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CASTING IDENTITY an iceland travelogue reykjavik (8/31/04)leaving new york into a thick sky, everything held in place by an anchor moon - full. there are low lying clouds drifting like bluish toplit orange bellied smoke trails from silent explosions cast about new york and boston and out to sea. the rest is a blur until...  dawn soaks through just off the coast of iceland. trying to catch a look at the island and the clouds refuse to part. soon i see whitecaps fracturing like fireflies against the night black sea. the clouds contain us until just before we land, when they reveal the olive coloured landscape knitted together by roads stitched with white dashes of paint. the wind is hurling rain, birds, hair and puddles. drops hit my face and flatten into wet smears and it is delighting. no real sense of where i am. the bus ride stitches to reykjavik and johann arrives collectedly, and scoops me up. the "by the sea" guesthouse is my home for today. there is a narrow spiral staircase winding down into the basement where a small room holds two very narrow beds. this day is unending - that is fine. i walk for 5 hours gathering instrument parts for the shattered harp i released from its case this morning. i also gather stares, smiles, time in a beautiful antique store, sore hips, a mild smoking habit, and reservoirs of joy... still masked by the fact that i am very, very, tired.  it is hard to believe those pictures of reykjavik which sustained my desire to come are now solid underfoot, pushing back with each step. now back at the guesthouse, i am completely inspired again and i know where i am and why. i will do my best to overflow this chance i've been blessed with. the city is lovely. rain doesn't deplete its charm, in fact, it heightens certain colors, raises tones from rooftops and reminds you of the sea. the harbour is an unreproduceable green blue tapped with ducks and swooping black backed gulls. misting clouds drape the distant mountains, a series of soft pretty decapitations. i am the only one with a camera. it is tuesday and people are doing tuesday things while i walk amidst them doing the freshest tuesday thing i've done in many tuesdays. people are well versed in the social/tourist routine and take their cues from you. tomorrow a flight across the landscape and i hope not to be swept into those coating clouds again because sun would be nice. it would offer context... but so does rain, in time. departure (8/30/04)reykjavik (8/31/04)reykjavik (9/01/04)air iceland (9/01/04)skriduklaustur (9/01/04)we went for a walk today (9/02/04)we went for a drive today (9/03/04)eystra (9/08/04)aloft (9/20/04) |