Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All!

Happy Birthday to actor Terence Stamp of Star Wars “The Phantom Menace” fame (he portrayed Chancellor Valorum), who turns 81 today; to one of my favorite game show hosts, Alex Trebek of “Jeopardy” fame, who is 79 today; to actor Danny Glover, who is 73 today; to actor Willem Dafoe , who is 64 today; to actor-comedian Orson Bean of T.V.’s “What’s My Line” fame, who turns 91 today; to actress Louise Fletcher of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” movie fame, who is 85 today; to actor-singer Bobby Sherman of the song “Julie, Julie, Julie, Do You Love Me?” fame, who turns 76 today; to rock singer Don Henley of “The Eagles” fame, who is 72 today; and to Prince George, son of Prince William and Catherine, who turns 6 today.  Here’s to all of you!

Well, here’s some more from my recent Icelandic adventure…

July 4, 2019

Happy Birthday America from Iceland!  I never thought I would spend the 4th of July in Iceland, of all places!

We started the day in Grindavik with a traditional Icelandic breakfast at the same restaurant we visited yesterday.  Linda, the lady we met at the restaurant yesterday (an Icelandic native who attended high school in Vancouver, Washington) recommended we try their breakfast and we were not disappointed…a wide selection of meats, cheeses, Icelandic yogurt (really, really good!), tomatoes, cucumbers & orange marmalade.  It was a great way to start the day!

The day started out windy and partly cloudy, but the sun broke through more and more as the day went on.  We took a walk around the Grindavik harbor.  Last night I talked to some dock workers helping launch a cod fishing ship—it was headed to the Westfjords to do some fishing.  Cod, haddock, mackerel & herring are the major catches in Iceland.  They also have some terrific trout, as we were to discover in one of our future dinners that my son-in-law, David, prepared.  Soccer is big in Grindavik…the Iceland team made it to the quarter finals of the most recent World Cup, which is quite a feat for such a small country.  Grindavik has a nice soccer stadium and complex…we witnessed a team practice as we drove out of Grindavik to explore the countryside.

It turned out to be a coat & sweater day on the 4th of July here in Iceland, as the temperature seemed to be in the 50s in the morning.  I noticed that there are lots of townhouses and apartments in this part of Iceland…not many single family homes.  I would imagine that has to do with building costs here (most building materials are imported) and the need to economize on energy given the long winter months they have here.  Most buildings here have metal roofs and many have metal siding—I imagine that withstands the elements better during the harsh winter months.

I noticed that there is a lot of beautiful blue/purple lupine (sp?) along the roadways.  Most of the terrain here in southwest Iceland is rocky (volcanic rock for lava flows that occurred many years ago) and there is alot of moss that grows on the rocks.  We passed a couple of geothermal power plants along the way.  I’m told that Iceland gets approximately 35-40% of its power needs (heat & electricity) from geothermal sources and 60-65% from hydro power.  It’s not unusual to see steam rising out of the ground due to the geothermal activity…and a geyser from time to time.  The topography we’ve seen thus far reminds me of scenes from the movie “Land Before Time”…Not much topsoil here…moss on top of igneous rock from volcanic activity.  It’s a scene that I’ve never seen before…Iceland is definitely a unique place to visit…the land of fire & ice, I would say, with a beauty all its own…There are little or no trees, and the trees that do stand are short in stature and grow in areas protected by the wind (windbreak areas).

The roads here consist of two-lane highways…no freeways here!  The roads are quite narrow, with little or no places to pull off…little or no shoulders.  You definitely have to pay more attention when you drive!  The margin for area is small.

We’ve seen quite a few Icelandic horses and not much in the way of cattle so far.  The horses here are stockier with broader shoulders and rumps and have beautiful skin with long, flowing tails and manes.

Mountains seem to rise up right along the coastline in southwestern Iceland.  Many cliffs along the coast here.  Lots of seabirds nest along the cliffs.  There is so much bird life along the coast here!  One of the best parts of the trip so far are seeing all of the different kinds of birds that we can’t see in Spokane.

Another remarkable thing here are the number of Icelandic sheep along road…they really are “free range sheep.”  The farmers mark their sheep with a tag on each sheep so they can keep track of which sheep belong to which sheep farmer.  It’s amazing to me how many sheep there are all along the roads, river valleys, mountain ridges and close to geothermal area and the seashore….they are everywhere!  And, of course, why not, considering that Icelandic wool is some of the highest quality in the world and the sheep seem to get along O.K. in the hinterlands with little or no supervision…plus they really don’t have any predators in Iceland, given that the Arctic fox is really the only native mammal on the island.  The fox does from time to time capture a lamb or two, but they are prone to hunt birds and feed on eggs rather than go after sheep…that might also have something to do with the fact that the Arctic fox isn’t very big…

When you get out to walk around you feel that ground as spongy under your feet.  The ground looks and feels “boggy”…a bit hard to walk in as the ground is uneven…bumpy due to the “bog effect.”  So many waterfalls here!…one after the other coming out of the ground and/or down the mountain sides.  Really spectacular!  This would be a place to visit for all of you waterfall enthusiasts out there…

The valleys in Iceland are follow the many fjords that are all along the coastline, particularly as we head toward the Westfjords….big valleys with lots of creeks and waterfalls, a series of cascades…verdant valleys sporting a lush green color.

