Dear Alex,
Some days I miss Iceland terribly, and on others I think about how rainy and dreary it can be, and then you make a post with all the sunshine in the world and the beautiful nature that feels untouched and yet accessible in all the weird and funky ways that only Iceland can give. This weekend was rainy, but the thing I missed about rain in Iceland was the thunderstorms, since their chances of happening are so low there. We had some pretty good thunderstorms here as I fell asleep on Sunday night.
I was driving through town yesterday with a friend and a park that has a wide open field was flooded with water. There’s certainly some eldritch horror that will climb out of there in the middle of the night chanting sweet nothings to all the passersby.
So the etymology of the word “passerby”. Obviously, it’s just “passer” and “by” put together. But it feels like when it becomes plural it should be passer-bys instead of passers-by. I guess in a few years or maybe a few decades the word will turn into passerbys or something else entirely as the modern English language shifts and changes based on our daily speech and interaction with the internet.
Saturday was quite an exciting day for me. Not only did I get to see one of my Boys, in concert. Which was a life changing experience in retrospect and one that should not be taken lightly, but I got to see a friend I haven’t seen in a few years. We went to undergrad together and now she lives halfway across the country. Fortunately during her visit here she was able to get a few hours for us to catch up. Which we did, over the most amazing ricotta pancakes. Boy, when I tell you, I never thought pancakes could be this good. I mean I am your average lover of pancakes (and all things sweet) but man these were actually very well made.
I finally finished reading Under the Whispering Door as well. I like to write up summaries/reviews of the books so I could look back and see what I thought of them without any input from others. Sometimes, when I’m too confused I end up looking online to explain what I just read (like when I finished reading the Dreamer series from Maggie Stiefvater). But Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune was a pretty interesting read. I can’t call it my favorite but it would get pretty high rating from me. As always, its nice to read books that are focused on feel good queer stories about adults rather than YA, and to have it be edging on fantasy is always just a cherry on the cake or whatever the saying is. I’m still reading Roxy, please don’t at me about that.
My fun Norwegian word of the day for you is kanin, meaning bunny. The only reason it came up in my brain is because I was discussing bunnies with someone today and you know me, if there’s a fact I know I just start ranting about it… well I guess here I am teaching random words to kids.
Tomorrow I’m going to a big pre-wedding party for one of my friends and I am nervous about being surrounded by so many people and not knowing most of them, but I am going with an open mind and of course with the intent of having a good time. I will absolutely update on the proceedings of this.
Love ya and miss you dearly,
Lucia
Omg!! I didnt know you were reading under the whispering door ! I love that book, and I agree its queer but not in the way a lot of queer books are. Of course, I would never @ you for reading such a book slowly, it is the type of book that needs to be chewed on and contemplated, not slurped like soup.
I desperately miss thunderstorms. Often undergrad friends from the states will send me videos of thunderstorms and I will get teary eyed, there is something so beautiful about the explosive nature of electricity in the air that cannot be replaced. Also, on the day that we did the south when we got home it fully hailed like marble sized hail so you know Iceland, beautiful but also trying to kill you.
Ricotta pancakes!! Those sound (and look) amazing. Next time I see you we will make some. It has been 2 days and you have not kept me updated about wedding proceedings, but that is ok because, as you know, I am full of PhD longing and also Nanna released her album (you best be ready for a post maybe later today about that).
It makes me laugh how similar Icelandic and Norweigan can be (btw, what version are you learning?) and of course I know they are as similar as can be while being different languages, both being West Scandinavian, but the Icelandic word for bunny is kanína. I think that word fits. It’s cute, like a bunny.