Once I thought I saw you in a crowded hazy bar, dancing on the light from star to star. Far across the moonbeam I know that’s who you are, I saw your brown eyes turning once to fire. You are like a hurricane, there’s calm in your eye. And I’m gettin’ blown away to somewhere safer where the feeling stays. I want to love you but I’m getting blown away.
He was there!
Last night, in Dublin’s Conradh na Gaeilge club, a small crowd (100?, 200?) got together and connected across a thousand miles with Pádraig. When I looked at the Facebook page, the pictures and the video from the night, I had to think of Neil Young’s song from 1975, Like a Hurricane, and thought it would be a nice intro to today’s blog. Pádraig was right there in the middle, with his friends, bigger and taller than ever before, telling them to hang in there with him, to keep up the good spirit, to have fun and to make the world go spinning ’round. I will be back (with a bit of a German/Austrian accent:).
The fundraiser organized by his friends managed to raise an astonishing €4,277.70. Incredible! (The money will contribute to the cost of his transport to Germany and other ongoing expenses. More details on the evolving site: http://www.caringforPadraig.org).
Corrugated-iron-sheet-storms lodged sheets into trees on B202 between Tönning and Garding.
At the same time, Pat and I were driving through a hurricane, Xaver was his name. Good thing was that there was little traffic. Bad thing was that lots of roads were closed, including a stretch between Tönning and Garding, just about 10 km from Tating where we stay. This morning, we found out why when we looked it up in the local newspaper: the wind had lifted off the roofs from garages and sheds, and corrugated iron sheets had been sent flying through the air like magic carpets. They cut off bushes and were lodged cut into trees – being caught in this storm of flying corrugated iron sheets would not have been nice…
We got home, eventually, and woke up this morning to inspect the damage at Pádraig’s favourite restaurant – built on stilts, and about a mile into the sea. My sister and her husband had owned this for more than 25 years, and when it was sold a few years ago, Pádraig wanted me to by and run it. I did try, but (perhaps luckily) did not succeed. Although – it’s a magic place and completely out of this world!
Das war eine Nacht! Wilhelm! Nun überstehe ich alles.
Today’s German Music Tip
Die Toten Hosen, Freunde (2005) Check out the lyrics hier.
What’s hot
What a night!
What’s cold
Corrugated-iron-sheet-storms
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Das war eine Nacht! Wilhelm! Nun überstehe ich alles. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werther.)
Twitter: @forPadraig
web: http://www.caringforPadraig.org
If you have videos or pictures of Pádraig you would like to share, please email them to me and I’ll upload them to the website.
Hospi-Tales 
Lynn and I had a great night at the Conradh. We were welcomed by Padraig’s friends. It was wonderful to be in the company of so many gorgeous young people, even if this did make us feel very old. Hopefully Padraig will sharing their enthusiasm and a pint in the Conradh in 2014.
It must have been something else, judging by the reports! But none of this ‘feel-very-old’ stuff:) We’ll be in the Conradh next year, with Pádraig having a pint and me speaking Irish!