iceland image
When I said I was heading north to see my family, I had no
idea HOW north it would end up being!
Just shy of the Arctic Circle kind of north!! It is, of course, a long
story. So long in fact that let’s
consider this to be a series- the “Iceland Series” for I could never capture
the wonder and non-stop superlatives that Iceland is in one essay.
Consider this then as Part 1- How the Trip Came To Be
My middle daughter is presently teaching at West Point and
she had a few weeks leave coming to her before she had to prepare for the
incoming class. Never one to stay at
home, or be content with something local she decided she would hove off to
Iceland and anyone that wanted to join her was welcome. I was at first trying to be the good Nona who
offered to watch grandchildren back in Maine while the sisters and their Dad
went, but in the end the oldest daughter preferred to stay in Maine. She had
been travelling and hosting me for the last several weeks AND the bountiful
raspberry bushes in her garden were coming due so, ”Thanks, but no
thanks.”
At first that threw us all, “You would rather pick raspberries
than come to Iceland?!“ But in the end it made sense, and it turns out, she was
reacting just like an Icelander. We took
one of those free tours of the city while we were in Reykjavik and the guides
explained that after such long winters they revel in the time that they CAN be
out so, no meetings are planned in the summer, no theater presentations,
nothing that is inside is offered for no one would come! They would concur with Kristina that she
should stay and enjoy the beauty of her summer in Maine, which, in some regards,
is a little like Iceland. Cold and they have puffins!
Consequently, I got to withdraw my offer of a stint as Mary
Poppins and go myself. Yippee! I used to do slide shows, school auditorium
programs, on different topics and one was on Plate Tectonics. I had always said
the only place to see the Mid-Atlantic Ridge above ground was in Iceland. So to actually see it first hand was a major
excitement for me! And it lived up to
its billing; bubbling mud pots, rivers that steamed, rifts in the earth, lava
flows that went on endlessly, a geologists dream!
So, the lucky participants were: my husband, my other two
daughters, one, soon to be son-in-law and myself. We flew in from different quarters, met in
Reykjavik airport , rented a 4 wheel car and set off on a 10 day adventure
around what would be one of the most jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, Glory-of-God
at every turn, countries I have ever seen.
AND the cleanest! Having all geothermal and hydropower means
zero hazy pollution.
Plus a country with more sheep than people means no
billboards (sheep can’t read) no strip malls, (sheep don’t shop) no trash
(sheep don’t buy coffee and toss the cups out later) no real crime (sheep don’t
carry guns-well even the police here don’t carry guns). You get the picture,
the utopian society we might have if only we had more sheep than peeps!
That then is how a person escaping the heat of Texas had her
wish for cooler temperatures fulfilled.
A high of 63 in August! Swimming,
picnicking, eating out at café’s, this is as good as it’s going to get. Icelanders are hearty people, Viking stock
and they live up to it! Of course there
are the omnipresent hot pools and hot pots so it’s not a hardship to dawn a
suit in jump in. In Iceland there is more danger of boiling than freezing. That part is definitely not Maine-like. My father-in-law once saw jellyfish in the
ocean at Maine and mistook them for iceberg pieces!
Let that be Part 1.When time permits (I am still on the road
heading back to Texas, where 105 temps await me) I shall return for Part2 whose
title is yet to be chosen. Here is a travelers tip: if you go to Iceland bring some device that will keep your jaw
in place for jaw-dropping scenery is the order of the day. But that will be a tale for another day. Now I have miles to go before I sleep, and
after two days of car breakdowns and needing to be towed and 7 hours in a Pep
Boy lounge in Nashville, I am a bit behind schedule.
Till then, pretend you are an Icelander and get out and
play!
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