Pamela Louderback, Day 39

With all my traveling and adventures over the last few days, I decided to sleep in today.  The recent snowy weather continued to hamper my traveling.  Snow is not removed from sidewalks, driveways, or roads so even a short jaunt to the library was a bit treacherous with icy patches hidden underneath snow. 

I finished an interesting book entitled, 'Presbyterians and the Irish Language', which, according to the back cover was "the first to establisht he rightful place of the Irish language in the Presbyterian heritage in Ireland".  It details biographies of influential Irish-speaking Presbyterians whose love of the language helped to ensure its survival.  The author contended that at a time when the Irish language was losing ground to a combination of demographic, political and educational forces, it was Presbyterians who were at the forefront in saving valuable manuscripts, in teaching through the language and in publishing works in Irish.   Of course, for many years the Irish language movement was not confined to any political or regiogous section of the community.  Yet, when in 1915, when the Gaelic League passed  a resolution which added the political independence of Ireland as it's organizational aim, the Presbyterians dropped out of assisting with help in ensuring language survival.   I would hesitate to go so far as to agree (as the author proposes) that it added significantly to the mutual understanding between the main traditions in Ireland.  Still, it was an interesting read.

Much of the topic of conversation lately revolves around the weather.  Seems the early and extensive arrival of snow is legendary.  And it doesn't take much snowfall to bring the area to a screeching halt.  Of course, like back home, there were comments related to the hopes that there would be no classes, offices would close early, and snowball fights were cropping up all over the place.  And there's always the topics of the WikiLeaks story and the whereabouts of the upcoming 2018 Fifa World Cup.  As  for the WikiLeaks story, the Guardian has stuck to it's promise of not publishing all of the documents received but radio stations are abuzz with the story.  Personally, I'm keeping a low profile (as an American) in any conversations regarding the story.  And David Cameron, Prince William, and David Beckham descended upon Zurich to give a last minute valiant plea for the English bid.  Speeches from the legendary futboller, Prince and political figure outlined why the World Cup should be played at the home of football for the first time since the glory days of 1966.  I was especially touched by Beckham's recalling of how his grandfather got him interested in the game and he hoped to make a similar affect on his grandchildren through the World Cup.