Bright lights at the fun fair.
And you thought I'd never leave Iceland.
I believe only home and the call of duty (to the geosciences) could do so. I am at a conference this week for the European Geosciences Union in Vienna. There are about 8,000 scientists from all over the world, plenty from the U. S., convening here to share their newest, most brilliant ideas about anything from what life exists 1 kilometer beneath the ocean floor to how much is California uplifting or subsiding from tectonic movement. Some of it is truly fascinating, some is dead-boring. It has been amazing to see so many people from so many countries, speaking so many languages (and some very funny English). Mostly I've been listening to the lectures on how to teach science, how to communicate these befuddling concepts.
Outside the conference center, I've been exploring the gorgeous city of Vienna. Historical sites aside, my absolute favorite find is definitely the Prater. It is an amusement park, of sorts. It began as an entertainment garden for the Kaiser's guests, and has been growing since then. So, it has rides from the beginning of the 1900's up to ones presently being constructed. My favorites are the ones that are 50+ years old. They are so classic! They capture the character of the times, when the idea to build a whirling, color-streaked, alight machine for the purpose of pure fun was fresh and new and exciting. They are remnants from a time in which entertainment wasn't a way of life, but something amazing and totally special. There is a giant ferris wheel from 1897 in which the cars are old train cars. There is a 100-meter high spinning chair ride. This was the most exhilarating. It must be what flying is like. I could see the whole city and the mountains beyond!
But now, back to business in Reykjavik. Alas--exams were awaiting me. Just as spring starts itching under the skin here, exams come to make spring seem that much sweeter. Actually, it is officially summer, although the temperature belies that fact (yesterday was a hot 50). The Viking calendar is divided roughly into 26 weeks of winter and 26 weeks of summer. So, Thursday a week ago marked the beginning of summer. A few green buds hint that it could be true, but the real onslaught of lushness doesn't come until June or July, I'm told.
And it is just for these rumors, of the verdant Icelandic countryside in summer (which gives the basis for the Greenland-Iceland joke), that I decided I 1) couldn't miss the summer in Iceland, and 2) couldn't stay in Reykjavik for it. So, I sought farm work, and got a job for the summer on a sheep farm on Húnaflói (Húna Bay) in the North. I'll be there for the delivery of the lambs, the shearing, and then the herding of the sheep up into the mountains where they spend the next 2-3 months. I've never worked on a farm, but my Mom is from Iowa, so I think this is promising. It should be a real adventure. :)
And, finally, as the year comes to a close, I have simply to say how much I am looking forward to my homecoming. My heart is nearly bursting at the thought of Richmond, my city of warmth (especially in August when I'll arrive!) and grace. I hope I can send another report about farm life in Iceland, but I am really not sure how connected I'll be out there! So, I'll leave you with my best wishes for your summers. Bask in the sun and in that carefree feeling only summer can bring!