FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WE WERE 30 years married last week and to celebrate we went to Corralejo, Fuerteventura, for a few days. It was our pearl wedding anniversary, but I didn’t want pearls — just a holiday.

We love the Barcelo Bay Hotel. It’s just a few minutes from the main street and a short walk from the port.

The weather was amazing all the time we were there — between 26C and 30C, and with the constant breeze it was very comfortable. I love the sun, but as I get older I’m getting wiser. I like to get a tan without burning!

We had a lovely dinner out on the night itself. Imagine, 30 years ago we were so very young. We opened the restaurant 18 months after saying ‘I do’. It has all gone so fast!

We met a couple at the hotel who happened to be getting married that afternoon, and therefore we were sharing their wedding anniversary. They invited us to a ‘white party’ to celebrate their wedding the following day. They invited only close family for the actual wedding day, so we were honoured to be asked. We all got our white clothes out and joined them in their celebrations. We all watched the sun go down with a glass of bubbly that evening. It was such a great holiday.

Now back in Ireland, it’s a different story, of course. As I write this, I’m sitting at home having battened down the hatches as we live in the middle of nowhere in the Dublin Mountains.

All the garden furniture was put into the garage yesterday, the bins tucked in and anything that could possibly be a projectile put away. The wind is howling outside and leaves are flying everywhere.

We closed the restaurant for the day as a safety measure. We cannot take the chance that any member of our team would be in harm’s way trying to get to and from work.

But watching the news on television I am also gobsmacked by the amount of people who are walking the pier, the youngsters loitering at the diving boards at Salthill, Co. Galway, and by the kite surfers who ventured out in Co. Louth.

As for those people who were walking dogs on the beach in Co. Kerry and the families with young children walking near the sea in Blackrock, Co. Dublin — did they not realise how bad Storm Ophelia was? That it was the worst storm to hit Ireland in over 50 years?

Think of those who could be tasked to rescue you should things go wrong and do as you are asked. Forgo your swim for just one day. It won’t kill you while doing it just might — and others too.

Did the people walking near the sea not realise how bad it was?