Innishmurray, an island off the Irish coast, has a long and interesting history. Once an early Christian monastery stood here. We saw the "beehive" cells where monks prayed, and a graveyard of carved stones that had stood a thousand winters. Nearby, a village faced the sea. Houses, recently bustling with activity, now returned gently to the earth.
Domesticity persisted in the form of nesting birds. While our fulmar seemed placid, we kept our distance. If vexed, fulmars can cough an oil that makes fishiness seem not particularly nice.
The sun shown brightly on seaside flowers. Yellow bird's foot trefoil can be found in most open areas, but sea thrift has particular habits. Its pink-colored masses can be found at the ocean's edge, at high elevation, and, peculiarly, on lead-mine tailings. Its tolerance, even fondness for this toxic metal gives the thrift family its name. Hadrian, whose drain pipes were made of "plumbeus" would have understood the name "Plumbaginaceae."
