A post about real life and Gore-tex
First normal day after the Easter holidays today.
Incidentally, Easter break is a five-day holiday here for most people, from Holy Thursday to Easter Monday. Good Friday and Easter Sunday are among the few days each year when almost everything is closed, although this has loosened up a bit in the last few years - now cinemas are open, as well as 10-11 stores and probably the odd restaurant. Apart from that it's dullsville - which is why I always feel kinda sorry for the poor tourists who come over here all 'Yay! Goin' to Iceland for Easter break!' and then find nothing's happening and the downtown area is bare save for other Gore-tex clad tourists and a few derelict bums and maybe EPI's sister F, who for some godforsaken reason ventured downtown last Saturday and then called to say that she had seen only Gore-tex clad tourists and a few derelict bums. In fact most Nicelanders take the opportunity to leave the country altogether or at least to leave town. Others, like YT and EPI, use the opportunity to be lazy. Or at least try to be. Or like to think we are. OK, actually we weren't lazy at all. We were constantly doing stuff the whole time, as always. Except that on Saturday I went back to bed after breakfast and read a book and felt very smug and lazy for about 45 minutes until I could stand it no longer and got dressed in my Gore-tex wind- and waterproofs and went out for a walk. In the pouring rain.
But anyway, back to Real Life today, and for YT the day started with a counseling session because, you know, these days I need all the help I can get. Topics of discussion included dysfunctional families that dismiss the members who try to get healthy and label them 'mentally unstable' or suchlike; demons who return during times of distress and start hopping around on the floor demanding to be fed with lots of resentment so they can grow big and fat and the climb onto your back where they can make your life most miserable; the importance of focusing on those people who bring light and have something to give and de-focusing on those who are unresponsive and have nothing to give; the value of being diplomatic and adjusting one's expectations; some Neil Young song about burning castles that my counselor started to sing because apparently the lyrics were significant, which made me laugh and not for the first time because not only is she the coolest counselor in all of Iceland, she is also the funniest. Which is why my counseling sessions tend to be less like therapy and more like a fun philosophize-and-laugh session with one of my best girlfriends.
My assignment on leaving was to take time each day to give thanks for everything I have in my life right now, which you may or may not agree is kind of a miracle, all things considered. And which is real easy because I do that already, every day, without fail.
KIND OF LIKE THE WEATHER TODAY
It started off frigid with frozen puddles and a cold breeze. Then the sun came out and while there was still a nip in the air, it was fresh and delightful. Then we had a snow shower. Then some sun again. Then snow. Then sun. By late afternoon I could stand it no longer and went out for a walk along the seashore, using the excuse that I needed to go to the store for some milk. It was so beautiful - the tops of the mountains all around just dusted with snow. Right now we have 1°C [34F] and sunrise was at 6:15 am, sunset at 20.45.
Incidentally, Easter break is a five-day holiday here for most people, from Holy Thursday to Easter Monday. Good Friday and Easter Sunday are among the few days each year when almost everything is closed, although this has loosened up a bit in the last few years - now cinemas are open, as well as 10-11 stores and probably the odd restaurant. Apart from that it's dullsville - which is why I always feel kinda sorry for the poor tourists who come over here all 'Yay! Goin' to Iceland for Easter break!' and then find nothing's happening and the downtown area is bare save for other Gore-tex clad tourists and a few derelict bums and maybe EPI's sister F, who for some godforsaken reason ventured downtown last Saturday and then called to say that she had seen only Gore-tex clad tourists and a few derelict bums. In fact most Nicelanders take the opportunity to leave the country altogether or at least to leave town. Others, like YT and EPI, use the opportunity to be lazy. Or at least try to be. Or like to think we are. OK, actually we weren't lazy at all. We were constantly doing stuff the whole time, as always. Except that on Saturday I went back to bed after breakfast and read a book and felt very smug and lazy for about 45 minutes until I could stand it no longer and got dressed in my Gore-tex wind- and waterproofs and went out for a walk. In the pouring rain.
But anyway, back to Real Life today, and for YT the day started with a counseling session because, you know, these days I need all the help I can get. Topics of discussion included dysfunctional families that dismiss the members who try to get healthy and label them 'mentally unstable' or suchlike; demons who return during times of distress and start hopping around on the floor demanding to be fed with lots of resentment so they can grow big and fat and the climb onto your back where they can make your life most miserable; the importance of focusing on those people who bring light and have something to give and de-focusing on those who are unresponsive and have nothing to give; the value of being diplomatic and adjusting one's expectations; some Neil Young song about burning castles that my counselor started to sing because apparently the lyrics were significant, which made me laugh and not for the first time because not only is she the coolest counselor in all of Iceland, she is also the funniest. Which is why my counseling sessions tend to be less like therapy and more like a fun philosophize-and-laugh session with one of my best girlfriends.
My assignment on leaving was to take time each day to give thanks for everything I have in my life right now, which you may or may not agree is kind of a miracle, all things considered. And which is real easy because I do that already, every day, without fail.
KIND OF LIKE THE WEATHER TODAY
It started off frigid with frozen puddles and a cold breeze. Then the sun came out and while there was still a nip in the air, it was fresh and delightful. Then we had a snow shower. Then some sun again. Then snow. Then sun. By late afternoon I could stand it no longer and went out for a walk along the seashore, using the excuse that I needed to go to the store for some milk. It was so beautiful - the tops of the mountains all around just dusted with snow. Right now we have 1°C [34F] and sunrise was at 6:15 am, sunset at 20.45.
Labels: Reflections, Traditions
posted by Alda at 9:52 PM
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