All things Irish with Generation Wes....Bono's Beach!

Hey Hey Wes: Just praying for you today and all the amazing young folks from 215 that populate my imagination from the past two decades. What a profound blessing.....Here is an email I sent back to Open Hand Indy during our visit to Dublin back in 03.

Today the wind was hallowing in Dublin, the rain blowing sideways and one could really feel the foul weather...

We scheduled our "foot race" for 3:00pm from the front door of Wes' house to Bono's gate (the front gate of Bono's home) in an exclusive area of south Dublin on a cliff overlooking the Irish sea...a mere 5 miles one way. Ann, Kath and Nat were to meet us via an auto at the finish with photo's and warm, dry clothes.

We were off, battling the lanes, traffic, and the elements...loving every minute, chatting away like a couple of school kids.

After the first flat 3 miles the final 2 were hilly, slippery and narrow...passing by famous people's homes...there is Van Morrison's, there is the Edge's home....and on toward our final destination, Bono's front drive gate.

45 minutes into it we sprinted the final 100 meters neck n neck, shoulder to shoulder, hoping the women could get a photo finish so we could record the winner....no way...the girls were late, we blew by the gate, soaked to the bone, sweating and steaming...and skidding to a halt on the wet pavement. We made the best of it, found a narrow public path down the steep side of Bono's property and to the beach. Wes ran straight into the Irish Sea, with me on his heels and we shocked our exhausted bodies back to life...tumbling on the surf, rocks and sand.

Maybe Bono saw two crazy American's from his cliff perch above the sea or maybe he saw two Celtic Druid's doing what they had done on many wild days....jumping into the frigid waters to stone their souls with a searing clean pain....Amen.

Stoned cold on the edge again,

O'Steven

PS I filled my water bottle that day with Bono's beach Irish Sea water and brought it back to Open Hand Indy where we blessed, christened, and baptized many over the years before it was finally empty. I guess I need to get back there and refill that bottle.....Amen.