First Winter Snow and How Things Will Go

When the heavy snows fell in the first week of December, they stuck a bit longer than we're used to here. Usually a pretty snowfall is rained away or melts and refreezes into grotesque and blackened shapes within a day or so.

This time it stayed and even filled out for almost a week, making Reykjavik a paradise for photographers of all shapes and sizes and abilities. Even three year olds were snapping awesome winter wonderland pics with their parent's iPhones, it seemed. #reykjaviksnow (among other keywords) became the hashtag of
the new winter season, as the halls of social media filled with gorgeous shots of laden branches against the backdrop of our little city and the nature areas close by.

I added my two (or three) cents with a few pics of my own including this one, which ended up being the most popular like-wise, though not my personal favorite. I'll share that one at the end of this post. I like that, out of context and lit as it is, it looks even more organic than it actually is. That's obviously a ridiculous statement, given that it's a photo of a living tree. But what I mean is that it visually refers to any number of systems found in our known universe, from nano to massive, micro to macro. I've got a thing for this kind of shot.

Weather aside, I feel like everything's been said about this island I live on, as far as introducing it as a destination, location or nation. I've said and showed plenty, and in the past few years since the tourism boom really hit high gear many great voices have joined the chorus. I've never been much for current affairs coverage or news reporting here on Iceland Eyes, and loyal readers know my writer's voice has a tendency to transition from peppy to philosophical from post to post. Whims and moods decide.

I suppose if you're keeping a semi-personal blog for the long haul, that makes sense...your writing is going to travel the rollercoaster of life along with you. And if you're writing from the heart, your words (and images, if applicable) will reflect the you that you are from day to day.

That said, though I haven't been posting here much, I do write and share quite a bit on my personal facebook page (I gave up the Iceland Eyes one in the interest of streamlining.) Most of the essays I share there are musings on the art of being human, for lack of a better term. Spiritually-inspired, but grounded in reality. At least that's my intent.

I find myself reflecting on how we live in our world today, with its modern challenges that mirror age-old social and moral issues. I like to write from my own experience while considering more communal solutions, things that we may each be able to do as individuals to take part in collective maturation of our species. In other words, I like to explore what each of us can do to be better people, and to make our world a better place for the generations to come.

In the future I'll be sharing more of these essays here, phasing even farther away from the tourism-y kind of thing. I'll try to keep the photos interesting, though the text might not be the kind of hyper-peppy "Welcome to Iceland!" the average travel info-hunter might be looking for.

There's plenty to explore here on Iceland Eyes, though, now cruising into its 12th year, with over 700 photos documenting the amazing transitions our country has gone through in that time. I put the sidebar thumbnails up in a really obvious way so that all a visitor has to do to find something tempting to view is look left or right, then click. Take your time and enjoy!

(Btw, even I've forgotten half of the photos I've posted, so even if you're an old-timer here, go poke around a bit and rediscover the Iceland Eyes you know so well : ) Here's the snowy-tree shot that garnered the second-most attention:
 

And my personal favorite: