Iceland: An Introduction

           This is the saga of Thomas-Thomas'-son and Lucy-Henry's-daughter and their journey to the Land of Ice in the frozen, far north. Actually, this is only an introduction to set the scene for a recent, short holiday in Iceland. I must say straight away that Lucy is also posting on "Box Elder" her account of that holiday. I wish to do two things here. One is to be the WD40, so to speak, that lubricates and fills in certain details of her account, the other is to try to describe my feelings about Iceland, feelings that opened up for me a quite illuminating experience.
           To begin with, we decided to take this short, three-full-day break to celebrate her birthday. Readers here will perhaps remember that we tend to stretch our birthday celebrations over three days, whilst I, at the same time, usually try to ignore the fact that it is my birthday at the September break. Now it will not, I'm sure, take any stretch of the imagination to see that our visit took place in winter conditions, at around the middle of December.
           It has been very mild here in France, as it has in other areas more accustomed to chilly conditions at this time of year. One consequence of the mild weather is that the blood-sucking bugs are still doing their level best to make life uncomfortable. To escape to a cold country free of pests, whilst may not be the most desired location for sun-loving Arizonans, came as a welcome relief. To feel cold was an unexpected joy. "Heavens, I really am alive!" I thought. A circumstance that added much to our contentment was that five friends, two human and three canine, offered to house-sit in our absence.
           Well I guess that will have to do as an introduction. Now comes the trawling through, and ordering of, the many photographs that we took. One must also beware of wasting time, mooning about a possible return to the Land of Ice.