How I Didn't Spend My Autumn Vacation

When no one steps on my dreams
There'll be days like this
When people understand what I mean
There'll be days like this
When you ring out the changes
Of how everything is
Well my mama told me
There'll be days like this...

Big dreams don't often come true.

Sometimes the little ones don't either.

Waiting in my email in-box when I returned from my vacation was a note from Icelandair. Our tickets for an October trip to Iceland were now worthless. The airline had cut back on its service; the last return flight to Minnesota would be the Monday before we were slated to leave. I had wanted to catch Iceland Airwaves again, see some theatre, with a day-trip to Gljufrasteinn or Snæfelsness thrown into the mix. I checked out going via Boston but it would increase the cost of the trip by an additional 50%, and entail spending two extra days in airports, airplanes and hotels. I just couldn't swing it.

I've tried before to explain the appeal of a long week-end in Iceland. Many people just can't see what I could find to sustain my interest there. That's OK, I've got fears (proven justified) of dubious vacations as well. Maybe my last trip to Iceland, my third time, was truly the proverbial charm which couldn't be duplicated again: there or anywhere. Maybe I'll put Iceland on the shelf for a while, maybe spend next summer in the Westfjords. Or maybe later, when things have settled down over there. Maybe, maybe, maybe. That sounds like rationalizing, I admit it, but I don't have much else to go on right now. Maybe someday I'll be singing the same song, but a different verse:

When it's not always raining
There'll be days like this
When there's no one complaining
There'll be days like this
When everything falls into place
Like the flick of a switch
Well my mama told me
There'll be days like this

~ Van Morrison, Days Like This

P.S. When I posted this, this Google ad was on the confirmation page: