Heart

Heart, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Where there wasn't one only months ago, a park appeared between Laugavegur and Hverfisgata, replete with a sweet heart at its center.

In this world of fleeting things it seems right to remind, in brick even, and in a very public way, of the power of that overwhelming, eternal and sometimes subtle constant we call love.

Sun

Sun, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Hello beautiful World!

We've got a heatwave going on here in Iceland, so we're all in various states of undress (!) roaming around in the sunshine like pleasure seeking zombies. Or something like that.

It is lovely here when the days glow so warm (25°C-ish today) and as usual I feel so happy for the tourists who get to see our little land all dolled up in leaf-greens and rainbow flower hues, warm in the shade and with a big kissable blue sky...

It's Magical *+*

Kraft

Kraft, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Just a half hour's drive from our front door Óðinn and I found this crazy high-pressure steam release site. We drove right up to and under these massive plumes (the photo doesn't do justice to their true size) that droned and hissed and thundered at an unbearably loud level. It was amazing and a bit scary: I had to keep pushing away images of sudden earthquakes cracking the pipes and drums causing boiling spouts of water to explode around us. Not everyone's happy with this latest geothermal energy plant (Hellisheiðarvirkjun) but I have to admit it was very impressive to see how the human mind engages a fantastic force of nature like this.

Steam

Steam, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

For now, just take in the image. More on this bizarre location later...

Classic

Árbæjarsafn III, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

This is how we spend our evenings when we dream we're living in the 19th century...

Belly

Belly, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

I don't know who these dancers are but they put on an amazing show at the Start Art Gallery on Laugavegur today just as I was strolling by.

Happy

Happy, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Here's pretty people, joyful and shiny, celebrating June 17th in the 65th year of our Republic. The earlier day's festivities belong to families and strollers and fanciful foil balloons, but by evening downtown Reykjavik is teeming with teens and all they're made of, and all they stand for. This group represented their generation beautifully.

Cow

Cow, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

This fowl and a dozen others followed me around this interesting plot of land on Álftanes, just south of Reykjavík, even after they (I'm pretty sure) realized I had no feed for them. Maybe they were lonely.

The house in the background is the Alsæla spa which is actually up for grabs. Anyone looking for a cool business opportunity in Iceland? Go Here for more info...

Árbæjarsafn

Árbæjarsafn, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Turf housing rocks.

Diorama

Diorama, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

This isn't a summertime version of the flaming protests of January (though some perpetually pumped-up and eternally dissatisfied ranters have gleefully engaged in a new round of struts and pot-banging down in front of the Parliament building) but a dramatic interactive diorama we found at Árbæjarsafn this evening. Push a button and the thing, about four feet square, lights up and crackles to reenact the Great Reykjavik Fire of 1915. We loved it. It was cheesy and cool.

Post Script: As you can see in this video there's more going on down at Austurvöllur than I realized, and I would be hard pressed to judge the elderly white-haired woman banging her pot in protest as a hot-blooded rabble rouser, or the woman wearing the national costume, or the nice-looking guy who's going to camp there as a stance against the ever-increasing cost of living. (Read more about the current situation Here.) These people obviously do not fall into the same category as those bores (admit it, you know one) who somehow get off on blame and injustice and (sigh) chronic, very public self-pity. Hurrah to the campers and may they enjoy their weekend tenting in the riot zone that is drunken 3 am downtown Reykjavik (no irony intended)!

Green

Green, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

No words, I think, are needed...

(Just found this review of my book, though, after (yeps) Googling myself, as well as this interview from 2007 if you're, you know, interested.)

Dapple

Dapple, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Just pretty.

This is the little grove on the southwest side of the town lake where my father says he used to go with his childhood buddies for summertime picnic adventures. The trees, probably not much taller than he was fifty (ahem!) -odd years ago, have matured beautifully.

If you love old things and measures of our ever changing world like I do, you'll enjoy visiting the Reykjavík Museum of Photography website. The photo that I've linked shows an overview of the town lake, and from the very barren patch in the lower left hand corner of that 1919 image the lush little forest shown above has tenaciously emerged.

Hay

Hay, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Thanks, all, for your support and visits to Iceland Eyes! We've got a steady average of 5000 views per month, about half of those new and a quarter regulars who drop by often during the month for new posts. Not too shabby for a little online hobby!

