Photo was taken at Westcourt, Ballincollig, Co.Cork (Irl)

Last May I had a photo up of a little day old chick peeping out from under it’s mother’s wings. Today we roll on eight weeks later and the same little chick has grown up so much!! She is the white one on the right hand side!

Thought on Monday – July – 02/07/2012

‘A handshake is a symbol of seeing you as a human being and acknowledging your humanity. For each to shake hands needs a generosity of spirit, a letting go of the hurt from the past and a sense of a brighter future where we can begin to live with our differences and knowing we both have valid stories.’ ~Jo Berry

The photo of Queen Elizabeth and Martin McGuiness shaking hands last week was printed worldwide. Given his history as a former leader of the IRA, it was a defining moment on our progress along the peace process. There are many kinds of a handshake, one of welcome, one of sympathy, one of care and love, one of congratulations and affirmation. There are handshakes that are firm and strong, there is the weak and fish handshake, there is a handshake of hesitation and reluctance, and then there are times when there is a refusal of a handshake. In sport we remember earlier this year the controversy caused, when Liverpool player Luis Su√°rez refused to shake hands with the Manchester United captain Patrice Evra.

The handshake between the Queen and Martin McGuinness will certainly go down in history and a sign that peace is the only path forward. Jo Berry whose father was killed in the Brighton bombing reflected on the significance of the historic handshake by saying: “Peace happens when we treasure everyone, all creatures, our land, our planet, and work together to find solutions in which everyone wins.”