Sandy was here and she made life hell. Thankfully, my trees all stayed upright, my house dry, and the power on (though the power was never really in doubt since in my neighborhood the power lines are under ground).
My biggest concern was that Sandy was going to prevent me from taking a trip to Iceland that I had scheduled since the spring. The suitcase was out and I had a new swimsuit for the Blue Lagoon, but I had serious doubts that I was going to make this trip.
Much to my amazement, I made it out on one of the first post-hurricane flights out of Dulles Tuesday night. I guess that’s a reason to be thankful for flying on a carrier whose origin is where you are going (Iceland) rather than where you are (on the east coast of the U.S. in the target zone of a super storm formerly known as a hurricane).
So, I’m writing this from Reykjavik. I’m so tired that I’m a bit cranky. It is cold and windy outside. a bit of snow is blowing by, but I haven’t noticed any sticking yet. I’m not crazy about the fact that this hotel is at the old airport, outside the city center, rather than right in the middle of town (my standard), but it helps to remember that the city is so small that I could walk to the center of town from here in 20 minutes. I’ll live.
In a few minutes, an old friend from grad school is going to stop by and take me downtown for coffee, which is a big deal here in Iceland. Icelanders love their coffee culture, so I am looking forward to that as much as seeing an Icelandic friend I haven’t seen since grad school. It should be fun. Tonight we have a group dinner, followed by the Iceland Airwaves festival. I’ll come home tonight, get a good night’s sleep and be happy and refreshed for the Golden Circle day trip and Northern Lights night trip tomorrow.
So far, my house is good. Friends who have no power at their home are staying there, so the house isn’t lonely. 😉
Happy Halloween. May your Samhain festivities be fabulous.