Read about His Holiness, the Dalai Lama's visit to our humble(d) island here. (Today's Fréttablaðið newspaper reports that China, which formally protested the visit last week, has now recalled its ambassador to Iceland. Go here to read China's latest bullying threat on the issue of Tibet.)

Yet while grownups threaten, war, abuse and defend in the world arena our children play at simpler games, hopefully, ideally, kept safe from the tensions and dramas of their fathers' lives.

Lunch

Lunch, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

A preschool trip with Oðinn to a Mossfellsdalur farm on Friday included a hot dog bonanza in the big barn with cookies for dessert.

Signal

Signal, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

This one's for Valentina. She likes this shot a lot.

View

Yard, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Ahh, life is simple, sweet and lovely. Of course it all depends on your point of view...

Silence is golden, smiles are free, the sun shines and not so far from where I sit a bell tolls the hour. All is good.

Park

Park, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Here's where the washing was done up until the late 1920's when the Reykjavik finally piped steaming hot ground water into the city center. Women lugged their dirty loads the 3 kilometer distance from downtown to Laugardalur, Hot Springs Valley, walking Laugarvegur, or Hot Springs Road. Going out there and reading the info plaques about what laundering was like and how it was all done less than a hundred years ago helps to put things into perspective . We've come a long way...(Here's a good link if you want to read more about Iceland's more innocent version of dirty laundry)

When we pulled up to the entrance to the Laugardalur botanical gardens this past weekend, just by the little zoo and skating rink, I saw some skinny young badass hanging about at the edge of the parking lot looking all jittery and expectant in his cool sunglasses and swanky sneakers. Two cars pulled up for whatever he was peddling in the time it took me to park and guess his game. By the time the third car was pulling away, the kids had run ahead of me into the gardens and the skittery, embarrassed-looking dealer knew that he'd made by a suburban mom. So just to bug him I called out in English Dude, you are So obvious and smirked. I know, he replied as he sheepishly jogged away, I know.

Times change.

Play

Play, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Our beautiful Eva Guðrún Gunnbjörnsdóttir presented her graduation production for the Theatre: Theory and Practice department at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts on Saturday.

The play, Pósteria, was written, designed and directed by Eva, who also acted the role of a sweetly ignorant, hopeful, frustrated, underpaid and disturbingly gullible post office worker (seen here at the beginning/end of the play reading a Cosmo quiz for her coworkers.) It was a painfully truthful, quirky and very funny look at the modern day feminist dilemma, full of awkward and loaded silences interspersed with roars of energized rebellion against the roles women adapt to and, often all too willingly, adopt. Cyclical, contained, explosive, sentimental, ironic and shyly childish, the play is like growing up, coming of age, becoming an adult in a world we don't quite understand, even if any number of subtle (and not so subtle) clues are left here and there to form and guide us. It asks What if I don't get it? What if I don't want to take part? How does this secret happiness thing work? What do you want me to do!? and leaves us with enough thoughtful detail to help us form our own, very personal answers.

Congratulations, Eva. Wonderful stuff!

Blooms

Flowers, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Springtime in Reykjavik, with pretty blooms and hints of blue skies, is finally here after our long winter of discontent.

New life is pulsing, quickening, in the warming earth and in our hearts. Elections have brought hope to many that our little island nation will survive our recent disgrace and grow again, if ever so humbly. We can't escape our pasts but are forced instead to review missteps, misdeeds, selfish living and a collective disconnect from the land we live on. But Nature, in her wisdom, always grants a new spring, a new chance to plant and nurture, sow and reap. The lessons never go away. They are revisited on us until we get them right, until we learn to cherish, selflessly, all that truly matters in our lives. What we run from comes back to us in ways we never imagined, offering new chances to bloom, and to grow.

Tower

Tower, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

You've all read this Vanity Fair article about Iceland's crash, yes? Here's the tower Michael Lewis refers to. It's glorious, shiny and very very empty...

By the way, Mr. Lewis nails us in many ways, but yes, we do have more than ten or twenty names in circulation here, and no, not too many SUVs have been blown up and sorry, but even the women here can be stubborn and bumbling and inexcusably, unapologetically aggressive when in public. It's a space thing: Dr. Seuss' Zax anyone? (and the Zax's even agreed to disagree, and not barge into each other sans eye contact, a disturbing local phenomenon for those from more cultured cultures.)

