Category: general

18
Aug
2011

TOO MUCH OR NOTHING

I need to spend some time remembering why I’m here, why I put myself out here, why I do all the various things I do. Because I like doing them? Or because they’ve simply become habit? I could write a book just about the things I no longer do, the things I no longer have time for, or make time for, or find time for. I could write a book…if I bothered, but let’s be honest: online journaling is about as far as my writing is and will ever take me. That’s fine, I’m down with that. This past week...

15
Aug
2011

*BLEEP*OVERS

Martin and I think we shall try and spot some shooting stars tonight, if I can stay awake until it’s dark enough. It’s fairly clear and the sunset is a lovely glowing orange against the blue. It’s turned all the little clouds pink. Karin is spending the night with a teammate friend in Södra Sandby, the next village over. As glad as I am that she has made so many good friends on her soccer team and is finally reveling in girl friendships and everything that goes along with them, it makes me crazy when she calls me up at...

12
Aug
2011

1 X 2

No shooting stars for us tonight, though I can see a glimmer of clear sky near the horizon at the outer edges of the solid cloud cover that blankets us. It’s cold out, too, dipping down into the lower teens (Celsius), a chill reminder that summer is fleeting and layers are essential in this northern clime. It’s been an up and down day of really good things and bummers of the lighter variety. A friend I see much too seldom had to cancel our get-together plans for spending the evening talking non-stop. I had an excellent sushi lunch with brief_therapy...

10
Aug
2011

ANOTHER YEAR OLDER & WHAT HAVE I DONE?

After a simply lovely 3 weeks of having mom here, I had to hand her off this morning to the airport, where she flew down to see the Latest Main Attraction in Germany: her new grandson, Samuel Otto. I can hardly begrudge the fact that she had to leave, since I’ll get to see her again in just a few weeks, but it WAS tough to have to do it on my birthday, and the kids & I are lamenting how very empty the house feels without Lizardmom (or Anders!) in it now. The 3 weeks she was here were...

06
Aug
2011

BU-BU-BU-BUBBLING

Several people who had been there, before we actually went to Iceland and saw for ourselves, when trying to describe the landscape of the country referred to it as a moonscape. In the late 1960s, Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew came here to train for their impending moonwalks, so I guess the impression the place leaves is accurate! Our last stop on our Mývatn tour was the Leirhnjúkur geothermal solfatara. It is a very stark area, devoid of trees or much growth other than the ubiquitous lichens and moss on the ancient lava fields surrounding it. A solfatara...

05
Aug
2011

TO THE NORTH!

Before going to Iceland, the furthest north I had ever been was Bergen, Norway (60°20’N). Reykjavik is further (64o09’N), and 4 days into our Iceland trip, we went almost all the way to the top of the country. Reykjavik is less than 330 km from the Arctic Circle, but Akureyri is only 100 kilometers away! Akureyri wasn’t even in our itinerary but a volcano ganged aft agley and put a stop to our plans to head for the southeast coast of Iceland, to see Skaftafell National Park, the Vatnajökull Glacier and Svartifoss (the Black waterfall). After 4 days in Reykjavik,...

01
Aug
2011

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, PART 3

The last thing we did on the bus tour that you must think lasted AN ETERNITY since it is taking me that long to post about it thanks to the damn hackers that keep taking down LiveJournal…turdbuckets!…was visit theTingvellir valley, which is where the Icelandic people held their ting or assembly every year since the 12th century. They don’t hold it there NOW, of course. Now they have a capitol with government buildings and such-like but personally I think they SHOULD hold it there, because it is truly beautiful. A ting was where the people met to review the laws,...

31
Jul
2011

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, PART 2

MAN, that was a long break. I meant to post this directly after part the first, but Livejournal has been completely down or wonky for a week. 🙁 After Gullfoss, and waiting for EXTREMELY late stragglers to get back on the bus…which, seriously people, what is up with that? You know the time to be back at the bus: pay attention and plan accordingly! We then drove over to the Haukdalur Valley which is full, full I say, of geothermal activity. On the steaming slopes of Laugarfjall are more than 40 hot springs, mud pots, geysers and other fumaroles. The...

24
Jul
2011

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, PART 1

Even though bus tours are not my favorite way to sightsee, they have a lot to be said for them: if it’s a good one, you usually get a great deal of excellent information about where you are going and what you are seeing, much more than you would if you just went to the place yourself and looked at it. You get facts, history, colorful anecdotes and a timetable that keeps you moving. Our tour guide for the Golden Circle tour out of Reykjavik was good, though her English left something to be desired and she did the tour...

20
Jul
2011

BABY!

I’m so thrilled! My baby brother just became a DAD. What a bizarre feeling to think that John has reproduced! 😀 I know he and Simone will be great parents; they’ve waited and worked so long for this moment. And so fun to think our family name will be continued, as well. 🙂 He was due 2 days ago, and my mom arrived here in Sweden yesterday for the beginning of her European vacation, she heads to Germany next bearing gifts and love from us all. Welcome to the world Samuel Otto Slaughter! Born 1:55 pm, Wednesday, July 20th, 2011.