What do you do with this kind of information? As you’re going into a blind curve? On a single-track road?

It’s amazing that we haven’t hit someone head-on. We’ve come close. With some buffoon in a snazzy suit driving a BMW and talking and laughing into his phone. At 100 kilometers per hour.

When we arrived at our destination just east of Limerick Town, Marcus asked our host, Pat, how the Irish deal with the stress of driving on these roads every day. (Pat and Breda live out in the country on a long single-track road off of a longer single-track road.) “Well, you drive in the middle of the road,” says he. Excuse me? “You never want to drive on the edge of the road. You’ll pop a tire.” Interesting. The stress, for him, is the fear of damaging a tire. Flat tire or head-on collision? That’s a tough choice. Not.

So Marcus continues to drive as close to the edge as he safely can. So far, no popped tires, but the air brakes* engage frequently. [*a device for quickly slowing or stopping a moving vehicle that is initiated by the sudden, sharp, and simultaneous intake of breath of both driver and passenger as they round a curve to find themselves on a collision course with another vehicle]

Okay, I’ve been wanting to try this since arriving in County Limerick. Let’s see now. Let me think. Okay, I’ve got one!

There once was a man from the States,
Who traveled the world with his mate.
But the single-track roads
Caused him nothing but woe,
And the tremors have yet to abate.

Well, what do you expect on such short notice?