Ramble On

It dawned on my Sunday evening that I hadn't seen my Kindle in a while.  I've been off e-reader for a few weeks because I've been reading books I've gotten from the library.  I started to look for it in the usual places I leave it around my apartment.  Then I started to look for it in the unusual places I might have weirdly left it in the apartment. I started to get upset.  This is the second time I have misplaced my Kindle. I think of it like a book, which it absolutely is not.  But I don't have the same presence of mind with it as I do with my phone.  Anyway, I texted a few friends whom I had visited in the last couple of weeks, and they hadn't seen it either.  I usually bring it to church because I have a bible on it and I like not carrying the big book with me all the time.  So I called the reception desk and a very sweet southern accent greeted me. I asked whether or not there was a "Lost and Found" for the church, and if so, could I ...

An edited version of this post appeared in the TFCA Current, but I wanted to post the extended version here.   I never look forward to winter.  I cower under the dark, bleak cold. It makes me draw inward. This past summer, I saw a production of William Shakespeare's  A Winter's Tale , which has both redeemed the name of Winter for me, and also given me reason to reevaluate how I think about the season.    Long after I saw the play, my mind kept returning to the final scene.  It develops around the statue of Hermione, the virtuous and long-suffering victim of her husband's misconceptions. Leontes, Hermione's husband and King of Sicilia, and Paulina, Hermione's faithful servant, enter with the rest of the characters.  The scene opens under the assumption that everyone in the room is gazing at Hermione's uncanny likeness carved from stone.  The guilt-ridden king sincerely laments the wrong he has done:   "I am ashamed: does not the sto...

We woke up the next morning ready to tackle the last of our road tours: Snaefellsnes peninsula.  The way we were pronouncing the name, it sounded more like Snapple-sneeze.  We found out from our chef at the restaurant on Saturday night that it was pronounced Sn-AY-fell-snis. However you say it, it certainly held the most stunning views of our entire trip.  We headed north out of Reykjavik around 8am, getting to our first stop on the Peninsula around 10am, just as the light was full and still low in the sky, creating a heavenly glow against the cliffs and the huge breaking waves in Arnarstapi's overlook. It was dangerous to stand on the overlook for too long because, although it was clear and sunny, the winds were 50mph and it was hard to stay upright.  When we opened our car doors we had to hold on to them so they didn't fly away from us.  But my oh my...that view.  That sea!  I wish I had more to write for you about what we saw, but basically we...

We spent basically all of our third day in Iceland in the car.  We were up by 7, hit the road by 8 and had a four hour drive along the south coast out to Vatnajokull glacier.  We went in search of Svartifoss waterfall, which is a short hike, but mostly we just wanted to drive along the coast and see the territory out there.  It was unbelievable. I never realized how much I love driving when I have beautiful unknown territory around me.  I was loving riding in our 4x4 on these roads, through a landscape that looked otherwordly in color and shape.  Kristen played DJ and we chatted, and the 4 hours passed quickly. Here's some of what we saw: 9am - Sunrise We arrived at Skaftafell, which is at the foot of the Vatnajokull Glacier (see below) and just took in the scenery for a moment.  I would like to add here that in the 4 hours we spent on the road driving out there, we MAYBE saw 6 other cars. Total. The entire time.  Bliss!   The hike out t...

I woke up a few times during the night since by body was still quite confused about what time it was, but ended up getting a pretty good stretch of rest in the end.  I woke up around 9am on Thursday morning ready to take on the Golden Circle, the most famous sights within easy reach of the capital and a must for visitors.   Morning broke in Reykjavik much clearer than the previous day, giving us renewed hope in the possibility of surviving our trip to Iceland and actually being able to see things.  Kristen and I opted to rent a car and do everything ourselves instead of going the tour company route, although there are plenty of options in that category.  As with most things, I just like to design my own itinerary and do it at my own speed and stop where I want to stop, and not have someone dictating those things.  So we set off from our hotel, our suitcase of food in tow.* We drove through the central highlands and Þingvellir National Park. It was cloudy an...

This trip has been a glimmer in my eye for so long, it’s hard to believe it’s now over.  I’m on my way home from Reykjavik now.  My co-worker Kristen and I are both avid travelers and when the amazing deals for Iceland started coming fast and furious to our inboxes, we couldn’t resist.  We both decided back in November that we wanted to see the Northern Lights and so we booked a trip over a few random days in February our office gives us off each year. Even in late February, when I should be heading south in search of sun and some reprieve from the bitter cold and ice of this 2014-2015 DC winter, somehow this year it was very important to me to fully embrace winter.  This means looking for beauty and joy even in the ice, snow and cold.  I can wholeheartedly recommend Iceland to anyone in the Winter months.  Hopefully you won’t need to read this whole thing, you’ll only need to see some of the pictures to agree.   So we set off on a Tuesday to...

In the wake of my most successful and probably most confounding Facebook post of all time, I felt compelled to expound on how a motorcycle fits into my life: what it is to me, and what it isn't. I don't like to give weight to things on Facebook, but it's ignorant for me not to.  Because we have this relatively new and prevalent platform for sharing things about our lives with 1000 of our closest friends I shouldn't dismiss the things people put on there as insignificant, or believe that the things I post and the way I communicate on Facebook aren't saying things about me. Things are always being said and read between the lines. It should never be a bad thing to want to share exciting news with your people, and Facebook is a great way to do that.  But still, each post feels charged, and exposing in a way. It felt good to have an event that actually merited a Facebook post. Sometimes I feel so behind my friends, never having had a baby, or a wedding, or an enga...

Time seems to be passing more quickly than ever before.  I look up and a month has gone by somehow.  I was talking to a friend last night and she made a good observation: that the older you get, the less significant milestones you have to mark time and be present in its passing.  I'm even more thankful now to have this annual musical tradition as a way to meaningfully mark the passage of time. Welcome back, friends. Music seems to be growing more and more important to me as I get older.  Certainly this year my love for it has deepened.  I heard more in the songs and artists I love- my ears opened.  I wanted to sing and play and have music on almost constantly in my apartment and at work.  But I also sought silence. I saw very clear moments for music and for the absence of sound. Out of the many music-filled hours in my car, at home, and at the gym, I have come up with the list of the songs I kept coming back to. Please note they are not all from th...