We are headed to the house we are renting in a small fishing village in the Westfjords called Flateyri.  To the north of Reykjavik we passed through one of a number of tunnels that have been built in Iceland…this one was rather long (6 km) and took us under one of the major fjords that we would travel through on our way north to Flateyri.  The tunnels here are something to behold.  Awesome engineering marvels, I would say.  Icelanders know how to build tunnels, for sure!  More on tunnels later…

We arrived at our place in Flateyri in the late afternoon and we were delighted with it.  A great kitchen, a number of bedrooms, a great family room with sweeping picture window views of the fjord and the charming village of Flateyri.  Our house is situated just below a mountain ridge with lots of beautiful lupine adorning its slopes.  It’s a beautiful late afternoon here with the sun shining brightly and lots of blue sky.  The view of the fjord is spectacular and as you climb along the ridge in back of the house you can see out through the end of the fjord to the Denmark Strait (Atlantic Ocean).  The view of that was magnificent!  A view like none other I’ve seen before…It will remain in my mind’s eye forever, I think.

One of the many seabirds we’ve seen thus far is the “Northern Fulmar”…it’s a large seabird similar to a gull, stout with a thick neck and long, narrow wings.  It has a whitish head, neck and breast.  Grey back and upper wing, with dark wingtips.  Their bill is short and thick, their legs are greyish-pink and they have large, dark eyes.  They are easily distinguished from gulls by its flight pattern:  it flaps its wings a few times, then glides on outstretched wings.  They breed in colonies on cliffs and rocks by the sea or inland, sometimes on rocky islands or stacks.  It’s great to see new birds that I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing before!  What has become my favorite bird book, “Birds”, by Icelandic authors Hjorleifur Hjartarson & Ran Flygenring describe the Northern Fulmar as follows:

“…fulmars are not seagulls.  They’re not even related to seagulls.  Fulmars are the second most common seabirds in Iceland after the puffin.  Over half of the world’s fulmars nest here (Iceland)…Fulmars live longer than any other bird in Iceland.  We know about one fulmar that is well into its fifties and still fit as a fiddle, and some of them even live longer than that…For the first decade of its life, the fulmar moons around the North Atlantic, a teenager without a care in the world who doesn’t make the slightest attempt to settle down.  In the end, however, it finds a life-mate who measures up to its exacting standards and who it will stick with from then on.  The couple takes turns sitting on their egg and pamper their chick, who is, of course, an only child…Barf plays an upleasantly large part in the life of the fulmar family.  The basis of their whole diet is the lysi, or liver oil, they extract from fish, and then share pukily amongst themselves.  And remember…they also promptly puke on any visitor that ventures too close in the nest…The name fulmar comes from the Old Norse words “full” and “mar”, meaning “foul gull”…

More adventures in Iceland to follow in future blogs…

I came across the 1969 Topps Football Card for Maxie Baughan, who was born in 1938 in Forkland, Alabama and was a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins in the 1960s and early 1970s.  He played college football at Georgia Tech, where he was an All-American, Southeastern Conference Lineman of the Year and the MVP in the 1960 Gator Bowl.  He set a Georgia Tech single-season record with 124 tackles.  He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 1965 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.  He was a second round draft pick in the 1960 NFL Draft.  He played 10 seasons in the NFL and was voted all-pro four times.  At the conclusion of his rookie season, the Eagles won the 1960 NFL Championship, the last title for the franchise until their victory in Super Bowl 52 over the New England Patriots.  He played for the Rams under Coach George Allen.  Baughan would later state that he learned more about football from Allen then anyone else.  He was the Rams defensive captain and in charge of play calling for the Rams defense.  Baughan retired in 1970, but came back to play for the Redskins under Coach Allen in 1974 as a player-coach and then retired for good after the 1974 season.  After his football career, he was a coach in the NFL and was head football coach at Cornell University, where his team was co-champion of the Ivy League in 1988.  Baughan was forced to resign as head coach at Cornell after it was found that he had an affair with an assistant coach’s wife.  He then returned to assistant coaching in the NFL until he finally retired from coaching in 1998.  He has not yet been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.  In 2012 Baughan receive the Outstanding Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.  In 2015, he was inducted into the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame.  He and his wife now reside in Murphy, North Carolina.

Here’s the funny question for the day:

Q:  What do you call Santa’s little helpers?

A:  Subordinate clauses.

Here are some thoughts for the day:

“When you use the term minority or minorities in reference to people, you’re telling them that they’re less than somebody else.”

—Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (1917-2000)

“It’s interesting, the more successful you become the more people want to give you stuff for nothing.”

—Liam Neeson, Irish actor of “Star Wars”, “Commuter” & “Rob Roy” movie fame

“There’s a statue of Jimmy Stewart in the Hollywood Wax Museum, and the statute talks better than he does.”

—Dean Martin, actor-comedian (1917-1995)

“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?  But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live?  None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.

Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not just.”  Hear now, O house of Israel:  Is my way not just?  Is it not your ways that are not just?  When a righteous person turns away from this righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die.  Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life.  Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.  The way of the Lord is not just.  O house of Israel, are my ways not just?  Is it not your ways that are not just?

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God.  Repent and turn from all your transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!  Why will you die, O house of Israel?  For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God, so turn, and live.”

Here’s to a great Monday and lots of love always!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)