Our World was in Iceland for a while

Photo by Richard Schear, 2014

Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavik is the largest church, and the sixth tallest architectural structure in the country of Iceland. We visited Iceland for my husband's birthday at the end of March and for part of April.

Posted for Our World Tuesday: Easter 2014 Edition

N is for NEMA and Northern

Posted for ABC Wednesday

I missed part of the alphabet while we were away on our most recent adventure, and the only "N" I could remember seeing in Iceland was the Northern Lights, which we were unable to photograph without a tripod.
Then I found this photo of a sign in the Icelandic language.
"NEMA pJONUSTUUMFERD" doesn't really get the point across because I can't replicate the extra letters in the Icelandic alphabet, but it gives you an idea how long the words can be.
I don't know about the house that the English part of the sign refers to, but I am here to testify that Icelandic seafood is delicious indeed. I spent most of my adult life in or near the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, with plenty of excellent seafood all around me, but (may my beloved BC forgive me) it doesn't hold a candle to Icelandic seafood from the icy waters of the North Atlantic.
Sigh.

Nothing to say, eh?*

*Canadians are known worldwide for our use of "eh?" at the ends of sentences.

John Cage (Wikipedia)
1912-1992

Kerry introduced US composer John Cage to the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads today. He is most famous for his composition entitled 4’33, which refers to four and a half minutes of silence...silence that is anything but soundless.

He is also known for his “poem” ...

"I have nothing to say, and I am saying it, and that is poetry."

Unlike many Real Toads members, I am not participating in National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) but I couldn't resist the idea of writing nothing about nothing today. Keep a watch on the Real Toads blog, however, my friends, because I am contributing a prompt to keep the others on their Toad-toes.

The Big Goose Egg

Aryabata
(from Wikipedia)

I also have nothing to say,

and I can say it in rhyme,

I can say it once or twice today,

or I can say it all the time.

nothing’s a nonentity,

a nobody, unknown,

and I can write it in a book

or express it in a poem.

nothing, nada, zero, zilch,

is all I have to say

because it seems I’m feeling quite

nonsensical today.

Not horsing around here

A patient, sweet-natured Icelandic Horse waits for its rider to arrive. I've always been afraid of horses, but no one could be afraid of these darlings. I hugged many horses in Iceland and loved every one of them.
Larger than a Shetland but smaller than a quarter horse, Icelandics are pleasant, patient, and purebred... the government has laws against importation of any other breed to this small island nation.
I now have a Facebook friend in southern Alberta who has a ranch for Icelandic horses near the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. I've told her not to be surprised if I suddenly show up for some horse hugs.

Posted for Camera Critters, hosted by Misty Dawn. Thanks, Misty. Hugs to you, too, and a special hug for your baby.

Also posted for Pet Pride, hosted by the Pets Forever blog in Mumbai, India. Thank you, and a wag and a happy "woof" from Lindy to Bozo.

"My rider will be along any minute. I'm so excited."

"But I'm not so excited that I can't have a little nap while waiting."

Photos by Richard Schear, March/April 2014

Reflections in Reykjavik

Today we're joining the very talented James, of Something Sighted, for his Weekend Reflections meme.

This week, I bring you a small assortment of reflections from Reykjavik. The sculpture of the Viking ship is graceful, and the mountains in the background are gorgeous.

The large hall where performances of many kinds entertain the citizens of, and visitors to Iceland, reflects the clouds and the sun, and is beautiful itself.

However, I think like the duck best. He's an eider duck, and his mate is not far away but is busying herself with fishing. We did see her catch one, too, while he was reflecting on his somewhat wavy North Atlantic mirror. This duck, his mate, and another pair kept us laughing as we strolled the waterfront.

Photos by Richard Schear, March/April, 2014

Wonderful is Wisteria

For Transforming Friday, at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, today's prompt is from Hannah, who tells us of the amazing wisteria vine, which bears beautiful blossoms for hundreds of years. Therefore, it is symbolic of longevity and immortality, especially in Japan where it seems to bloom forever.

I am

wistful when I think

wisteria lives so long

Flowering Wisteria sinensis

or Chinese Wisteria

(from Wikipedia)

and why, therefore, not I?

it is prettier by far

and loved by one and all,

but why, wherefore, not I?

I am

grateful when I think

wisteria lives at all,

that such beauty exists

in our modern world,

its lilac-coloured flowers

reminding us of eternity.

I am

happy when I think

of many generations

sharing stories of kisses

beneath the flowering vine,

half an acre of blossoms

reminding us all of love.

