Oh, Muddy Hell!


When I threw open my blinds this morning, I saw fog blanketing the Cashel countryside. This was exactly what I had been hoping for. I wanted to revisit Hore Abbey and capture it in fog, so I wasted no time getting ready and driving over there. Lucky for me, there was no one on the road or at the crumbling abbey; I had it all to myself – a photographers dream!

I had a particular shot in mind, and it required hiking out into a cow pasture. As I sloshed further out into the marshy field, I had the faintest idea that I may have made a bad choice. I tried to stay on the most solid-looking pieces of turf but soon realized I was in big, muddy trouble. And then it happened…My right foot sunk deep into a slurping pool of something I can only assume came from the back-end of a cow. Muddy hell!

Of course, I couldn’t let a little bog juice spoil my fun. Even though my shoes and pant legs, up to my knees, were soaked, I carried on and got my shot. Photographers will understand – certain sacrifices must be made in the name of composition.