees F. We may need to pack the swim wear and sun tan lotion and plan a beach day!

Connor Hustles Down The Court! Loose Ball! Connor Fights With Two Opponents For Rebound! With the tournament ready to start next Saturday, the Golda Meir Owls were delt a serious blow when Connor broke a joint in his right hand during today's hard fought game! The break is where the index finger joins together with the rest of the hand at the main knuckle. The emergency room spokesperson indicated that this can be troublesome for a person of Connor's age due to the fact that his joints and bones are still growing. Connor was released from the hospital following treatment. Unfortunately, Connor will have his hand immobilized for at least 10 days, after which he will still have to be extremely careful of what he does with that hand. This effectively brings his basketball career at Golda Meir to a close, as he will be moving on to middle school next year. To Connor's credit, he played through the pain and finished out the game, even though the break happened late in the fi

For those of you who are planning on following our upcoming trip to Ireland we want to give you a general itinerary. We say general because for most of the trip we will be living in our "self catering" cottage. ( http://www.kilmalkedar.co.uk/ )It is not our intention to be held to a strict schedule that will dictate our every hour of the day. Friday, Feb 16 Leave Milwaukee on a bus to go to O'Hara airport, Chicago about 12:30 pm. Leave Chicago at 6:00 pm Saturday, Feb 17 Arrive in Shannon Airport at 9:00 a.m. Shannon is in the west central part of Ireland. We plan to take it easy going from Shannon to Dingle what with learning to drive on the left side of the road and on narrow roads and jet lag. They say that Dingle is 3 to 31/2 hours from Shannon. We will probably stop at a few places along the way. Once we get to Dingle we will plan to look around a little, buy some groceries and then head to the Cottage (5 miles). I'm sure we will plan to go to a pub that nigh

We thought it was time to highlight our third Grandson, Henry. Henry is a very active and exceedingly happy 2 year old with the ability to charm his way into any one's heart in an instant. Below are some recent photos. I love cake, but mostly the frosting Sitting With Mom Playing with Uncle Scott

Male Cardinal Waits In Trees While His Mate Eats At The Feeder It's a snowy, gray day in Wisconsin which has been brightened by our friends who come to visit on a regular basis at our bird feeders. The feeder where the female Cardinal is eating is the new anti squirrel feeder that Ron got for Christmas from the Lincoln crew. So far, the squirrels have not figured out how to beat it. We do keep two other feeders which are not squirrel proof, so not to worry about the "poor squirrels"!

Well we went out today to buy new waterproof hiking boots and hiking socks for the upcoming trip to Ireland. Who knew that there were special socks just for hiking? We were assured that the answer to all wet weather hiking was to have hiking shoes with Gor -Tex. Do you think they saw us coming from clear out in the parking lot?? Dona thought that since we spent all that money on waterproof shoes it would probably be dry the whole time we are there. I said if so, it would be the best money we spent on the trip! In addition to buying the boots and socks, we have started our daily walking routine to try to get into some kind of shape. I really do want to climb to the top of Mt. Brendon, which is right behind our cottage. The treck to the top has been a pilgrimage for the Druids and Christians for many hundreds of years. Mt. Brendon is the second hightest mountain in Ireland.

I wanted to pass along the following story from Dingle. Click on the following Link http://www.davethefox.com/lost/lucy.htm I can just imagine us getting into a similar situation. At least we will be prepared to better function in this situation than the writer of the story. Why will we be better prepared you ask? Because Dona is taking her flute with her, and we all know that "music sooths the savage beast"! Your next question may be; Why is Dona taking her flute to Ireland? She says that it has been her dream to be able to sit outside of an Irish cottage with the sheep grazing nearby and play Irish folk tunes on her flute. Pictures to follow once we get to our cottage.

Miles has been having a great year in the 2nd grade at Dover Street Elementry School in Milwaukee. Below are several pictures from his Open House earlier this year. As you can see, the whole family came to see his room and meet his teacher. Mom & Dad, Grand Parents and Brothers Showing Grandpa some of his work Showing his mom and his teacher his homework.

Connor 2007 Once again this year, Connor made the basketball team at Golda Meir Elementry School. He plays Center for the Golda Meir Owls B Team. The team hasn't won yet this year, but they have played very hard and have been getting better every week. They have had some very close games.

As most of you know, Dona, Ann (Dona's sister) and I will be traveling to Ireland from February 16th to February 27th. We will be staying in one location for our entire trip and taking day trips out from our "home" base. We are staying in a self catering cottage called the Rambling House, which is over 200 years old. It is located at Kilmalkedar which is 5 miles from Dingle Town, Co. Kerry. See the links next to this posting. The weather should be okay; temps in the 50's, but with the promise of rain and mist. However, the number of tourists will be way down this time of year. We plan to spend a lot of time exploring castles, monastic sites, old forts, etc. Also on the agenda are considerable nights in the local pubs listening to traditional Irish music. Dingle is one of the great centers for this. Of course, Ron will be spending many hours every day taking pictures, which we will share with everyone. We have access to an internet cafe in Dingle, so we are planning on

Earlier this school year, the students of Golda Meir Elementary School were given an assignment to write and submit an essay for a contest being held by the Milwaukee Journal/ Sentinel . The essay contest was to be completed and judged in time for Martin Luther King Day. The assignment required every contestant to write their essay around King's statement, "This is the time for . . . positive action." You can read Connor's essay at this link: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=550267 We are very proud of Connor for this special award! Please feel free to comment to this posting.

We have started this blog, Thru Ron's Digital Lens , to provide a means to share information and pictures with family and friends. It will most likely be composed of more pictures than commentary. Watch for upcoming postings on; 1. Connor's award winning essay for Martin Luther King Day 2. Our upcoming trip to Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland (Feb. 17th - 27th) 3. Miles' accomplishments at school 4. Henry's antics 5. Connor's basketball Feel free to submit your comments on the postings or photos. Bookmark this blog on your favorites page at: http://qdigitallens.blogspot.com/ Ron & Dona