Equinox Sock

 Today 23 Sep 2026) is the Autumn Equinox, and last night I had a dream the I had entered a Druidic Equinox Festival and submitted a competition entry, which I  "called the Equinox Sock." My entry was parceled up neatly; the parcel looked like a wrapped music disk, and I expected to be the winner.

Well, dreams tend to work in riddles, so, when I woke I set about figuring the riddle out; and it was simple enough. Today  I visited my medical clinic to have my Covid and Flu injections, That day was very warm (unusually warm for September) and I had worn a short-sleeved shirt, which was very convenient, since there was no buttoning or rolling up of sleeves necessary. Today, however, was promised to be colder, so, naturally, I had to ask myself whether to wear a long-sleeved shirt instead, (for my next medical appointment) and, indeed, shoes or sandals.

Now, in the recent unusually warm weather, I had to constantly decide whether the sandals would be with or without socks, and that I reckon was the Equinox riddle of the socks.

Well, now that the Druids are in the picture, I reckon that, in tomorrow's music session, I should visit a song harping back to the ancient druids. "Seán Ó Duibhir an Gheanna," should meet the picture: In ancient times, as I had learned many years ago, druids would call the people at dawn to meet the Dawn Chorus, and sing a chant welcoming the sun. (To the druids, the sun is a wonderful God, who, remarkably, lights the sky every single day, wet or dry, and only darkens it again at night).

One particular Sun-welcoming chant continued to be sung long after the druids had departed, and right up to Elizabethan times. At that time, Queen Elizabeth attempted to exterminate out the entire Irish nation. Some cynic, viewing slaughter, made a parody of the joyful song, to the effect that "Instead of dawn, I rise at midday; besides the birds singing, I hear the wailing of wounded animals; midges prick me and horseflies bite; I hear big guns, horsemen charging and the forests being chopped down; I want to escape from the country and hire a boat to take me across the ocean." This song is  "Seán Ó Duibhir." It was very popular, and soon, the original song of joy was completely replaced by the parody.

Since I have just, more or less, translated the poem to English, why not go the whole hog now: as follows.

Sean O’Dwyer

As I rise in the morning,
The sun’s already shining;
I hear the wails of sorrow
Above the sweet bird song.

I feel the prick of midges
And the horseflies sharply biting;
I hear the roaring  thunder
Of the great big guns.

The red fox on the headland,
The roar of horsemen charging,
And a woman by the wayside
Wails “My geese are gone.”

Now the forests, they are felling;
People flee from Ireland,
And Sean O’Dwyer, the huntsman,
Alas, your day is done.

I find it so distressing
To lose those trees for shelter.
The black north wind’s extending
And death presents to all.

My playful dog is tied up,
And not allowed to caper;
He would keep the children laughing
And joyful all day long.

The fox upon the headland
Revels in the slaughter;
He’ll dash through the heather
Until all time is done.

If I could be escaping
The controlling people,
I would sell all my possessions
To find a boat to cross the foam. 

The Nude Run

 

Today I found a recurrence of my nude run of previous time.

As a young men. It reobably began when I heard of a health clinic in Switzerland which, having invented  muesli, also advocated "air baths," where residents would strip off their clothes and recline in the fresh air, with resulting health improvement.

Now, it occurred to me that you did not need to engage the considerable cost of air travel and expensive accommodation to benefit from air baths, all you needed was to strip off and lie in the garden, or, better still, go out for a jog in the Nude.

So, in my dream world I took to getting up early in the morning and going for a nude jog around the roads of Dublin, before any one would be awake. Alas, it was inevitable that milkmen or other busybodies, would find me running in the Nude and call the gardai to have me arrested. Also, as I ran around, people would start to wake up before I got home, and I would have considerable excitement trying to get safely home. Mr entirely innocent walk would be misenterpret as criminal activity.

Now, my present dream commenced with me driving somewhere in my car. I coceived the idea that I should protect my house-key from robbers by asking my garage manage to mind my key. Fair enough, but when I went to retrieve my key, the manager refused to give it back, on the basis that I still was not safe from prospective robbers. What could I do? I decided to drive back home and hope to access my home in some way. And now, in that incongruous dream way, here I was driving naked in my car, with all the hazards of people considering me a criminal for being naked.

What is the meaning of this dream? I would think it derived from my current intention to go on a holiday, and having, in consequence, the need to guard my passport and other vulnerable possessions, as well as my stroke experience where a doctor refused to give me back mey keys.

Feeling Fair Play

 My grand-daughter is in a senior class at secondary school. I was given the unlikely task, in my dream, to make a presentation to the class.

When I was that age, I was in a debating society that proposed lots of political improvements. Through my long life I was a civil servant, a lawyer.  a development officer, a trade union representative, a residents association, an Acton group and so on

So what to do for this teen-age Class! Well I passed a cheef of paper to each member of the class. Then I said, "There are three thousand trade union members in this factory in Seattle. So, I want you to describe how Fair Play is to be achieved.

Fhen. I sat back and let the pupils deliberate the issue.

I thought that some pupils would grasp the issues: the need for a democratic constitution; for individual representation of each grade and section; for proper selection of chairperson, secretary and treasurer; for understanding of each of these roles, and for universal Fair Play.

I knew that there would be many who would strive for democracy and Fair Play, but there would be others who would focus on their own advantage entirely, seeking favour and ingratiation.