Kay Davies, April, 2014                                          

The land of Eyjafjallajokull

By now, almost everyone knows we went to Iceland. My husband wanted to go there for his 70th birthday, and he dragged me along, kicking and screaming, because I had never thought of visiting Iceland. It sounded very cold, and we were already very cold here in Alberta.
Dick was captivated by all the compound words in the Icelandic language, and I almost learned to pronounce the name of the volcano which erupted in 2010, wreaking havoc with the airspace over all of Europe. Eyjafjallajokull.
Say that three times quickly. It doesn't get terribly difficult until the end.
Eye-yah-fee-aht-lah-yo-kutl. The final two consonants are pronounced as they are in at-lah, but sort of swallowed, a soft explosion of the T and L sounds.
So, home again, I have been hoping for Words Count with Mama Zen at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.
I got my wish today.
MZ has asked us to write about April, in 66 words or less.
We were still in Iceland at the beginning of the month, so here are my 66 somewhat bilingual April words. (If you speak, read, or are Icelandic, please forgive me for playing with the language. No harm is intended at all.)

From Vinnufatabúdin

it isn’t very far

to the Buxnadagar,

you won’t

need a car.

By the

Balkanika Cafe,

Gjaldskylda

says pay and display.

If you have time

on your hands

get a cut at

Hárskeri almúgans.

The Bílaleiga

Akureyrar Holdur

in this picture tells us

the temp is

plus ten Celsius.

 

If you decide

to go out

to Kringlumyrarbraut,

we’ll go along,

give us a shout.

Photos

by Richard Schear

March/April 2014

Ditties by Kay, written today.

Trying something new this week

My friend Yam has a linky on her blog, and I've never linked to it before. Today she features lovely photos of a sunny day in Scotland.
I know how scarce the sun can be in Scotland, not to mention England, Ireland or Wales, so I'm responding with some sunshine as well.
I can't say "with some sun of my own" because my husband took these photos during our trip to Iceland.
Yam says it's less-speak-more-peek today, so I will be quiet now, and show you some Icelandic sunshine from last week.

My husband went riding, I didn't. I love the Icelandic horses, but I would have had a lot of difficulty getting on and off. I know, because I have trouble with my own chair at home.

Photos by
Richard Schear 

Very late or very early?

This is the back of the big statue of Leif Erikson, an Icelander who is said to have discovered Finland. If you enlarge the photo, you can read the inscription from which I got this information.

Fish story for Open Link Monday

I ate a lot of lovely fish in Iceland

I ate salmon, arctic char, and plaice

but it cost so much for eating out in Iceland

some foods we couldn’t even try to taste

and as for souvenirs, well, just forget it

they cost an arm, a leg, and more, to buy!

but we enjoyed our holiday in Iceland

with hot springs, mountains, sea, and such blue sky!

Posted for Kerry's Open Link Monday
at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads

Top photo:

I thought I was getting an open-faced sandwich of salmon on bread, but it turned out to be salmon on half a pancake. Who knew?

Second photo:

my first taste of arctic char

Third photo: ordinary souvenirs such as mugs and plates were priced right out of sight, and out of reach. Iceland is, after all, an island by the bottom of Greenland's east coast, and although there are greenhouses in the countryside, almost everything has to be shipped in.

Below: Reykjavik as seen from a fish restaurant near our hotel.

Richard Schear photos.

Our Lindy critter smiles with pride

The photo on the top right was taken last year, before all the grass turned brown. Lindy smiles as the sunshine warms her face.

In the photo on the lower right, she smiles when the sunshine is warm despite this winter's snow.

Posted for
Camera Critters hosted by Misty Dawn

Photos by Richard Schear, 2013, 2014

and also for
Pet Pride
hosted by Lindy's friend Bozo and his family at their Pets Forever blog in Mumbai, India

Lindy says, "Hi, Bozo. I like your soft, friendly smile!"
and Lindy's mom says, "Hi, Misty, it's nice to be back at Camera Critters!"

Mirror, mirror...

Over at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, a fellow Canadian poet, Grace, asks us to write about mirrors.
She provided two pictures for the mirror prompt: one a photo by Margaret Bednar of a chandelier's reflection, and the other a 17th-century painting, "Old Coquette" by Bernardo Strozzi.
I have chosen the latter for my inspiration today.

She looks in the mirror
and sees her youthful self,
whose breasts attracted
rather than repelled,
and hair so dark and lustrous
with never a thought of grey,
still, in her mind,
she hears her lover say,
"How pretty you will always be,
  so perfect in my eyes!"
And to herself,
before the mirror,
sighs...
"He loves me now
  and always will
  and I need have no fears
  of losing him to younger loves
  through passing of the years."
She lost him, though,
he went away to war,
and though she waits,
he will return no more.
But every night she's sure
of his arrival,
her broken mind
convinced of his survival.
Fifty years have come and gone,
she has no mate, no child,
but in the mirror still she sees
the face that once beguiled.

Kay Davies, April, 2014                               

For Fireblossom Friday at Real Toads

Photo above by Kay Davies, 2014. Photos below from Wikipedia.

