Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Ever since I left Ireland in November 1984, my mother has written at least one letter to me every week. Expressed in a stream-of-consciousness style that relies mostly on the present tense and usually accompanied by cuttings from local papers such as the Limerick Leader and the Avondhu, they depict rural life the foot of the Galtee Mountains where the borders of Limerick, Cork and Tipperary intersect. Because we're talking about a farming community here, the most important issue is the weather and up to half of each letter can be taken up with comments about temperature and levels of precipitation. A typical account, which was written over three days, includes the following weather remarks:

"Monday. It wasn't too bad today. It cleared up a good evening. I started again on the windows. I was at them last year and never finished on the day I broke the bones in my hand."

"Tuesday. Misty and cold in the morning but cleared up after dinner. I was at the windows again. Nearly finished now."

"Wednesday. Not too bad. Damp but clearing up. Heavy showers predicted. I am in a rush now to tidy up & get the dinner ready."

Along with the minutiae of the weather, the letters are populated with animals and people treading a fine line between health and decline:

"JJ is not great, very short of breath & blue and purple looking. He invested money in shares & now they are gone down. He says he's going to lose a lot. Must go to bed now. It's 11.30. The severe cold is gone. I am sure it will be back."

Funerals are the most important social gatherings but this is not to be interpreted as a sign of morbidity; in tightly-knit communities the tolling of the bell is much more significant than in anonymous urban environments:

"Three are three funerals on. An aunt of Paddy Glavin's over near Galbally, a Mrs Downey. An uncle of Willie' Lee's (Lane) was found dead in bed. A Paddy Quirk near church in Knocklong is also dead. He'd be a first cousin of Denny McGrath's."

Gardening, grandchildren, ailments, baking and card playing take their place in the news hierarchy after tales of the elements and mortality.

Long before blogging was a technology-enabled concept, my mother was "posting" regularly. Her letters are "permlinks" with the world I grew up in and my replies are "comments". From next week, my mother will be contributing a weekly update to Rainy Day.