On Causeway Road there is a turnoff an information placard for Dunseverick Castle near a cottage. This is the left side of the placard with the historical context. The right side is natural history of the area.
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Here we can see the two partial wall, remains of a gate house, destroyed in the 17th century. I can imagine making the climb up the foot path, examine the earthworks from before the Viking invasions, middle of the first millennium A.D. Recall a visit by Saint Patrick, trodding the path from his Easter fire on the Hill of Slane.
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The Rincons are one of 42 Sky Mountain islands isolated from each other by the gradual warming and drying climate changes since the last ice age, 10,000 years ago. While this marvelous environment of oak and pine forests only accessible with much effort on foot, it is literally visible from every point of the Tucson valley and million human inhabitants.
Our last “FastPass” was for the EPCOT Forever fireworks and special effects spectacular. COVID-19 rendered the “forever” to be futile pretension, though during our wait Pam struck up a conversation with a couple who returned year after years to EPCOT, people who miss it and look forward to reopening.
We found the “FastPass” venue lacking, as there were many structures in the line of sight, as you can see from the IPhone 7 videos in this post. In retrospect, the area in front of the Canada Pavilion was open and might be a better location — when Epcot reopens, you’d need to get their early to grab a space.
“Dodge the bullet” is rather too active for our EPCOT experience as we did nothing to social distance, cover our faces and, even, attended a sit down restaurant. “Dumb luck” is a better characterization, but it makes a poor chapter heading.
As our time in Florida passed more information leaked from China, posted by their citizens on-line. I recalled the chaotic scenes from the hospital, frightened people screaming in packing halls. Seeking to protect ourselves during the flight home, we sought out N95 masks and all medical masks were sold out. We found packs of N95 masks marketed for auto body work, in Walmart. Wore them on the 2 hour flight home as the only “wierdos” wearing masks as several fellow passengers coughed uncontrollably.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Epcot is a different experience at night, in many ways an enhancement, a gathering of glamour, smoothing of edges.
These few photographs and one video of the Japan Pavilion exemplify this effect. We were blessed with a full moon.
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Exterior of the Tokyo Dining restaurant
Tokyo Dining is a traditional sushi restaurant featuring served by native Japanese. Our service was efficient and attentive from a premium seat acquired through our on-line reservation through a smart phone Disney app. Traffic is immense. I can only think of the research from China that demonstrated transmission of COVID-19 to nine diners by one infected person. We learned in April 2020 a high percentage of infections are non-symptomatic.
Blue Roof Pagoda with Full Moon
After dinner Pam and I enjoyed views from the spacious terrace. All photos for this post are from that time. Many of our family gifts from the trip were from the large and well stocked Mitsukoshi Department Store. It is the only remaining branch of the company in North America.
Several times in the “aughts” (2000 – 2009) Pam and I visited Ottawa, the capital of Canada, for work. We’d leave on a weekend to enjoy some personal time before the appointments.
It is sad, I could find no photographs of Ottawa to share with this post. We loved the European feel of the city.
Our exposure to the Canada pavilion was a walk by at sunset on the way to our Japan dinner reservation.
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This building is very much like the Chateaus of Ottawa on the river Rideau and Ottawa rivers.
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills
Our Spaceship Earth “Fast Pass” was next, after the aquarium. With Fast Pass we arrived in a time slot and sped to the head of the line, boarded vehicle like a roller coaster car and enjoyed the presentations (a slow moving ride to the beginning of time through history, the present and the future). Photography is not allowed, so our memories of enjoyment more than suffice. Walt Disney conceived of EPCOT as a well designed city of the future, with full time residences. As time passed, his dream morphed into our reality of today. EPCOT is populated by many, many, many tourists.
Yesterday, Thursday, April 23, in the news we learned COVID-19 was into community spread, with people dying, in January. Here is a quote from the opening paragraph: “In January, a mystery illness swept through a call center in a skyscraper on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Close to 30 people in one department alone had symptoms — dry, deep coughs and fevers they could not shake. When they gradually returned to work after taking sick days, they sat in their cubicles looking wan and tired.” Reconsidered during this pandemic, the Spaceship Earth is a perfect engine for spreading air borne disease.
How close did Pam and I come to the virus circulating among the crowds from across the United States and our world? This question was far from our minds as we, people watching, walked from Spaceship Earth to the Norway pavilion. I have cousins who are Finnish descendants and when my ancestors settled in what is today western New Jersey, 1677, it was resettled Finns who welcomed them, remnants of a failed attempt by Sweden to colonize the New World.
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Replica of a Finnish Home
Many attractions, such as the log home and the following were on display in the bright air. These an all the photographs and videos are from my IPhone 7 — I traveled light to maximize enjoyment of the day.
Rune Stone (replilca)
I was very interested in rooms of Viking information. I had a home with large ash trees, the long bole leading to spread of leaves. These trees are in decline now, attacked by the emerald ash borer, not in my memories of them on warm days, shading the roof.
Overview
The IPhone 7 did a capable job of capturing all that was available in the display cases, for later perusal. Enjoy!!
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 