Dedicated

Note: technical difficulties! Some of our photos are dropping out, which makes me sad (I'll not point fingers, but it might be a Picasa issue...) I'm fixing it as we speak.
We'll leave our armchair-architectural opinions at the door and just note that many of you who have taken the trip to Geysir and Gullfoss (live webcam!) via Laugarvatn have passed by this church at Úthlíð. It was consecrated in 2006 in memory of Ágústa Ólafsdóttir by her husband Björn Sigurðsson and as such has charming sentimental value that may make up for its (for me) shockingly out of place appearance in the heart of Iceland's historical Saga territory.

I jumped out of our car to take a picture while Óðinn, being an inquisitive five year old, decided, against my strict council, to see if he could take a run around the interior (literally.) Before I knew it I had followed him in and was actually comforted by how warm and comfortable the church is, with a large portrait of Ágústa on the south wall and a colorful modern tableau of Mary, Baby Jesus and a content-looking cow above the altar (painted by the architect, Gísli Sigurðsson, former journalist and brother of Björn) all framed with that natural wood so common in summer houses around the countryside. Before my little klifurmús could climb the final ladder up the bell tower, I was able to snap a few more pictures, have a short moment of silence, and gather him back out into the car. I'm glad he dared to try the door and entreat me to join him inside. Now I have much more respect for a building I would have simply written off as a roadside oddity otherwise.