Today, being my birthday was quiet and reflective. I took my piano music with me to a nearby elderly care centre hoping and knowing there'd be a piano there to play. I miss playing mine. Not only did I find a piano, the two women who welcomed and showed me around to three pianos (one's a Grande piano) and invited me for lunch. I went in there now knowing what would happen and it reminded me again how connected we all are and are surrounded by opportunity and connection at all times if I only take the time. Our final stop was the dimentia unit where one older man plays piano and another sings so when I sat down to play a few Frank Mills songs the one man sat beside me singing so beautifully!! They welcomed me at anytime, whether it be lunch, tea time or dinner or just in the evening and to bring my kids, too, and have a meal. The place is called Grund, on Hringbraut Rd beside the University. The woman who showed me around and had lunch with, explained that when Icelanders left for Canada in the early 1900's that two people came back from Canada and built the facility. One was her grandfather.
In the afterrnon, I had geophysics class then picked up a couple of Icelandic cakes from an amazing bakery one block away. The children and I invited Gudrun and her three children from downstairs. She's Icelandic and finishing her PhD here although has been living in Senegal, Africa with her children and other countries while she finishes her education and works. We met in the laundry room (lol) and she kindly calls or stops in and asks me if I'd like to go to the grocery store with her. Having children and no car, wow that is an amazing offer. She's very kind and fun. Niall goes to school on the bus with her son. So, us two moms and the children had a birthday party with more cake than we could eat, along with balloons and glow-in-the-dark lights that came all the way from Canada!!! We have cool pictures of the kids dancing with their lights taken with 30-second exposure...kind of like northern lights in patterns.
There are 17 geothermal swimming pools in Reykjavik and one is very closeby so we went and enjoyed the hot pools, steam baths and swimming lengths under the moonlight. By the time we got home to bed, yes, it was a quiet and good day. Spending my birthday in the middle of the Atlantic on this beautiful wild island felt kind of cool, and never ever lonely especially with three incredible children of mine, new friends and knowing familiar friends and family at home.
How I felt on this birthday may be summed up from my thoughts: Each of us is so powerful and so fragile all in the same moment that if we stopped to truly perceive it all at once, all we'd feel like doing is to let go, always love another and trust.
Thank you for sharing this day :) even if it is a fleeting thought of each other.
In the afterrnon, I had geophysics class then picked up a couple of Icelandic cakes from an amazing bakery one block away. The children and I invited Gudrun and her three children from downstairs. She's Icelandic and finishing her PhD here although has been living in Senegal, Africa with her children and other countries while she finishes her education and works. We met in the laundry room (lol) and she kindly calls or stops in and asks me if I'd like to go to the grocery store with her. Having children and no car, wow that is an amazing offer. She's very kind and fun. Niall goes to school on the bus with her son. So, us two moms and the children had a birthday party with more cake than we could eat, along with balloons and glow-in-the-dark lights that came all the way from Canada!!! We have cool pictures of the kids dancing with their lights taken with 30-second exposure...kind of like northern lights in patterns.
There are 17 geothermal swimming pools in Reykjavik and one is very closeby so we went and enjoyed the hot pools, steam baths and swimming lengths under the moonlight. By the time we got home to bed, yes, it was a quiet and good day. Spending my birthday in the middle of the Atlantic on this beautiful wild island felt kind of cool, and never ever lonely especially with three incredible children of mine, new friends and knowing familiar friends and family at home.
How I felt on this birthday may be summed up from my thoughts: Each of us is so powerful and so fragile all in the same moment that if we stopped to truly perceive it all at once, all we'd feel like doing is to let go, always love another and trust.
Thank you for sharing this day :) even if it is a fleeting thought of each other.