On inviting the swifts to come and spend their fleeting summer season... For Sunday Miscellany on RTÉ Radio 1, listen to Swift Boxes, by Neil Hegarty above.
Early April, and sunset in Dubrovnik, and I pause at the head of a steep flight of steps in the old walled city. The steps, the whole city, are cut in golden stone, and they glow in the evening light.
The sight is warming, though the air is certainly not: the bora, the ferocious wind which from time to time scours the coasts of the Adriatic, is just ebbing after days of gales. Yesterday, we endured – well, let's just call it a bumpy landing at the local airport; the cabin was completely silent as we descended; and when we touched down, we were told that the previous day, no flights had been able to land at all...
This story is taken from a second Sunday Miscellany on the theme of home and belonging, featuring words and music from the Belfast Book Festival, recorded at the Crescent Arts Centre, and other past recordings in Ballyshannon and Derry - listen back here, and listen to more from Sunday Miscellany here.
