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Sunday, March 31, 2019

Ships and stories



Shipping season is underway now. In the last few weeks the ice coverage on Lake Superior went from about 95% to less than 25%. The ice is up against the eastern shores and in the bays and the icebreakers are working to free all the harbors and keep the Soo Locks open. I have been seeing the lights out on the lake at night and the freighters, carrying mostly iron ore and grain, are lit up like floating casinos.  Yesterday was windy (about 30 knots on the water) and the ships were hugging the shore for protection.

I believe this is the Paul R. Tregurtha on its way to the Soo Locks yesterday morning.




I just finished reading an Icelandic mystery, The Darkness: A Thriller, by Ragnar Jonasson. It is the first in his Hulda series. I have previously read the first series of five books from this author a year or two ago and decided to try this new series. The main character, Hulda, is in her last days of work before retirement as an investigator. It took me two days to read this which is less time than it usually takes, but the stars were aligned and I didn’t have a lot of pressing chores, some of which I will do today. Procrastination for the sake of a good book is a pardonable sin in my world. The next book in the series is set 25 years previously, so I may have to read that soon to get a feel for Hulda from her younger days. There is very little actual murder in Iceland, maybe one every couple of years, and the killer was usually drunk and confesses immediately, so you can see that reality and fiction are well separated.   

Most of what I have read in the last ten years or so is of the genre, Nordic Noir, which for some reason appeals to me. I think the Scandinavian landscapes appeal to me, especially the bleakness of the Icelandic landscape in winter. It takes some imagination as I have only seen it in early summer which also has a stark beauty to it. Here are a few pictures of Iceland from a previous visit. As always, click to embiggen.

This is from a lava field where my brother and I were hiking and yes, that is geothermal steam rising  in the distance.
This is an abandoned farmhouse near the fjord. These abandoned homes often appear in the Icelandic mysteries.
A vessel returning from the sea.
A cabin where we stayed. Note the trees. The standard joke about the trees in Iceland is this. "What do you do if you get lost in an Icelandic Forest? Stand up!" 

 Living in a National Forest makes for quite a contrast, but one I find thoroughly enjoyable. 

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day so be careful out there!


23 comments:

  1. so things are getting back to normal in your part of the world.

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    1. Well, at least the mostly thawed out part. It is a welcome change.

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  2. "Nordic Noir" -- what a great genre name!

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    1. Even when I read totally different stuff I am always drawn back to it.

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  3. Nordic Noir can be a little too dark for me (says the inconsisten woman who read Misery Memoirs). Thank you so much for the photographs from starkly beautiful places.
    And yes, when I went to Antarctica I loved it, but did suffer from tree deprivation...

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    1. Yes, some of it is a bit too brutal. Jo Nesbø can be downright depressing, so I don't read much of his stuff.
      Long ago a friend brought me a fossil from Antarctica and a Russian lacquer bowl. Would love to go there in their summer.

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  4. Great photos. Of course I liked Stieg Larsson, but I could never warm up to Jo Nesbo or Hakan Nesser. But I love Philip Kerr and his Bernie Gunther series and Tana French from Ireland.

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    1. There are quite a few out there. I really enjoyed Henning Mankell's books as well as Yrsa Sigurdadotter, Karin Fossum, Anne Holt, and Jorn Lier Horst, to name a few.

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  5. Those Iceland pictures look a little post-apocalyptic, or is it just me? No wonder the residents have a reputation for hardiness. I liked the joke about the trees. Poor things, they have to be hardy too.

    Speaking of apocalypses, have you seen this little video from the Weather Network?
    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/watch/new-report-reveals-dire-future-for-the-great-lakes/vi-BBVrgQH?ocid=mailsignoutmd

    I think you've already indicated you're only too aware of what it says, but others may find it worth watching.

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    1. It's not just you (this time :))and it is why Iceland is used for practicing things in harsh conditions as well as some movie locations, like Journey to the Center of the Earth, e.g.
      Yes, climate change will bring potentially disastrous changes to the whole region and then some. Storm intensity and lake effect snows have been increasingly worse for years now.

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  6. Jono--I'm going on a cruise to Iceland this summer. Your photos increase my anticipation...

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    1. I am envious! So much to see and do on so many levels. I can recommend eating the salmon pizza at the Reykjavik Pizza Factory, but I am not sure they still exist. The landscape is amazing!

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  7. I learn a lot here Jono. Thank you.
    I sure don't know much about Iceland and while the photos are gorgeous I keep thinking of your joke about trees. I am not sure I would enjoy less trees.

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  8. In the summer everything else is a lush green which is why it works for raising sheep and horses. The waterfalls are beautiful and fascinating and the human history goes back well over a thousand years. They sometimes blame the vikings for cutting down the trees that were there originally. They tend to be very protective of there natural heritage now.

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  9. To paraphrase the King of Sweden, or was it the Icelandic president? : we don’t all kill each other all the time. Personally, I can’t stand Nordic noir.

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    1. I never got into mysteries at all until read The DaVinci Code. Followed by a trip to the Nordic countries and then ever so slowly started reading them. Mostly the ones I like are also considered police procedurals. Maybe I like the physical settings and the the way Northern Europeans look at life.

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  10. Iceland is at the top of my list of "places to visit before I pop off"! All I need is someone to go with as I don't want to go by myself. BTW the trees in Newfoundland are pretty much the same height.

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    1. It is usually more fun to go with someone. I am guessing the Vikings thought Newfoundland looked a lot like home so they stayed for a while.

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  11. Iceland has always fascinated me - one of these days maybe I'll get there. It must be interesting to watch the ships come and go - have you checked out the real-time Marine Traffic map? It'll tell you exactly which vessel you're watching: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-84.6/centery:45.4/zoom:6

    I was amazed at how many ships are moving around the globe all the time!

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    1. It is relatively inexpensive to get there and it is closer to eastern Canada than you are.
      Our local ISP (boreal.org) has a front page link to marinetraffic.com, and I have found myself voyaging in my imagination while looking at it. Very fun!

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  12. Your fourth photo was wonderful (as all of them) loved the red field the gray water then stark mountains with snow. Oh My Goodness !

    cheers, parsnip

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  13. It looks a little other worldly in Iceland and it is relatively easy to get some decent photos. Professionals often have amazing results!

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  14. Iceland is on my bucket list but I hear it is pretty expensive.

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