Today’s weather is ‘window-weather’ as they say here. (Yes, you could be forgiven for thinking I am completely obsessed with both windows and weather. You would be wrong, though; it’s purely a coincidence.) Window weather means that it looks a lot warmer from the window than it actually is. It is actually is very cold. But looks warmer.
EPI, my Significant Other, and I got up this morning and bundled up for a walk out to the bakery. On the day’s agenda was the Christening of EPI’s niece and nephew – who are so-adorable twins generally referred to as he and she. EPI had gone out yesterday to buy presents for them and naturally Yours Truly had to have an opinion on EPI’s present selection. Felt they weren’t quite up to standard; felt her present wasn’t quite as good as his present.
Now, EPI and I have a terrible habit – we’re always at the last minute. Rushing around, trying to get ready, searching for gloves and keys, cell phones, purse (mine), then sprinting out the door like hares in a race. And just to ensure that we’d definitely be keeping to tradition today, YT thought she’d just pop over to the mall with just over an hour to go in order to pick up a little additional something. So off I went, purse-a-swingin’, boots a-clickin’. Sashaying through the mall, into this store and that, finally coming up with a couple of presents I thought were pretty good! One pink, the other blue. I’m not gonna say what they are because a) I feel stoopid b) we may give them to the babies yet – only on another occasion.
So I dash back home in the nick of time, well pleased with my present selection, and open the boxes to proudly show EPI, whose smile kind of freezes on his face. Seems this is one of those Icelandic things that YT is blissfully ignorant of – still, even after ten years in this country. There are certain rules. There are certain presents one gives at Christenings (weddings, confirmations, major birthdays…) and there are certain presents one does not. These were the sort of presents one does not. And to add grey to black (as the Icelanders say), when the contents of the pink box were examined, they turned out to be orange. So we have disaster and double-disaster.
To cut a long story short, EPI’s original presents were the ones that were presented and I was reminded of how one can complicate life unduly. But in the end it didn’t matter because the Christening was lovely and now he and she have names: Ingvar Steinn and Vaka Sigríður.
Sunrise: 8.47; sunset 17.36.
