Well, we had a bit of a scare, which also turned out to be an embarrassing experience. It all started with a horse galloping on the beach one evening. Eoin and I had just parked on the strand along the beach, on our way to Maud’s Ice Cream Shop for an after dinner treat. As we got out of the car we saw a beautiful horse being ridden back and forth along the shoreline of Kilkee Beach. Of course, we had to stop and behold such a wonderful sight! I took the camera out of my purse and handed it to Eoin and he ran down to the beach to snap a few photos. Finally, the horse and rider left the beach and Eoin and I headed for Maud’s where he chose a strawberry ice cream cone topped with tiny marshmallows and I, a small scoop of the house concoction that consists of vanilla ice cream, caramel and Nutella. Ice cream in hand, we decided to take the long route back to the car and walked down the main street – stopping to laugh at a couple dozen birds maneuvering for their night-time resting spots at the top of the AIB (bank) building, and then continued on back to the strand and up to the car.
It was getting pretty cold and I was in a bit of a hurry to get into the car and head home but was not happy when I spotted the car with what appeared to be a ticket under the windshield wiper. Annoyed and wondering what obscure traffic law I had violated I reached for my keys to unlock the door so we could get out of the spot. That is when I realized my keys were not in my purse pocket where I always keep them! It was late evening and all my keys, those to the cottage as well as the car keys were nowhere to be found in my purse. Panic set in immediately!
The first thing I had to do was go to the only shop we had stopped in, Maude’s. Tired 8-year-old in tow, we made our way to Maude’s in hope that this situation would quickly be resolved. However, after rushing into the shop asking about my keys the owner of the shop and the girl working there shook their heads saying they hadn’t seen any keys. Feeling sheer panic I fretted about how I was going to get keys from the car rental company at 9:30 pm in a town in the far west of Clare, and how I would manage to get into the cottage once I made it back there. The ice cream shop owner looked up the phone number for the Garda for me and then went outside to ask the few people gathered at the front of the shop eating their ice cream. These people came inside to talk to me and assure me everything would be alright. A young man there told me he had served me earlier in the day at the Diamond Rocks Cafe and said he would keep an eye out for my keys. A middle-aged couple offered to bring me back to their house to get the Golden Pages so we could look up the number to the car rental company and for a locksmith if needed. As I left with them the ice cream shop owner took my phone number so he could contact me if he heard anything and also asked that I let him know if I found the keys.
On the way to the couple’s home, which was just a few doors down the street, the man suggested we go back to check the car one more time before making any calls, so we headed down a small lane that brought us back to my car. Just as I had said, the doors were locked and the keys were nowhere in sight. Finally, the man walked to the front of the car and saw the ticket under my front windshield wiper. However, when he said, “This looks like a note”… I suddenly realized that in my panic I had failed to consider that the “ticket” on my car may have been a note! Sure enough, there in the man’s hand was an envelope with a note stating, “Your keys are at O’Mara’s Pub.” That is when the embarrassment set in… I had involved all these nice people in my little drama and it all could have been avoided if I had just stopped to take a look at the paper on my windshield! When I said this to the man holding the note he replied, “You just panicked a bit, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” I thanked him for his help and headed to O’Mara’s where a sweet elderly couple told me they had found my keys sitting on the wall along the beach – right where I had stopped to watch that beautiful horse galloping… right where I set my purse – and apparently my keys – down to get the camera for Eoin. In my usual way, I felt the need to explain the ordeal to the couple who found my keys and told them how I had involved so many people in the search simply because I hadn’t looked at the note on my car. They were very nice of course and the lady smiled and remarked that she remembered passing me earlier on the footpath and that we said “hi” to each other. Next I went back to the ice cream shop, as I had promised to do if I found the keys. Again, I thanked the shop owner for his help and when I mentioned how embarrassed I was for involving so many people, he said, “Sure isn’t that what a community is for?”
After telling this long story to Anton on the phone later that night, he laughed and said, “Mom, it’s good to know you’re the same person in Ireland as you are here!” Well, that might be so, but I prefer to blame it on the horse.
11 comments
Comments feed for this article
July 24, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Declan Burke
i blame the horse as well…I think
July 25, 2010 at 2:10 am
bloggingfromthebog
Well, you have to admit… if the horse had not been there…..
By the way, isn’t our son a good photographer?
July 24, 2010 at 8:32 pm
lifeonthecutoff
I can feel your sheer panic as the realization that you didn’t have your keys settled upon you with a young lad in tow. I must say, though, that you wove the story well. I half expected the note to be from the horse, ah, oh, I mean the rider of the horse.
I did a similar thing a few years ago in Western Springs. I had stopped for some meat at Casey’s Market, something special for dinner, and when I got to the car, I couldn’t find my keys and my phone was missing. The long and the short of it was that they were in the bottom of my purse. I discovered them after a store owner lent me a phone – just as Tom was rounding the corner. Blush.
I love the thought of looking in the Golden Pages.
July 25, 2010 at 2:07 am
bloggingfromthebog
I really was in a panic, which was immediately replaced with embarrassment. Quite and emotional cocktail for one evening!
Lucky for them, the horse AND its rider were completely unaware of my ordeal!
July 24, 2010 at 8:59 pm
dona Howlett
Your writing is like reading a Short Story. So delightful. I always feel as thou I’m right there with you. Thanks for sharing
July 25, 2010 at 2:08 am
bloggingfromthebog
For better or for worse, I think I just write the way I talk! 🙂
July 25, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Memie
Comes from all the tickets you had in your reckless youth…blast from the past AND how come you lock up the cottage there? LOL..
July 26, 2010 at 9:56 am
bloggingfromthebog
Yes, I get that sinking feeling when I see a piece of paper under my front windshield wiper! I lock up the cottage because I am from Chicago and Declan is from Dublin, old habits die hard! Though I suspect these days nearly everyone locks their doors around here.
July 26, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Patricia
Hi Janet:
Am following (jealously – how I wish I was there) and enjoying tremendously, each and every one of your posts since you arrived. It’s lovely to see that the sink we talked about while having the ‘cupan tae’ months ago is now beautifully situated exactly where you envisaged it. I wonder will that be its final resting place……Belfast to Dublin to Clare to…..? So sorry you had to go through all the hassle over the keys but thankfully it ended well and we got to enjoy your telling of it and seeing small town Ireland in action at its best. Eoin and yourself must be local celebrities by now! Loved the picture of the horse and rider on the beach. That boy has a good eye and is quite the photographer. Is the new door there yet? I LOVE red doors and can’t wait to see yours, so do post a pic before you leave. Enjoy the rest of your time and hopefully we’ll see you towards the end of August.
For now, slan agus beannacht!
Patricia
July 26, 2010 at 3:36 pm
bloggingfromthebog
Dia dhuit a Patricia! Conas atá tú?… now don’t get the idea that I have studied one lick of Irish since I’ve been here! I did hear someone say “Dia is Muire dhuit” though, does that count?
The half-door is actually installed and I love it – latches, bolts and all! At the moment it is a sort of icky Campbell’s Tomato Soup Red from the primer the carpenter put on it. Now I have to paint it… and I’ve just not been able to stay home long enough to do so! I will probably post a photo of it before it’s painted and then again after.
October 19, 2013 at 1:01 am
ARZwater.com
Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I certainly
enjoyed reading it, you’re a great author. I will always bookmark your blog and will
eventually come back from now on. I want to encourage you to ultimately continue your great
job, have a nice morning!