In Iceland, you look at the flow of life through a subconscious mind of ice from beyond the edge of the world, or …
…in Iceland, you look at the flow of the mind through a (melting and freezing) barrier of ice from beyond the edge of the world.
One could easily think about lesser things.
~
Bessasstaðaá
Goofiness has, presumably, preserved the Icelandic horse for over eleven centuries.
The trait spoke, obviously, to a need. The need remains.
Wind! You’d lose the use of one ear most of the time if you didn’t.
A serious issue! Plus, it’s stylish, eh.
If you turn your head, you can hear even better, but you can’t always do that now, can you. You want to, like stand still.
All together now!
There’s no arguing with it. It’s a thing.
~
Skriðuklaustur
It starts innocently enough. You’re grazing with your buddies, right.
Hey, it’s a reindeer thing. If the swans and geese want to graze along with you, what’s it to you, right? There’s grass for all. No, that’s what people might thing. Reindeer? Time to split.
Bye. It’s about colour matching, I think.
When you go to Iceland in the winter, wear white.
As the frailty of the fence below shows, the Icelandic way of meeting the Earth is either foolish or heroic, or both.
Grótfjall from the Dunes
The Earth is huge, and humans are small, and yet they stand up against each other, body to body. It is hardly an equal relationship… or is it? The fence stands in witness.
Being stone is enough when you are stone.
Gunnar Gunnarsson called basalt like this the chain-linked rhymes of traditional Icelandic verse. He meant, I think, nothing is unlinked. This raven, for instance, flying above that stone…
…nests in it. Poetry is natural architecture, in Gunnar’s world.
Be quick. You have competition.
Bilberries in Seydisfjörður
Look closely now!
Yes, competition.
Iceland’s Secret Bilberry Team
Count the legs. Very secret work!
What, you didn’t think they ate grass, did you? In this rain? The Icelandic summer has to have some perks!
The road to the sky leads through the Earth.
Dawn at Skriðuklaustur
At first you can drive, but then you have to go on foot. You’ll know when you’ve arrived.
Ice contains wisdom, of the year behind and the opening wisdom of the year to come. You can see it in the perennial sunrise and sunset colours of winter, but. April brings brighter tones, while snow storms still take the rest of the world away. It’s breathtaking. Bring your camera. Go East in April.
Leave the crowded south and its tourbusses. The great secret of Iceland is that it’s everywhere on the whole island. You don’t have to go to the crowded places. You will find there a sense of honouring and ritual. Out in the simple places, where no one else goes, you will find your self.
Soon the bird sanctuaries will be off limits for the rest of the year to anyone except birds. Best get your ‘dunes in a distance’ fix now. But do not enter the dunes. You cannot get to the sea and you will get lost. This is a landscape for contemplation only. Please.
Nýagras
And that’s beautiful enough.
Litlafoss
A Farm in Iceland 