Moira’s Purgatory

Hello Everybody!

Have you ever started a project that you imagined would last a week or two — and one month in, you’re still working on it — with no end in sight?

Well, that’s what I did. In my defense, life seems to have gotten back to a healthy pace — and my “helpers” lives have also grown more busy — hence being in the middle of a basement revamp with no end in sight.

It brings to mind a place in Ireland, my niece Kate told me about, called Patrick’s Purgatory.

It’s a place in which nobody is allowed to sleep or eat more than dry toast and simple coffee or tea — and you travel to different parts of the island and say prayers and do various penances.

You have no shoes, no phones, only the clothes on your back. If you attempt to snooze anywhere along the way, people come to your “rescue”, wake you up and keep you moving.

It sounds miserable. Why would anybody subject themselves to something so grueling? Having said that, I actually hope to be able to get to Ireland and attempt it myself one day. It’s just so very Catholic — I can hardly resist!

In the meantime, I’ve dubbed my basement “Moira’s Purgatory”.

There I continue to paint, day after day, barefoot, injuring toes, eyes growing bloodshot with sawdust that has settled in them. I fear it will never end.

Perhaps it was a bit too ambitious?

Anyway, on the bright side, the shiplap wall is almost finished. Hooray!

This is a very long way of saying, I won’t be writing anything of substance this week — just sharing my misery with you.

Hope you haven’t found yourself in a Purgatory of your own making. Beware of being overly ambitious, people! A cautionary tale so that you might learn from my mistakes.

Back to work. Have a lovely weekend!