28/08/2026
Clifden | Connemara | County Galway
I’ll reveal a little secret. I seem to have a strange power of attracting animals, rather like Doctor Dolittle.
This little lamb wandered close to me. He looks rather grand in the photograph, but in truth, he was small and impossibly fluffy, like a cloud that had fallen from the Irish sky.
I began to wonder what we might talk about. What would he ask me? And what wisdom could I possibly offer, being the older of the two?
So I told him about autumn.
The days will shorten, the rain will grow colder, the winds stronger, and eventually winter will settle over the fields. Ireland can be cruel then, but stay clos e to your flock, I told him. There is warmth in belonging.
And perhaps that is enough wisdom for both lambs and humans. When the seasons change, find your flock, keep close to warmth, and trust that somewhere beyond winter, spring is already waiting.
