Castles in the Sky

Castles in the Sky ©

By Michael Casey

I was just watching the Sky Press Preview on tv when I decided to give it a rest, I’m overdosing on the USA 2016 Presidential Election, so let’s put that to one side and see if I can talk to you about something else. Though I will make one prediction, the next President of the USA will be a Blonde, so with that knowledge put some money on it with your local bookie. I was in fact a trainee betting shop manager in one of my past lives, yes really, I did have my life in reverse, not like Benjamin Button or whatever that Brad Pitt film was called, but the fact that I had my big job first and then a series of smaller lower paid jobs thereafter.

I did in fact stumble over my old CV an hour or so on the computer, not that I need it anymore. Arthritis and Heart have conspired to make me a full- time Writer, so many of you are no doubt moaning, if only the SOB had a day job then we wouldn’t have to suffer all these stories. 850 or so is my new tally, not forgetting the full length 600page comedy drama called The Butcher The Baker and The Undertaker, if you all misbehave I may continue with Tears for a Butcher which might be another 600 page full length sequel. I’m sure you’re all looking to Heaven and praying Please God if I Promise to Eat all my Vegetables, please please.

So now that I’ve got you all praying don’t forget to say a prayer for Michael Buble’s young son, and At the bottom of the list  me and all my aches and pains. Now I was really going to talk about castles in the sky, that’s  what my mother used to call my dad’s dreams. I remember one was if ever I win any money I’d buy everybody a house, mum would laugh from the kitchen every time she heard this. You have to remember the Caseys are farmers back in Kerry Ireland, so land and houses is always on their mind, ask any of the clan, and it is a clan, 40+ first cousins.  So naturally dad wanted the best for all his children, and giving them all a house was his dream.

Today I look at www.rightmove.co.uk and dream of a nice house in B17 postcode, that’s zip code to all of my American readers. Not that I’ll ever have the money to buy one there, not unless somebody reading this wants to buy the rights to my writing or thinks teaching English via comedy is a  great idea as mentioned in www.michaelgcasey.typepad.com  So that is a Castle in the Sky, but getting the house where I live was  big dream of mine, though it took a lot of effort and sacrifice.

Then you get married and have children so your house is destroyed by crayon on the walls, and girls knickers scattered all over the place, not to mention 15 different bottles of hair care products in your small bathroom. You get relegated to the broom cupboard as your girls, all your girls, wife, daughters and female cat all need more room.  The cat turns out to be a drug addict who loves the wallpaper glue holding the wallpaper on the walls, so Totoro eats the wall paper she has scratched off.

If I was a contortionist I’d squeeze myself into a shoe box and be slid under a chair, then my girls would have enough space in the house. These are the things a dad has to do for his daughters. So my only hope is to dream of a Castle in the Sky, as you know they say an Englishman’s Home is his Castle. I look at the houses  on the website and hope we can find one that’ll give us all a bit of space and me a bit of peace. Even if I had my own outside WC, or toilet, that would be such a relief, can you think what it’s like sharing a bathroom with 3 girls, even our female cat Totoro thinks its posher to pee or pooh in our bath instead of using her litter tray. She’s seen us use a bathroom so why not a clever cat.

I am my father’s son, in fact I was the favourite son, and my dad’s Birthday would have been about this time of year, he’s be 95 if he was still alive, so I can smile when I behave as he did. Though when I dream of houses just as he did I dream of 3 houses, a new one for all of us then one each for my daughters either side of the new family house, I’d buy them now and have them ready for when my girls grow up. In My Big Fat Greek Wedding there was something similar, though ½ a mile to each side of the family house would be the perfect distance, close but not too close.  

So this is my Castle in the Sky, I hope you all have your own dreams wherever you are in the world, I get readers all over the place, all over the world, so I’ll give you all just one piece of advice, if you have wallpaper in your houses use NAILS to hang it to the walls, then your cats won’t scratch it off to eat the glue just as Totoro does.

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the stone building is where my mum was born and live with her family of 9 in total in Kerry Ireland Cromane Lower, when mum was 12 they built  a 2 room house and she live there for 2 more years before leaving home at 14 to go to work. 

my cousin still lives on that plot of land