ARRIVING IN REYKJAVIK

After a very, very long sleepless night flight, we landed in Reykjavik, Iceland, the world’s most northern Capital. Our limousine driver was waiting for us. Our luggage arrived intact, and we were driven to the beautiful Borg Hotel situated in the heart of the City. By now it was 8:00am, and our rooms would not be ready until 2:00pm, so, we opted for the hotel breakfast buffet, but first Barbara was astute enough to make a dinner reservation. After dawdling over breakfast, it was now 10:00 am, so we plopped down in the hotel lobby where Josh and Barbara, holding hands, promptly fell asleep on a sofa, and I dozed in a chair. Since the three of us really didn’t complement the decor, an available room miraculously opened up at 11:00am. Entering the room, the three of us collapsed on the king-sized bed and fell asleep.  One of us snored!  

As promised, the other room became available at 2:00pm. After cleaning ourselves up, Adrenaline kicked in, and we began our exploration of the nearby streets and shops of Reykjavik. Everything was in walking distance of our hotel.  It was a beautiful, cool, sunny day, and  we discovered that in Iceland daylight is a nighttime summer activity. At 6:00 pm we ate at the Fish Company Restaurant, recommended as the best restaurant in Reykjavik. Great  recommendation. Fantastic meal!

We returned to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.  At 4:30am I was awakened as my bed shook from side to side. I felt like a milkshake. Yes, it was an earthquake. In the morning the desk clerk told us that since the last volcanic eruption, that there had been around 5000 earthquakes. This one was 5.5 on the Richter scale, and Iceland was due another volcanic eruption. Two days later, a volcano did erupt near the airport, but I never saw it—except on the news.

The population of Iceland as of January 1, 2022 is 376,248 and 60% of the population live in Reykjavik, and they welcome about 2-million tourists every year— most of whom arrive by cruise ship from all over the world. The Icelandic Flag caught my attention, and I discovered that the blue is for the mountains, the red is for fire, and white represents snow. The flag reminded me of the historical link with Norway from where the Viking settlers arrived in 874ad.  The difficult Icelandic language is derived from Old Norse—such as “Talar!bu ensku? Luckily, Iceland is an extremely literate society, and “Yes, everyone speaks English”—better than some Americans.

The next morning a van picked us up and drove us to our ship, THE WINDSTAR PRIDE, a small ship that holds approximately 250-300 passengers. Our cabins were ready for us. Unpacking is always easier than packing.  I hung my clothes in the walk-in closet, and then noticed that there was a drape next to my king-sized bed. Then I noticed there was another drape in the living room area by the balcony?  Two drape areas?  It took that to blacken the rooms unless you enjoy sunlight at midnight.  We sailed away at 5pm.—on to our first shore excursion.

More to follow—Heimaey Island

Esther Blumenfeld

PROLOGUE

A good friend gave me a Bon Voyage card that read, “Live Life With No Excuses. Travel With No Regret.” Indeed!  Also, if you can get an answer to “Hvar-ersnyrtingin?” you’ve got it made in Iceland. However, before I fill you in about my adventures in that unique and beautiful European country (Yes, Iceland is in Europe— 800km to Scotland and 950km to Norway) I first want to regale you with what trip preparations look like in these Covid days.

Two weeks before my trip, I was exposed to Covid by a friendly, unmasked neighbor who was diagnosed after greeting me. Five days later, I tested Negative, and vowed to eat in my apartment and avoid well-meaning friends. Then, the next day I was notified that our streets were to be resurfaced, and we would have to move our cars out of the carports if we didn’t want our tires imbedded in cement. Of course, the date for all of this activity was flexible, so I had to give my car key to someone. It was beyond me how the folks in charge could schedule a resurfacing in the Monsoon rainy season, but before I tried to reason this out, another problem arose.

My hair-cutting lady called to let me know that she was stuck in Utah because she had missed her plane on the way back to Tucson from Cancun. The date of my departure was imminent. However the haircut date had to be changed. I hoped she would return in time because my hair was starting to look more like Ringo’s than Paul’s.

Packing was difficult because I knew the weather would be cool. Crossing the Arctic Circle was a tip-off. The operational words involved “layer your clothes.” This was no small feat going from 105 degree heat to the 50 degree summer weather of Iceland. Consequently, I stuffed as much as I could into an oversized purse made from parachute material. I was prepared for any occasion—and a small carry-on bag—fearing the loss of my suitcase.

OK! Ready Set Go! But wait! First I was taking two flights to Washington, DC to spend a day with my son, Josh and daughter-in-law Barbara before the three of us would fly to Reykjavik.
Now it was time to start worrying!

What if I get stuck in the elevator on my way down from my apartment to the lobby?
Will my limo driver get me to the airport on time. Is a 4:30 am pick-up early enough?
Will my plane be cancelled?
Will my Dallas connection connect?
Will my suitcase arrive to Washington, DC with me?
Will the three of us pass the ship’s required Covid Test at the Dulles Airport?
Will the driver be at the Iceland Airport in the morning to take us to the Borg Hotel?

By now, I had nothing left to worry about except ‘Hvar-ersnyrtingin. Luckily, almost everyone in Iceland speaks English, so finding a toilet would be easy.

More to follow…Arriving in Reykjavik.

Esther Blumenfeld

YOUR TRASH--MY TREASURE

After OH, LORD I SOUND JUST LIKE MAMA was published, my book received rave reviews, and eventually sold close to a quarter- of- a- million copies.  One day, I received a copy of OH LORD, I SOUND JUST LIKE MAMA in the mail. It was accompanied by a scathing letter, “I am sending you this book. I will not read it, because you are taking the name of the Lord in vain.”

