Salt water and fresh, in their own movements, catch the light quite differently.
Seals swim from one to the other effortlessly. What a great seeing that is!
Surf and Flow on the Selfljót
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Tag Archives: East Iceland
Beautiful Island Light
A cute lamb on Raudanes above Kollavik in the Þistilfjörður would appear far less cute if not for the warm colours of the July light just after mid-day, looking East.
It is so thick in the air, it’s as if you could scoop it up with your hands, or swim through it!
Where is the Heart of Iceland?
A simple farm in the East, far from everything?
No, at the centre. This was the heart of some of Icelands greatest modern poems. Reykjavik is the wasteland here. What caught my eye was the oddness of this sewing machine and this bone, honoured on this picnic table.
What held me was this poem by Krystján Einarsson. Just say it out loud. The sound is enough.
Know that when you drive away, you are leaving the heart for the hands, and you’ll have to come back.
Guarding the Nest in Iceland
Trolls, whose eggs are green (just look!) do it like this:
Gulls, whose eggs are also green, by gosh, do it like this:
Kollsvík
This greening of the land is a thing to be admired. I’m all for more of it.
A New, Partially-Formed Iceland Egg Greening Up Nicely in the East Fjords
Don’t Forget to Look Below the Surface
The surface is not Iceland.
It’s just weather.
Forget the Sunset
Sure, the sunset looking north to Djúpivogur at midnight, mid-July, as the perennial day of solstice starts to fade, are most splendid…
… but the real story here is the black land. It’s what gives the sky its light. It is here that you see it for the first time.
The Eggs and Petroleum Tanks of Iceland’s Merry Bay
The Eggin í Gleðivik are one of Iceland’s national treasures. They represent the eggs of the main birds of Iceland, carved by Sigurður Guðmundsson, and set up permanently in the Djúpivogur Harbour.
Well, sure, you can show an image of them looking out to sea, all pristine and romantic like, but Iceland is neither pristine nor romantic. It is real, and it has rust.
Best to keep that in mind. Beautiful, isn’t it!
(You can read more about the eggs, and view an image without the oil tanks, here.)
Good Days and Bad Days in East Iceland
The black sand beaches at the mouth of the Selfljót are unparalleled.
They stretch hauntingly into the distance, almost unwalked by human feet.
Pretty fine on a calm day!
The sand is so black, every little thing on it is a revelation from a spirit world.
But! But! But! Not on a windy day. It would be ghastly out there, as the drifts show.
A blizzard of black sand! Enjoy the good days, I say.
Take your time.
Watch the water and the sand tell its stories, like a good visitor.
Even climb high for a view.
And then go home. You are small.
A Dark One Takes a Bath
If you peer into the cleft of the Westdalsá, where waterfalls stream into a cauldron from three directions, you will find him, bathing.
To get there, head out to the dwarf stone, get lost, head back to Seydisfjordur, and take a jaunt into the hills on a whim. This will be your reward. Wear sturdy boots!
Thinking Before Thinking, a Surprise Meeting with the Elves
It’s one of the prettiest waterfalls in Iceland, twisting like hair, and blessed with elves.
Perhaps you can see their queen bathing below the pool? She will meet you on the banks of the Selfljót, under Ósfjall, if she wishes. Before there was sculpture made to delight the eye, which sorts information before it reaches the brain …
Ásmundarsafn
… there was the delight of the eye in landscape. The thinking self comes later. First, one is a body.
A Farm in Iceland 