Rolf's Third Life: Fires and trash

I'm starting to fall behind in my bloggin "duties"; time to catch up ;-)
A couple of weeks ago I rode my bike into the Wicklow mountains to Lough Tay, which is refered to by the locals as "Guinness Lake". can you see why?


Guinness Lake

Supposedly there is a mansion there, owned by the Guinness brewing company, where the owners host lavish parties. I wasn't invited, and the sign at the gate said something about me (and other uninvited guests) not being welcome...
That may still be better than what awaits dogs who worry the sheep:

That's a sign I came across on my way up toward Lough Tay. Finally we know what sheep do when they cannot sleep!
On my ride up, I saw a fire in the distance.

A fire in the Wicklow mountains

When I came back, it had grown (it was windy that day):


Later that day

Then I noticed a fire much closer:

A fire on the side of the road I was traveling on

Despite Ireland being know for its "greeness" and the rain, in recent months there hasn't been enough of it and many areas are quite dry.
There is "stuff" called peat that people dig up during the Summer, let dry, and then use in the Winter for heating fuel. The area I traveled through has many of these peat bogs, and I think this is what they look like:

Maybe that's the stuff that's been burning. As you can see this ride was quite pretty and interesting:


Isn't it pretty?

Going through a forest


Near Lough Tay

There was some traffic on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't too bad. On these narrow roads cars slow down considerably crossing each other. When they approach me, you would think I have plenty of room, the width of a car, but somehow oncoming traffic doesn't manage to move to the right as far as they do when a car is approaching them. Other than that, drivers here are generally friendly toward bicyclists.
When I got to Lough Tay, I took a few pictures. It's not quite as impressive as the satellite image because it is hard to get the whole lake into the picture without have some other hill or rocks in the way, obscuring the Guinness glass. Nevertheless, it is a pretty lake.

Lough Tay (Gunniess Lake)

On my way back, near the sign warning dogs not to worry the sheep, one of them (sheep), looking completely unworried, was standing in the middle of the road. When I approached, it wandered off. I guess they think about dogs a lot, but not bicycle riders.


An un-worried sheep in the distance

Still not worried, but it made room for me anyway

I usually try to take pretty or interesting pictures. While I was pedaling through this beautiful scenery I came across some trash.

Road-side trash

Unfortunately, this is not an unusual sight. It happens more often closer to the city, but even 20 miles away in the middle of nature, it occurs. What baffled me, and prompted me to show you this unpleasant side of Ireland is this:

Unbelievable! This is across the street from the sign below and near the road-side fire.

There is a fee for disposing of trash here, but it cannot be more than this pig paid in driving all the way up here and dumping a whole children's room on the side of the road. I cannot understand this.
Not quite this massive, but it is common to find litter on the side of the road. There are signs everywhere prohibiting it, and there is even a number to call when you observe it; kind of like calling in drunk drivers in Albuquerque. But I guess it is not working.

Dumping is not allowed. I don't know if the danger of the land refers to the wild fire in the back ground or something else. (Click on the image to zoom in and read the text.)

So, to cleanse the pallet, so to speak, here are a few more, more pleasant sights.