I’m feeling exceedingly smug and self-satisfied at the moment: through an ingenious act of cunning I managed to save myself ISK 10,000 [USD 126 / EUR 81] by a] buying a new pair of Asics running shoes on eBay, b] having them shipped to my stepdaughter in New York City, c] having the woman for whom my stepdaughter works as an au pair bring them to work on a predetermined day, d] having my father, who was there on holiday and staying near where she works pick them up, e] having him subsequently deliver them to me at home here in Iceland.
It’s all about networking, you see. Networking and planning. Oh, and visualizing success. Every day for two weeks I sat in a lotus position and pictured those shoes running towards me, running running across the land and over the sea, until they finally landed on my doorstep, rang the bell and handed me a symbolic check for USD 126. And my faith never wavered.
Anyway. My father also came bearing a gift. A souvenir, if you will.
No doubt the more astute amongst you will recognize this as a peanut butter and jelly spreader, specially colour-coded to prevent error, and now that I have one, I seriously cannot imagine how I managed to survive all those years without. I must confess, though, that I was slightly taken aback by my father’s, um, thoughtfulness - that is, until he explained what was going through his mind as he chose this gift. You see, after I had moved to Canada as a child, I came back to stay with him every summer, and it seems that during those first few visits I was quite taken with the type of cuisine served in Canada, more specifically with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and insisted that peanut butter be added to the household grocery list. I don’t even know if peanut butter existed in Iceland in those days [it does now, but you hardly ever see it - it’s not a staple] and I can imagine my poor father threading the grocery stores looking for it, because that’s the kind of guy he is. Meanwhile, I had no recollection of any of this - clearly the impression made was more superficial than initially presumed.
But I treasure the gift, nonetheless.
HOW GORGEOUS WAS THE WEATHER TODAY?
Very. Primarily because it was calm and still - and as I keep saying, when there is no wind here in Iceland the weather is ALWAYS gorgeous. The sun made an appearance late in the afternoon and YT headed for a walk into town, metaphorically soaking up all the budding green everywhere. I planned to buy myself a dress [see how summery I am feeling?] but I could not find a single dress that cost less than ISK 28,000, and the only one I found that I might have wanted cost ISK 34,000 [USD 353 / EUR 228]. So much for that, then. I may be crazy, but I’m not insane. Current temps 8°C [46F] and the sun came up at 4.18 this morning here in the capital, set at 10.32.
