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some abrasions on her arms where she tried to catch herself. She seemed
to be in shock for a little while but Francoise leapt to her care and she rallied
sufficiently to continue the walk on back to the cabins. Kay lent a hand and
thereby, for the first time, declared her credentials as a doctor.
Lunch was a rice pudding with raisins and a typical Icelandic “treat”—a
blood, flour, and fat creation with either sheep or pigs supplying the
hemoglobin. We didn’t care for it, even before they told us the ingredients.
However, we could understand how it could help the Icelanders through the
bitter cold of winter when food is often scarce and, in earlier times, when
famine stalked both men and animals.
LAKE MYVATN
Lake Myvatn was our next destination for a walk to see the 16 varieties of
ducks that nest in and near the waters during the summers. We actually
saw only 3 types, including the Barrow's Goldeneye.
The walk was really an easy stroll in tennis shoes, rather than a hike in boots
with gear. The lake is very shallow and black flies and midges breed here
freely, making the walk potentially not very enjoyable from that standpoint.
We were lucky this evening because they were not out in force and none of
those present were of the biting variety. Anyway, because these insects are
the bottom of a very important food chain for Iceland, they are tolerated
with humor and good will. All the fish and ducks are dependent on these
“pests” so guess they aren’t really pests after all.
We learned that the lake is the world’s richest source for diatom harvesting.
These little critters fall to the bottom of the lake when they die, and their
remains pile up to many feet deep. These leavings are used in filtering
systems, such as diatomaceous pool filters, and other water type filters all
over the world. A very important economic resource for Iceland.
After this activity, we were driving to yet another hot swimming pool; these
Europeans are mad for swimming. They’ll jump into their suits at a