Atlantis

Atlantis, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," as Keats put it and to be boldly truthful, the resort casino down the beach from the ashram was a daily draw. Great pools and aquariums abounding with local sea life, the overly-manicured landscaping and the immense hotel structures towering over the gentle Paradise Island beaches testified to the human will to tame nature and erect monuments to the gods of engineering and ingenuity.

It was very worthwhile to saunter over for immersion in American family-vacation reality, a big reminder that while daily silence, yoga and meditation are a way of life, humanity in all it's baseness and glory doesn't disappear in the meantime, and that we're all in this life thing together. In other words, those little trips (along with forays into urban, decaying Nassau) proved that Oneness, Service and Compassion are always the order of the day.

All that, and a daily double latte to boot.

Palms

Palms, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Paths wind through the ashram foliage, yours to choose.

Here you are not an accumulation of all you've been, but an unfolding of pure potential at every moment. Doves flow through this compact jungle, cooing the name of Sumer's goddess, Hu. If you step softly you may even hear the soft rustle of a swami's orange robes on a path nearby, or the gentle chanting of students in their morning meditations.

And, of course, there's always the sea.

Paradise

Paradise, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

The dock at another little island in the Atlantic, called Paradise.

Keflavik to New York to Miami to Nassau and onto a small boat and suddenly you're there, at the ashram for a week of sun, kirtan, asanas and silence. Your mind stills, and all the pains of yesterday are washed away in the warm and salty sea.

Kaffi

Kaffi, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Kaffismiðja Íslands' owner Sonja is refilling her grinders with fresh toasty beans, roasted on location in a fantasy-pink coffee roaster at the most cozy café in town. The location is sweet, the coffee amazing and barista Hjörtur makes the perfect drink every time.

Be their guest: stop by, order something warm and inspiring, flip through the selection of classic vinyl, put something on the turntable, have a seat, sigh happily, smile, and enjoy.

Sushi

Sushi, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

On Laugavegur, just above the intersection with Skólavörðurstígur, is Sushibar, a tiny jewel of the Orient tucked unobtrusively in between a café and the walled off carcass of a house slated for demolition/renovation. It's easy to miss, and looks from the outside as if it would be ridiculously impossible for more than one or two people to sit inside at a time, but appearances deceive. Inside it somehow expands to accommodate, and provides a small bubble of meditative respite from the hustle outside. And the sushi is excellent too.

March

March, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Sunny, snappy, at turns gusty and calm. We're living and loving here, facing our transformation, unsure of our direction but fully aware of our need to change. Old patterns and habits no longer suffice.

Kiddie steps into our future are called for: constant, without hesitation, at times wobbly, but always looking forward with joyous expectancy, adventure, anticipation.

Bridge

Bridge, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Our version of the Golden Gate, spanning the Ölfusá river at Selfoss. Not so majestic, but a bit pretty on a winter's evening.

Sunset

sunset, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Oh, poor little island...so many things are exposing in this, the twilight, of our millennial glory. It's all we can do to keep the love lights shining in the face of so much freshly raked muck. If it's more disaster/recession/meltdown content you're looking for, search other sites. Iceland Eyes stays neutral and seeks, as always, to find the shine of beauty in our world, made all too common, all too often, by the squabbles and pettiness of men.

Find something beautiful today and give it your love.

Lopi

Lopi, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

This photo is an homage to the person who created the very nifty kids pink wool one-piece that we saw hanging in the Red Cross charity shop on Laugavegur.

It's one of a kind, or at least I've never seen this particular design before. Someone knit this with dedication and a loving hand for a child who outgrew it and has moved on. Maybe it even passed through a family, a klatch of sisters and cousins who inherited it for a winter or two, snuggled or itched in it, loved it or suffered it, until their arms poked too far out the sleeves and their ankles got too exposed, and then it was conveyed on. Decidedly unfashionable, it was finally relegated to the second-hand heap, stuffed into a plastic bag, donated to a good cause, and delivered to the storefront for a chance at a new life where it has maybe already found itself a small winter body to warm.

Calm

Lake, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Today a new Prime Minister takes over, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir (definitely check out the link about her...very cool stuff!)