I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter

and make believe it came from Shay,

who wants us all to write about a letter

but I have no idea how, today.

Tell us about your travels

Shay will say

and show us photos

of Icelandic scenes.

Tell us where you went

and how you did it

and if you’d like to

go back there again.

I fell in love in Iceland,

I will tell her,

in a very unexpected way:

I hugged a horse

who nuzzled up

and kissed me,

and all my fear of horses

went away.

Both elegant and rustic

and oh so very trusting

Icelandic horses see

us all as friends.

They want us to love them—

they’ll love us in return,

and carry us

through ice

and snow

and sleet.

Although they may

look shaggy in the winter,

in a riding ring

they’re oh so swift and fleet.

I didn’t even want to go to Iceland,

but my husband says

I always change my mind.

Animals will often help me change it

and this one is a very special kind.

Posted for Fireblossom Friday in the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.

My husband is very busy right now, so I'm very glad Wikipedia had so many lovely photographs to illustrate its article on the wonderful Icelandic Horse.

I often tried horseback riding when I was younger, but the horses always felt my fear, and threw me. That was no fun at all, so I've always been wary of horses up close, while admiring them from afar.

We had neighbours who owned several Shetlands, and my younger sister was happy to ride, but I was nervous even feeding them an apple, because they could sense how I felt.

Other friends, who worked as cowboys, tried to teach me, but my emotional connection with their horses was always negative, on both sides.

Icelandic horses, however, which are larger than Shetlands but smaller than quarter horses, let me pet them and hug them until my fear was a thing of the past. And they are so doggone cute. Look at this one in its shaggy winter coat.

The five-gaited Icelandic Horse performs well in the ring, and amazes onlookers with its dexterity and its characteristic tolt gait.

Beautiful blue Icelandic skies

Photos by Kay Davies, in Iceland, March 28, 2014

Crowds wait for a geyser to erupt (top) and photograph it during and after the column of steam and hot water bursts toward the sky. In the opposite direction, three small clouds try to look like Icelandic sheep above the landscape.

Posted for  Skywatch Friday

Sneak preview, but more to come

Kay Davies photos

Yes, we went to Iceland. Yes, we're glad we did.
We're also glad to be home with our darlin' dog Lindy, even if Alberta is colder than Iceland.
There are lots of amazing, wonderful things in Iceland. Thanks to Iceland Air and their too-good-to-pass-up offer, my husband and intrepid photographer, Richard Schear, got to spend his 70th birthday on that little volcanic island to the bottom right of Greenland.
And yes, said husband still referees basketball and Canadian football at the high school and, sometimes, college level. When he has time, after all his catching-up, he'll give me access to his many photos. In the meantime, here are some I took, starting with one of him himself.

The iconic Icelandic sweater with its characteristic round yoke, reflects the beauty of the landscape.











Right, crowds gather to watch a geyser erupt, and it's worth waiting for, as we see below.


Posted for
Weekend Reflections
and
Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Opening Day poem for Open Link Monday

My husband suggested recently that I read an article in one of his sports magazines, about one of my favourites on the Toronto Blue Jays, Edwin Encarnación, of whom great things seem to be expected.

The following ditty was written a year or two ago, maybe, perhaps...at least as far as I can remember. It was certainly written long before that magazine article was written. But I've always liked shy, quiet Edwin, and have hoped he would be headed for great things.

I also like the fact that he is from the Dominican Republic, a place we have visited and enjoyed, and where we liked the people very much.

With Major League Baseball's opening day looming, and us with other plans, here's a tip of the cap to our Edwin, which I'm posting for Open Link Monday at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.

Our Edwin En-car-na-ci-ón

worked hard his home run skills to hone.

Then he tied, number three

in the whole MLB.

Let’s hope he does not break a bone!

Kay L. Davies

Lindy's cousin doesn't like snow

Lindy's cat cousin, Bailey Davies, was very surprised to find his balcony covered in snow earlier this year.
He walked around v-e-r-y carefully until he got used to it.

Lindy doesn't mind the snow at all, and said cats are wusses, whereupon we had a mother-to-dog discussion about all pets being equal, even cats. She doesn't quite understand it, but is still giving it some thought.

Posted for
Pet Pride
with thanks to Lindy's friend Bozo and his family who host it on their Pets Forever blog in Mumbai, India.
Lindy says, in a whisper, "I'm not so sure, Bozo. I still think cats are wusses. You wouldn't be afraid of a little snow, would you?"
"Lindy," said her mom, "aren't you going to thank Bailey for the use of his pictures?"
"Why? He didn't operate the camera. His parents did. Cats are..."
"Lindy! Didn't we just decide all pets are equal, including cats?"
"You said it, I didn't. Now can I have some cucumber? And maybe some green pepper with it? I love vegetables."
Lindy's mom sighed, and said, "Thanks, Clint and Maria, for the photos."