[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!
Melanie Faith
Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.
Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
The Society of Professional Journalists
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.
Maxine Greene
Philosopher and Education Scholar
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Weekly Wide-Awake: An Ireland Travelogue
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
Ursula K. Le Guin
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. — Walt Whitman
I love to travel. Travel teaches me every atom belongs. What does that mean? It means we are deeply interconnected and interdependent — at a molecular level — and rely on one another, and on the health of everything and everyone around us, to both survive and thrive. It means we change, grow, and heal, in hard, hidden, and broken places. It means belonging reaches across, into, and beyond, wrapping around our stories making it impossible to live in isolation, cruelty, and despair. It means we experience next-level awe and wonder from altitudes, angles, and depths only our imaginations can fathom. It makes plain what we love in common. (Thank you for Ross Gay for talking about our need to talk about what we love in common.) Travel teaches me every atom belongs.
Ireland: Day One — Dublin
We arrived in Dublin a little before 6:00 in the morning. We had traveled from Atlanta to Dublin via Philadelphia. Florida State football fans headed to the game packed our flight to Dublin. (I had learned an estimated 25,000 fans would be coming to Ireland for the game, bringing in an estimated $100 million to the Irish economy.) After breezing through customs, we made our way to ground transportation. As we waited for our Uber in the damp dawn air, I noticed the words God Is Love perfectly painted on the side of a building near the airport. These welcoming words stood out amidst Guinness ads and signs in Gaeilge and English, pointing us to where to turn. What a lovely reminder that God is love no matter where we are.
Ireland: Day Two — Dublin
Day Two began after a short night filled with jet lag and watching the Democratic National Convention on CNN far too late into the night. We woke up and had to pack and check out of the Merrion. All of our stuff had been neatly arrangedfor us — toiletries gently placed on small towels on perfect bathroom shelves, charger cords carefully wrapped in small velcro bands, suitcases conveniently situated on just-right stands — by hotel staff the afternoon before, so it was a fast process to get ready and go and head downstairs for tea.
Ireland: Day Three — Dublin
I thought we were coming to Ireland for a football game (and, of course, to experience natural beauty and culture), but I learned that I came to Ireland to fall in love again with words. Don’t get me wrong, football is important. I grew up loving sports — the community, the commitment, the will, the strength, the excellence — for all those reasons, I love sports. But before the football game that brought us here (which I will write about), I remembered that I love words.
Ireland: Day 4 — Dublin
Still stinging a bit from losing the football game, we woke up and headed out and about sightseeing around Dublin. (We noticed the understandably subdued nature of Florida State fans the entire day.) We walked to the City Centre and stopped at O’Donoghue’s Pub on Suffolk Street — not the O’Donoghue’s made famous by the Dubliners, which is also a favorite stop — and met a charming guy who told us about his 10 Guinness Saturday and 10 Guinness Sunday ritual. I also talked with two women who were returning home to San Diego after seeing Taylor Swift in London. Once again, the pub was a place to meet people and share stories.
Ireland: Day 5 — Dublin to Clifden, by way of Galway
Day 5 was mainly about getting from Dublin to Clifden via Galway. We rented a car in Dublin. (Notes to self: rent an automatic, budget for insurance, there is generally no shoulder on rural Irish roads, and make sure your phone battery is charged to power GPS and music streaming because your car may not have a USB port.)
Ireland: Day 6 — The Sky Road and Clifden
We woke up ready to experience Clifden, a village of about 2,000 people, where our hotel, The Ardagh, was located. We grabbed breakfast in The Ardagh before we left for the day. Ireland’s morning light overcame me. Looking out over Clifden Bay, I began to understand the beauty of Ireland’s West Coast more deeply. I ate avocado toast and scrambled eggs, and Greg ate a traditional Irish breakfast of bangers, white and black pudding (another type of sausage), ham, bacon, and scrambled eggs.
Ireland: Day 7 — Clifden to Doolin by way of Galway
We left the Ardagh, and Clifden, early enough to catch breakfast while light still rose over Clifden Bay. We drove about an hour and a half to Galway, determined to round out our Galway experience from a few days before.
Ireland: Day 8 — Cliffs of Moher and Doolin
We never toured Ballinalacken Castle. We were never on the property for the daily 6:30 tour, but it was always a presence. Castles throughout Ireland are a reminder of its historical grandeur and proximity to breathtaking geological wonder. We ate breakfast each morning, looking out at all that. I was awestruck most mornings on the West Coast. Overcome by beautiful mornings. Maybe my mornings on the West Coast of Ireland are a gentle reminder to look for awe in everyday life.
Ireland Day 9: Doolin to Cork
It takes about two and a half hours to drive from Doolin to Cork, Ireland’s 2nd largest city in the country’s Southwest—most of the route winds through cows and sheep and countryside. We had been making similar drives for days, and I had relaxed into my role as chief navigator. (Yes. GPS works perfectly in Ireland.) My fists were slightly less clenched, having grown accustomed to the proximity of shrubbery and stone walls right outside my door. Our drives — the getting from point A to point B — were moments to take in a bit of the journey. They were times to reflect on where we had been and where we were going. Digesting it all happened in fits and starts as we made sure not to miss turns while we dodged speeding locals. Sometimes silence hovered with its whisper.
Ireland Day 10: Blarney Castle and Cork
Blarney Castle is about a 20-minute drive from the City Centre of Cork. We left the River Lee Hotel early to be at the front of the line when the gate opened at 9:00. I realized what a smart move that was as we wound our way up to the castle, passed signs that read 30, 60, and 90 minutes to the Blarney Stone from here, and could see people filing in behind us along the path.
Ireland: From Cork back to Dublin to Home
We left Cork determined to return the rental car at the Dublin Airport early enough to get gas and beat the last day of charges. The two and a half hour drive allowed us to say our proper goodbyes to sheep and cow-lined roads, driving on the left, and roundabouts. We made it to the airport on time and headed into Dublin in an Uber, with all our luggage! We returned to The Merrion Hotel for a final stretch in Dublin. One night rolled into two as our flight was cancelled. That allowed us a slower farewell to Ireland.
About Katie
From Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.