The Pots and Pans revolution (protestors banged on kitchenware incessantly for days outside the House of Parliament) that took place over the past two weeks was a resounding success in that the sitting two party coalition collapsed under its own weight, making room for a politcal shuffling. Not everyone is happy with the new government (hi Dad!) but the fact that the old *regime* folded so easily must say something about how tenuous the parties' collaboration had become.

Iceland is still in a muddle, and it seems that every day some news of corruption or of ethically unsound business practice is floating to the surface like so much pond scum. The Guardian revealed this week that Iceland may be fast-tracked into the EU which is cool, but a fairly humbling kind of continental triage.

The good news is, though, that Iceland is really inexpensive now, as this LA Times article nicely describes. Pack your bags and we'll see you all soon!

Day Two

, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

For more about the current tensions here in Reykjavik, please go to IcelandReview Online. I, frankly, don't know what to say...

Damage

Damage, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Police in riot gear block the entrance to the Parliament while protestors toss what they can, including paint, milk, yogurt, eggs and cans at the house. Iceland is in full on protest against the sitting government, demanding they step down, or at least admit some measure of culpability in Iceland's recent economic meltdown.

Glow

Glow, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

We've been dusted again with a light snow though the threatened super-cold snap has yet to show. These grasses in front of the Government House on Lækjargata have got it made, gathered as they are around the heat of a flood lamp. Even in the coldest dark, they seem to suggest, a warming glow can be found.

Thanks to all who took part in the voting. We doubled my tally in just under forty eight hours, and now the polls are about closed. We didn't win, but we showed strength and hope. That's democracy in action!

Iceland!

Iceland !, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Iceland Eyes is a finalist in the 2008 Weblog Awards in the Best European Blog category! I just found out today and voting ends tomorrow, so cast your vote HERE for your favorite Icelandic Photo blog, Iceland Eyes!!

And thanks to whoever nominated me...what an amazing compliment! Of course, it's all about you, faithful readers...big thanks for all the support you've given me over the past four years!!

On a more important note, my prayers are with those suffering in the Gaza region. This blog has stayed intentionally politically neutral over the years, but in this case I think it's important to keep in perspective that there are innumerable events and situations the world over that need to have the light of global awareness shined upon them. A blog contest may seem frivolous in comparison, but the fact of blogs is that they have given voice to millions, and have helped to engage the shift of consciousness that we are all, as world citizens, now experiencing.

We are all in this together...there is no separation.

Light

Light, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

All the emails, all the love from around the world, readers who wonder if we're still alive, surviving and I'll answer here a resounding Yes. The lights are still on in Iceland, we've eaten well over the holidays and as I write hundreds of thousands of króna worth of fireworks are going off in celebration of the 13th day of Jól. Christmas is over, the last santa goes back to the hills, the decorations come down, but the glowing soul of our nation shines on.

New

Bonfire, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Happy New Year to All!

May you blaze forth into a Prosperous Future in 2009.

(photo of the Ægisíður New Year's Eve brenna, or huge annual bonfire, courtesy of Dan and Addy)

Jólaball

Jólaball!, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Tis the season for a holiday photo. This is from our little one's first playschool Christmas Party. Santa brought mandarins for all, and we sang and danced around the pretty tree. Classic stuff. Ho ho ho!

Still

Still, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

At the edge of the huge parking lot of the largest power strip mall in Iceland, out in the Grafarvogur neighborhood, ground water pouring out of the newly dynamited terrain freezes into pretty little ice sculptures. The stores, Toys 'R' Us, ILVA, Rúmfatalagerinn and The Pier, are essentially empty, though, after a year's worth of hype surrounding, among other things, their massive square footage. A woman working at ILVA, an IKEA-style furniture store recently gone bankrupt in Great Britain, told me that industrious Faroe Islanders had bought the franchise, as well as the entire strip mall, without leveraging any other capital. A clean purchase, she said, not based on stocks or futures or ridiculously lofty loans. Good on them!

The Faroe Islands are the new black.

Fire

Fire, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

At the same time as the most recent Saturday afternoon protest rally, 8,000 souls strong, a fire burst out in an abandoned house on my street.

I won't, just don't have the energy, to go into the whole bureaucratic shenanigans surrounding this house in the recent years, like the owner being granted a permit to tear down which the neighborhood cottage society challenged even though the house is infested with little cement beetles because they didn't like the owner's plans to raise the height of the new structure he had approved by the city to the same height as the building next to it so instead it's been an eyesore, all beaten up and tagged, and has been used as a flop and a squat that all the local kids knew about and now its even uglier just when its very likely that the owner will no longer be able to finance teardown and reconstruction and all because some people think anything built pre-WWII has automatic cultural value.

