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GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER: Sophie Mara

Sophie writes: This picture was taken at the family summer cottage last July, a beautiful day, beautiful light, beautiful sisters, beautiful daughters.

It is nice to be reminded of the sweetness of summer at times like these, because it's cold out there! Winter has hit all over Western Europe and some areas to the east. Airports in the UK are snowed in, frost and ice are impairing traffic in Germany and France, and schools are closed in many regions. In the US, heavy rains have hit California, much to the chagrin of a good friend of ours who took her family out to Hollywood for their first West Coast adventure last week, and have been huddling under umbrellas on wet and empty streets and beaches nearly the whole time.

Here in Iceland, though, we've only had a baby cold snap: -5° Celsius with high winds for a few days. Brrr! But we have no snow, and none is foreseen on the horizon. It may well be another rauð jól, or red (snowless) Christmas here on this northerly island. Regardless of what may come, we can give many thanks for the calm and crispness we are now enjoying here in Reykjavik.

Season's Passing

Discarded holiday trees lie scattered about the streets of Reykjavik now that the Season is over. The last fireworks have exploded, Quentin T has gone home, Epiphany has passed, the Thirteen Icelandic Santas have gone one by one back up to their mountain cave, decorations have been taken down and a post-gluttonous sigh can be heard throughout the nation.

Every year it comes to this, and every year its just as sad to see all the bare and awkward Norman Pines flung carelessly out onto our sidewalks. The city collects them for dumping, but every year its as much of a mystery when the trucks will come. In the meantime, the once-glorious evergreens whip about in the winter winds, blocking walkways and roads and even menacing drivers.

While taking this picture a friend of mine who was walking past told me about how once a rogue discarded Christmas tree gale-swept off a sidewalk and smashed in to his car, causing much destruction. When he tried to have his insurance cover the damage they just laughed and shrugged their shoulders. Flying pine trees, it seems, were not part of his coverage package.