ON SATURDAY
I took my visiting sister to the cemetery, as you do. Note bene, it is a nice cemetery, the nicest in Reykjavík, in terms of character at least. It’s the oldest, and it’s where all the Important People are buried [the People that used to be Important, that is – they’re all dead now] and it happens to be a place that has very rare species of moss. In fact I can tell you that there is at least one moss species there that is not found anywhere else in Iceland. FYI. It is also the largest wood in the western part of Reykjavík and it has excellent examples of different trends in monument design.
[Our YT knows this because she’s recently finished a big translating assignment all to do with this cemetery. If you go there, you’ll see signs all over, giving various detailed information about various detailed things. Those will have been translated by YT.]
But I Digress.
As we were strolling through the cemetery, we came upon a small boy who was clearly fascinated by a cat who in turn was not as fascinated by the boy and had climbed atop one of the headstones to avoid him. His name was Brandur [the cat’s, that is].
Now, YT is a self-confessed cat addict. I use cats the same way some people use worry beads, or rosaries, or knitting, or stress balls, or bread dough. Long story short, Brandur and YT became firm, firm friends on the stroll through the cemetery. He followed us everywhere like a spy cat – staying close, but not too close, shadowing its suspects. In fact, it was quite a feat to get him to pose for this shot:
… But I bribed him with a bunch of scratches to the head.
ON SUNDAY
I took my visiting sister up to the top of Mt. Esja, as you do. [Happily she turned out to be a trouper and couldn’t wait to scale the mountain.] On the way up, YT made a stop at a secret place that has an extensive blueberry patch and which, like last year at this time, was absolutely chock-full of blueberries. Here’s a close-up:
Truth be told, the place isn’t secret at all. It’s in full view of the trail and everything. Only I think it must be invisible because every year there are so many blueberries that it looks like nobody has ever set foot near the place. So we ate our fill on the way up [got a serious case of blueberry lips, not to mention blueberry teeth] and again on our way down. YT even had the foresight to bring a plastic bag this time in which we could deposit blueberries and eat with vanilla ice cream later in the evening. Mmm.
THE WEATHER
Started off bee-utiful today, sunny and mild and – most importantly – calm. Alas, Adam was not long in Paradise [as the Icelanders say] and soon enough the blustery cold northern wind had returned with its bad-ass windchill factor nullifying the effects of the sun. Pah. Temps at the moment are 6°C [and a whole lot less with windchill, I should think] and daybreak was at 05.56, nightfall at 20.49.