But whatever, I'm not going to go into it.

Boot

Boot, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Someone told me about an interview held with an elderly Icelander where the topic turned to the subject of the most important innovation to come to the island in the 20th century. The interviewee, in her eighties, pondered the question for a while then announced that the thing that most changed the lives of Icelanders in the past one hundred years were rubber boots. For the first time in a millenia Icelanders had dry feet all year round.

In these complicated times it's sometimes good to remember the simple things in life.

Please take a look at Iceland Eyes' sister site, Iceland Says, with new posts by Reykjavik college students every day for the next few weeks. Comments are always welcome!

p.s. this photo was taken by Valentina Jóhannsdóttir, my daughter.

Hanged

Bike, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

As reluctant as I am to break up the comment flow from the previous post, it is time to add a new image.

Today a group of my college students are sitting in class writing short essays on the state of the nation, in English, that will eventually be posted on Iceland Eye's sister site, Iceland Says. They are writing, as one student put it, letters to the world. I'll try to get them up as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I'd just like to say that we are not huddled around the last remnants of a dying fire here on the island. Though imports have slowed to a near stop from Great Britain, we still have food and other necessities to keep us going. I played this NPR story in class and it made me a little uncomfortable if only because the Icelander being interviewed slips into the classic national habit of using superlatives, of exaggerating for what seems like simple effect. We have gone from being one of the wealthiest nations on earth, she says, to being mere beggars. Are we beggars? Do we feel like beggars, deep in the national soul? Does she see herself as a downtrodden, homeless, luckless panhandler when alone, or is she simply describing her country as such on an international media source for the imagery, the pure conceit? We are not beaten, we are not indigent, but we did gamble with the big boys in the great global economic casino and we lost our shirts.

The interviewee also states that we cannot grow anything here but potatoes and sheep [sic] while I beg to differ. We have hothouses, friends, hothouses that are heated by means of the steam that rises from our earth, and in those hothouses we grow tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, lettuce and bananas. Rhubarb grows wild here and rutabagas and angelica and thyme and blueberries and there are more sheep here than people and we have pure fresh water running from mountain streams that we can dip our hands into and sip on site. We have horses, a beautiful and strong breed conditioned, created by this terrain and climate, as we Icelanders are ultimately, as well.

Some say wisdom is gained through sacrifice. But do we sacrifice our worldly aspirations or our cultural integrity?

We are survivors, adventurers, raiders. We are lusty, passionate, creative. We are molded by this landscape and are both strengthened and humbled by it. Now we have to excuse ourselves from gaming table with no shame for having played and lost (along with many others), assess the damages, and regroup for the next great effort.

To everyone who's asked, we are not broken. As things stand our lives go on almost as usual, as if we always knew the ride would end. It dawned on me last night that the past six years of unlimited economic potential felt just the same as all the hope we hold for the performers we send to Eurovision, or our athletes who make it to the Olympics. Anything can happen, we think. This might be our year! Maybe we've finally found the golden key to ultimate success! And then when our representatives flop or fail, are voted out or just don't make the cut, we pout and say to each other, but there's only so few of us, and we made it so far, and we should be proud, and we're all family, and, of course, there's always next year...

Frozen

IMG_1040, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Well, it's happened. Iceland has frozen. Last week in a literal sense, and this week in a more figurative, but just as real way. Our economy is collapsing, assets are unavailable, mass layoffs are in the works and we've managed to piss the British off in a big way. Our leaders have agreed to a major loan from Russia, if I remember correctly something in the way of 600 billion króna, or about 4 billion Euros ("The Russian ambassador to Iceland, Victor Tatarintsev, informed central bank governor David Oddsson early this morning that Russia would provide Iceland with the loan for three to five years at rates 30 to 50 points above Libor."). Construction workers are flocking to Norway and Sweden and grants, parties and ads once funded by our major banks are being cancelled.

Now we're trying to save face and remember all those tips and tricks our grandparents tried to teach us before we got all glassy-eyed with consumerism and the vacuous, instant gratification version of the capitalist dream.

Read more here.

