Potatoes and a yapping bus driver

"The famine was long, and the years were grim,
The fields lay empty, the future dim.
Yet, from this grief, the land will rise,
A testament to survival that never dies."

 Since we have been here there has been a lot of talk about potatoes. Sometimes they are talking about fries but most of the time they are talking about the famine. a quick history. There was a famine in Ireland lasting from 1845 to 1852. At this time most of the potato crop got what is called blight and did not survive. Because of the blight, they were not able to grow crops on the land that was already infected so there for they could not grow potatoes. This was a huge tragedy that led people to either leave the country or end up dying from hunger. The Irish though are not afraid to talk about this because it was a major part of their history. There are many memorials all over the island remembering those who struggled. 

Anyway while we were on our way to Kylemore Abbey this last weekend our bus driver was feeling very talkative. Most of the time it got a little annoying but at one point I found it interesting. We were driving through the countryside and he pointed out bumps that were on the side of this one hill. There were patches of them everywhere. He went on to explain that on the side of the mountain, those bumps were where during the famine people were trying to grow potatoes but they were still getting the blight, and because of that the land was affected and got these bumps. I thought that it was very interesting. Something that affected people so long ago is still showing reminiscent in the land.

I feel like the poem above by Heaney describes both of these anecdotes well. The famine happened so long and and the fields are still lying empty with the land that is risen from all that time ago. I feel like this shows even though time moves on some things can still stay the same.