Rest

As predicted, the snow has all washed away in a cold rain.

This image was taken, though, a few weeks ago before that first dusting of white noted in the last post. It's a bit of mossy lava peeking out from cold-bleached straw just south of Hafnarfjörður, but for the life of me it looks like the body of a man, resting comatose or dead, or a night troll caught out in sunlight and turned to stone on the barren landscape.

Today is voting day as Alda of The Iceland Weather Report can explain most clearly, and by the end of the day we'll see if this cold rocky figure is an accurate representation of the state of the nation's soul.

Powder

We've gotten snow, the first for 2010 and only the second dusting of this winter season. It never lasts long here in Reykjavík, and by weeks end it will surely all be gone.

For now, the pretty powder decorates our backyard nicely, and it's only a matter of adding a snowman or two to make the scene complete.

Life

Tiny moss in macro ~.~

Sunrise

Sunrise, originally uploaded by blue eyes.

It's that time of year when the sun presents full over the eastern horizon by 9 am, arctic style. That's relatively early, given that only a solstice ago it was barely peeking up over the Reykjanes range by lunchtime. Now deep winter seems miles away, and it's the new light, and the songs of hopeful birds in (though) still-leafless trees, that keep our faces turned toward a summer we know will one day come again.

New Years 2010

*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Gleðilegt nýtt ár, allir! *:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Happy New Year to you all! *:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Dreams

Out on the mossy moors of Iceland stand houses collapsing slowly into themselves, still memorials of family dreams and lost hope. Iron roofs rust to a deep red that compliments the colors of the surrounding landscape and weathered timber frames take on the same kind of rough fragility as the lava that surrounds them. They seem to belong just as they are, slipping quietly into decay, making hard to imagine them new in such lonely places, filled with children and with the warm smells of a hopeful family's home.

Night Swim

Fall and winter night swimming is one of the luxuries of living in Iceland. This shot is taken at the Laugardalur pool.