MISSED THE BOAT

On August 1, 2021 my son, Josh, daughter-in-law, Barbara and I were supposed to start sailing from Reykjavik to Reykjavik on a weeklong circumnavigation of Iceland. However, in March of 2021, the Windstar Cruise Line cancelled the 200+ passenger voyage due to Covid-19. So, instead of enjoying the “action packed” most northerly capital city in the world—on August 1, 2021 I mopped water off my kitchen floor, because I hadn’t closed the freezer drawer in my refrigerator, and now I had to deal with melted ice cubes. That’s as close to ice as I’ll get this year.

In the meantime, Josh and Barbara are taking an action packed vacation themselves. They have packed up every item in their master bedroom, master bathroom and master closet and have traveled into the guest room in their house. Instead of visiting the island of Heimaey,  “the Pompeii of the North,”covered in ash by a devastating 1973 eruption, they will be experiencing their own sis, boom, bah (I’m guessing more sis-boom than bah.) for six weeks.

The weather in Iceland is highly changeable, kind of like a mask-on—mask off—mask on experience in the United States. Granted, I can’t see puffins from my apartment balcony, but I did see one old guy doing some impressive huffing and puffing while hiking up a mountain path near my home.

Also, in 1963 there was another eruption in Iceland, and Surtsey Island became the youngest place on earth. If we are able to sail in 2022, I just may be the oldest seafarer sailing past that kid. However, I’m not sure I want to take a polar flight to Grimsey Island just to stand half in and half out of the Arctic Circle. At 86 I plan to stand all in wherever I go. And, NO! I do not plan to ride an Icelandic horse anywhere even if he was brought to Iceland by the Vikings. That’s an old horse!

The last time I got on a horse was in Argentina.The thick saddle was made of sheep's’ wool, and the cinch was loose. The the leader of our ride slapped my horse’s butt. That filly took off, and I hung on for dear life—slipping from side to side on my saddle. I was lucky that I didn’t end up upside down looking up at her belly.

Of course, in the scheme of things, a delayed trip is not the worst event in one’s life, and hopefully we will be able to sail in August, 2022. In the meantime, I’ll pretend I’m on a cruise when I eat in the Morrow Dining Room in my senior residence. It’s an unusual experience, because I have never eaten in a room with carpeting that offers an optical illusion of moving waves. That’s why one glass of wine will suffice—especially if  a person is prone to sea sickness.

Unfortunately, there is no travel insurance covering navigation out of that dining room.  


 Esther Blumenfeld