Waking

Waking, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

I got two emails today asking for bits of advice:

Hi Maria,

you seem to have a child about the same age as mine (My daughter Liselotte is almost 2 years old). If yes, you might know some good spots to buy 2nd hand clothing for children in Reykjavik. I have spent all my money on getting to Iceland for our honeymoon end of october, so I will not be able to spend another fortune on souvenirs...

When I lived in Norway, I bought a lot at the Salvation Army shops. You mentioned the Salvation Army in your blog. Do they also sell childrens' clothing? Are there better places to go?

Are there any reasonable (icelandic/weather gear)clothing shops for
children?

In case you come to Berlin, I can supply you with some adresses here...

All the best from Berlin (Germany),

Uta

Well, Uta, there are a few second hand stores on Laugavegur, with the Red Cross being the least expensive by far. The other stores might have a few pieces for kids here and there, but are much more (fashionably) pricey. The Salvation Army shop that I mention in this post is also great place to find bargains, though it's a bit harder to locate (follow the directions on the linked post above.)

The second request is more complicated:

Hi Maria,

My husband and I made the trip from Manitoba, Canada to Iceland a couple years ago. During our trip, we could not let even one wonderful day go by without our daily dose of skyr. On our return home, we managed to source some local skyr from a grocery in Alborg, Manitoba. But now, my husband wants to make his own. We have attempted two batches, both dismal failures.

Our information on how to make skyr is only from online sources; the amount of conflicting information is astounding. Would you know of a
tried-and-true recipe that you could pass on to us? Thanks,

Laura

Anyone in the know?

Tunnel

Tunnel, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Back in the days, when summertime still smiled upon us, before the autumn winds blew in and blew away the leaves and the chilly rains started to fall, a little trip was taken to a fjord just to the north and there I found a tunnel feeding a river out to the sea.

And here's a message I received today from Iceland Eyes reader Kylee:

I just returned from Iceland and brought some coffee back with me for my mom. She was in love with it and wants to order more, but I can't find anyone who carries it online. It is Merrild Malađ Međalristađ. I realize that it's not even an Icelandic brand, but does anyone have info on how I can get it online -- or if someone would be gracious enough to ship some to me in the States??

Thanks!

(She didn't drop her address, but I'm sure she will if anyone would like to hook her mom up with the stuff.)

Traveller

Sailor, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Here's an email I got from an Iceland Eyes reader. Does anyone have an answer for him?

We are flying from the US via Delta to Boston and then Icelandair to
Iceland. While Delta allows a 40 lb carry on Icelandair only allows 13 lb. Do you know or do you know of anyone I could talk to who has recently flown Icelandair to know if they weight carry on baggage from people who are transferring from one airline to theirs? I have never seen that happen anywhere else. Since our carry on weights 9 lb empty it seems worthless to bring it for 4 lbs of items.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Rick

Jump

Jump, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

It's always exciting to find a trampoline out in the wilds, especially if you're a Super Gymnast like our Valentína. (If you're curious as to where this is, it's just outside of Reykjavík at Lækjarbotn, where one of Iceland's Waldorf schools is located.)

Lift

Lift I, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Ski slopes in California never looked as sad as this offseason...

Berries

Berries, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

What we'll do for a few blueberries!

It was stormy and wet out (as if the national soul had conjured up weather to describe the feeling of having just lost the Olympic handball Gold to France and their crazy psychic goalkeeper) but we slapped on our slickers and went out searching anyway. Dad knew there wouldn't be any blueberries at this location, but he did pick up a few puny krækjuber (translation anyone?) just for fun.

Country

Country, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Just a typical idyllic scene from the Icelandic countryside...

As summer comes to a close and the nights grow longer (when it's cloudless we can even see the moon at midnight) that odd feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop overcomes many. For those who've been on vacation (students, teachers) a new experience is about to start. For those who've use the summer as a transition zone, a switching station between life paths, autumn's new realities are just around the corner. It's always easier to break with the past when days are warm, and slide into the future with the sun's hopeful rays still on your back.

Party

Party, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Happy Gay Day to all! Here's Rósa and her band Sometime having a glittering blast on wheels during today's Gay Pride parade. Tonight the town belongs to the Rainbow and anyone and everyone who's ready to party on til dawn...

