Mazes

It's St Patricks Day. There's been a lot of the wearing of the green and tricolours. See the kid looking out to sea from the top of Bray Head. Rugby or St Patrick's Day? Maybe both.

From Killiney to Bray, maybe there's a subversive maze sketcher at work. A third stone sketch, not photographed, was in heavy use beside the promenade, at the gelato stand, where face-painted, top-hatted 'would be' leprechauns were buying ice-cream. And the kids were across from the stand, working the maze in the drizzle.

I met a man trying to photograph driftwood set on a bed of limestone boulders. He'd made the bed over the last four days and just needed a burst of sunlight to complete his vision. I left him, me imaging that'd be a long vigil given the cloud cover.

A swan checked me out in Bray Harbour and a starling joined me on a bench at the Boat House, begging for a share of my sandwich.

And of course, Gus warmed himself at the fireplace, exhausted after the earlier walk. True dog, he covered at least three times our distance.

And what about those double yellow lines photos? The pictures tell the story. And you'll be pleased that I spare you shots of another pet peeve, the bagged poo of dogs that haunts urban walks, discarded in everlasting protest at the lack of litter bins.

Today's walk was again in two parts and past three golf clubs: a local loop followed by breakfast and then, the big beach walk. I covered 30 km leaving just 380 km before the event itself. Note to self: replace the hiking boots (they've got at least 2000 km on them) and maybe start using poles to reduce the strain on toes, knees, hips and shoulders.