This morning we walked across Reykjavik to meet a young swedish couple we had emailed about joining an excursion. Their co-worker had offered them his car and the home of his ancestor's for the weekend. The cabin is in Hofsos, up in Northern Iceland, very close to the arctic circle. He said he had started the heat inside for us already by remote control. People were talking about road conditions and the dangers of driving every where we went but the north beckoned. The drive was beautiful, most of the sights (we were told) weren't as visible as all was blanketed in white. We got to know our new friends but the real bonding occurred once we arrived in the seemingly deserted town, got lost in a blizzard and stuck in a snow bank. Even getting out of the car was a challenge and not of much use, we might as well have had buckets on our heads. Later we were told the most dangerous thing you can do when stuck in Iceland is to get out of the car. Many people have gotten lost and died that way. A house (as in our case) could be warm and safe, ten feet away from you and it is possible you would not even see it. Luckily there is a number to call, The Scouts. These search and rescue teams venture out into the elements to save stranded tourists or native Icelanders on a regular basis. We dialed the scouts and a man from Hofsos was alerted. He arrived, towed our Toyota Corolla hatchback out of the mound of snow we were lodged in and proceeded to bulldoze a pathway up to the cabin, as well as clearing the driveway for us...without so much as a 'how do you do'. As he drove off, I just saw the shadowed figure of a man give a curt wave. It was very Norse of him. We went into the cozy two story cabin and were very grateful for the forethought of the owner for warming it for us. Suddenly I felt extremely isolated. The windows were covered in thick snow and we had dug our way in the front door. We turned on the tv and from our far away little snowed in cabin at the top of the world, along with our new friends who were strangers to us that very morning, and together we watched as Japan was in the throes of disaster. The quake and following tsunami was reaping havoc across their nation. Men and women were being interviewed, sobbing and telling of the horrible things they had seen and experienced that day. It felt so odd to think of so much destruction happening so far away, while we sat, safe, silent and isolated.
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