Wet

Wet, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Little waterfalls abound all across Iceland, and on warm days it's a blast jumping out of the car and into a roadside cascade. In this land of super-heated thermal hot springs, melting glacial runoff and ubiquitous, any-season rainfall we seem to have enough of the wet stuff, and some would even say too much.

Like any other resource, though, it's all about proper management, distribution, usage and respect for something that none of us could do without. Though not in any way affiliated with them, I think the Saving Iceland website has some interesting information, and is worth a read on the subject of water, water power and their take on the state of the Icelandic environment

Pink

Pink, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

For Pabbi and Mamma...

Stroll

Stroll, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

An odd and deep fog is settling over Reykjavik this evening, muffling sounds and blocking the lovely midnight sunset from sight. That reminds me of something my Amma Ásta once said to me, "I don't understand it when people say the sun has finally come out; the sun is always there. It's the clouds that come and go."

So the sun is glowing warm and bright behind the evening's fog, as it was around midnight last week when I spotted this group of teenage visitors walking the path along the bay, enjoying the last rays of the day.

Golf

Golf, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

It's midnight on Seltjarnarnes and a lone golfer takes in a game...

Flowers

Flowers, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

There's a vibrant stillness in the warm in here, as usually happens when one beautiful day follows another. It's as if we're taking a long collective breath, enjoying every second of summer weather in the now, moving surely and with joy while the sunshine lasts.

Óðinn and Míó

Óðinn and Míó, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

A snapshot of homelife...

At one very young point in his life, our little Óðinn was smaller than Míó the cat. At that stage Míó sat by and watched over our sleeping baby. Today, as can be seen in this shot, he's not always so willing to be a companion to a busy two year old, but exercises anyway as much patience as he possibly can.

Abundance

Abundance, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Perfect new life emerges from unusual places, like these tiny grasses sprouting from a mossy clump on a mid-town wall. Through all the fretting and fixing, conflict and complaining of women and men growth appears unbidden and unaided, extending forth with some silent will of its own.

Some may consider this emergence a blemish to be carefully scraped away, but I consider it beautiful.

Park

Park, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

A beautiful day at the kiddie park in Laugardalur.

We've had a lot of lovely days lately, which always makes me happy because that means the tourists who've spent their hard earned money to get here won't be disappointed. Pride spills over, as if I'm a hostess displaying her glorious feast for welcomed guests. I still want to occasionally say Go ahead and wear your pretty clothes in town, everyone's doing it. Leave the brand new hiking boots for your day trip to the countryside. You'll enjoy your lunch more if you do. But if you've just spent a mini fortune on sensible footgear and an all-weather parka you'll want to go ahead and use them.

Notice, though, that even out in the back country you'll see Icelanders in darling little gilded ballet flats and $300 Adidas fashion trainers, yes talking on their cells (if there's reception) while tiptoeing their way out past the sulfur pits to watch Strokkur blow, and bemoaning the fate of their Dolce&Gabbana while slipping down misty steps to Gullfoss in their skinny jeans, as if they had no idea they'd get wet. Fashion does not stop at city limits, so while you're here try dolling up (men as well!) when you'd least think to to enjoy the full Icelandic experience.

Peace

Colors, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

We've survived a 6.3 shaker here in South Iceland, though one man broke his toe and quite a number of homes in Selfoss are unsafe for the time being. For my parents and I it felt just like the old days: Los Angeles '71, San Francisco '89.

The earth shakes, plans change, paths diverge, goals are reassessed. LIfe in flux.

Sometimes a simple, pretty, peaceful scene is just what we need.

p.s. If you're thinking of moving to California here's a site you should read: Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country

Corner

Corner, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

Downtown, at the corner where the fire was last year, an evokative photo exhibit, Dialogue, has been installed on the temporary walls surrounding the burn site as part of the 2008 Reykjavik Arts Festival. Here men velcro up the nearly thousand images of rural Icelandic children, photographed by artists Anna Leoniak and Fiann Paul.

All those eyes seemingly watching our daily hustle and bustle somehow put things into perspective. I slow as I pass the children by, trying to imagine their names, or their favorite games, wanting to wipe the jam off the corner of a young girl's mouth or straighten that little one's hat. I thought this exhibit wouldn't last long exposed like it is to the (party/reckless) elements of Reykjavik, but it's still tag-free after a week, and intact, a sign that innocence still holds sway.