Twenty.3

Day 3
The Cliffs of Insanity! The Princess Bride showed us some insane cliffs, but today we witnessed something even more insane: The Cliffs of Moher. We arrive at the Cliffs at around 8:30 and were the only people there. The Cliffs are on the edge of the Atlantic and IReland happens to be a meeting place of several strong winds. THis being said, we could hardly keep ourselves on teh ground. At one point I looked over and Ashley was flat on her back, laughing histerically from falling. They have the place set up so that there are barriers about 10 feet from the edge and walkways all along the cliffs. At one end is a fortress that was used during the Napoleonic era as a lookout tower. While we were trekking about, hail started pelting us from above and water smacked us from the waves below. The wind was so strong, the water spray comes all the way up the Cliffs and shoots into the air. We found ourselves glad for the nail, because if it were rain, we would have been soaked.
Inside the visitors center was an exhibit about the cliffs, explaining how they formed 17 million years ago and have been eroding ever since. I'm no expert, but they looked pretty good for their age.
Years ago, people who lived near the CLiffs would go bird catching. We saw seagulls, but were also told that the Cliffs housed puffins. So, a group of men would go to the Cliffs' edge, sit one behind the other and lower one man down the edge by a rope, with a basket in hand. ONce he found a nest, he would slip a noose on a stick around one of the birds and snap it's neck, put it in the basket and then get some more. These people were crazy!
I don't think I have ever seen anything so majestic in my life. With all of the man-made marvels in the world, nothing rivals nature's wonders and God's art.

As the faces of the Cliffs look out to sea, I can't help but think how many storms have beaten their brows, how many invasions have scarred their cheeks and how many rainbows have passed before them, promising a new day.