I was censored! Of course I never responded. After all, someone had paid for the book and did not ask for a refund, but I assumed that she considered herself a very religious person. Had I written to her, I might have spoiled her day by pointing out the the Bible contains some “dangerous content”:  Sex (David and Bathsheba), Abuse (Slavery), Undocumented Refugees (Mary and Joseph fleeing to protect baby Jesus) and bibles of all religions depict some form of violence along with the good stuff.

Censoring books is an age old phenomena because the pen really can be “mightier than the sword.” However, the recent Fascist pleasure of burning books in the U.S. takes censorship to a whole other level. The American Library Association condemns censorship and tries diligently to ensure free access to information. Every year the Office For Intellectual Freedom compiles a list of the “Top Ten” most challenged books to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. Surveys indicate that 82-97% of documented censorship requests to remove materials are unreported.

Among the ten most challenged books from 2001-2021 are books that many of you have probably read—OH, MY! and many of them have been written by Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize
winning authors, or other award winning authors.  Here are just a few samples:

TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD, (Harper Lee) “negative effects on students’ perception of the Black experience.” OF MICE AND MEN (John Steinbeck) “negative effect on students.” THE HANDMAIDS TALE, (Margaret Atwood) “profanity, vulgarity, sexual overtones.” HARRY POTTER SERIES, (J.K. Rowling) “referring to magic and witchcraft contains actual curses and spells.” CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS SERIES, (written and illustrated Dav Pilkey) “encouraging disruptive behavior,” THE KITE RUNNER (Khaled Hosseni) “leads to terrorism and promotes Islam.” SEX IS A FUNNY WORD (Cory Silverberg) “addresses sex education and leads children to ask questions about sex.” THE HUNGER GAMES (Suzanne Collins) “dangerous viewpoint.”
BELOVED (Toni Morrison) “sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence.” MY MOM HAS A BABY! A KID’S MONTH-BY-MONTH GUIDE TO PREGNANCY (Dori Hillestad Butler) “nudity, sex education.” I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS (Maya Angelou) “offensive language, sexually explicit.” THE CATCHER IN THE RYE (J.D. Salinger) “offensive language.”

I could go on and on in this BRAVE NEW WORLD of television, computers and smart phones. Who needs books when you can have television programs such as:
THE BACHELOR (plenty of sex and nudity), NCIS the team tracks a serial killer (violence), MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT (probably lots of bad language at second sight), FOOTBALL (violence), LOVE,LIGHTS AND CHANUKAH ((religion), MYSTERIES OF THE UNKNOWN-A SEWER GLOB THREATENS A CITY (dirty, icky and occult) and then there is FOX NEWS ( political magic and witchcraft and offensive language).

So, when we open the box of censorship one person’s perceived trash is another person’s treasure.For instance there is a commercial on TV with women sitting on toilets “Women Pooping on TV.”  I’m not sure what they are selling, but I’m not buying!  So should this ad be wiped clean? Or, should you just change the channel? I guess that sitting on a throne and ordering the murder of your enemies in a TV series just might be worse than a few women doing what comes natural—even in public.  So it goes…

Esther Blumenfel

BARRELING ON

Did you ever wonder about what constitutes a full barrel? Newscasters plague us with the costs of a barrel of crude oil which holds about 42 gallons. Being regulated by customs or laws a barrel of wine holds about 31 1/2 gallons—a 1/2 gallon more than a 31 gallon of beer.

Nowadays, Congress seems to be composed of a barrel full of monkeys—without offering us a barrel full of laughs. Their recent decisions have left us hanging over a barrel. In the olden days that meant “dragged over a barrel, getting a flogging and helpless with little chance of choice”

However, in this day and age we have a choice. Just because a few rotten apples can spoil a barrel is no reason that with our votes we can’t let them have it with both barrels.

Also, it seems as if some of the members of the Supreme Court have been scraped from the bottom of the barrel. We can stop staring down the barrel of a gun by voting for Senators who will take all of this bull by the horns and will strengthen our laws.

If the American voters will come out and vote in large numbers, we can rid ourselves of lies, and the self-serving politicians (both locally and nationally) who disdain the Constitution of the United States and crave tyrannical power.

It’s as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

Esther Blumenfeld

SOMETIMES STUCK

On a rainy afternoon, I spent an hour thinking about glue. So what do YOU think about on a rainy day?  

There are many different meanings when talking about glue. For instance, at a wedding someone might say about the groom, “Look at him. He’s really stuck on his bride.” A few years later that same person might say, “Look at him. Now, he’s stuck with her.” Unfortunately, sometimes a relationship can be defined by a wayward preposition.

On the other hand, it’s a fact that many times a family is held together by one person—the glue that keeps them all together. When that person dies, often the whole Kit and Caboodle become unstuck. And what about the egotist who’s stuck on himself?

Gerald Ford said that “Trust is based on integrity. It’s  the glue that holds the government together.” Unfortunately, he forgot to say it to Richard Nixon, which brings to mind that invisible (latent) finger prints can be made visible by Permabond Glue. Also, you can make women more beautiful by bonding fingernails and false eyelashes or gluing extensions on stringy hair.  And, in a TV advertisement, people glue their false teeth, so they can eat corn on the cob—even when it’s not in season.

For me, Gorilla Glue has become my best friend, but I learned early on to wear rubber gloves, since the first time I fixed a broken something, I ended up with only 3 usable fingers. Now my fingers are intact, and I have been able to help friends repair their broken items which sometimes helps to repair sweet memories.

Writing is a very solitary profession, and through the years I was often tempted, when facing a deadline, to glue myself to my chair.  If you think that being enamored with glue is strange remember the actor Michael Constantine, the loving Dad in the movie, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING.  He used Windex Spray to cure all ills.

Here’s a bit of advice.  If you listen carefully to what people say, you will realize that some thoughts will stick like glue.

Esther Blumenfeld