Lazy Sunday and the end of the cruise

 

At a waterfall on Iceland's Golden Circle

If Sunday is the day the Lord intended for rest, it really worked out today. After getting up with Sophie twice, I dawdled my way through the morning. It was a day when I had good leftovers for lunch—no need to wonder what to fix—and Christian was fixing the dinner, from one of those prepared meal kits Jamie sent. This was southwestern beef and macaroni—unusual seasonings but good and what was supposed to feed four looked like it would feed eight. My contribution to the meal—and the most cooking I did all day—was to cut up and toss a salad.

For me, much of the day was spent in anger and rebellion at our governor’s reaction to the most recent mass shooting. Governor Abbott is getting a lot of feedback of the negative sort—okay, criticism—for his statement that the killings would not change gun laws. Texas, he said, is going after mental health problems, as though he had just invented the thought. It’s not sitting well with his constituents, but that’s a post for another evening because I think we need to flood the governor with critical emails. His position is untenable.

But meantime, at the Alter/Burton compound, we await Jordan’s return from her grand adventure in Paris, onboard the cruise ship, and then in Reykjavik. Somehow, I have lost some of the pictures, but I’ll try to give a picture tour. What stands out is that Jordan had lovely meals and glasses of wine—or maybe those were the pictures she took because she knows her mother is a foodie. But at every turn, she was having a scrumptious meal, many of them based on fish. That does and doesn’t surprise me—she’s always been a good fish eater, but she’s wanted other things besides. This trip she ate mostly whitefish, though there were the eggs Benedict. And she ate everywhere from the captain’s table to the deck of the ship to a tomato farm.

Tomato lunch

Two of her Reykjavik adventures that struck me as most interesting were a visit to one of Iceland’s large tomato farms—who knew? Apparently since the climate is not conducive to growing tomatoes outdoors, Icelanders grow them in huge hothouses! Jordan apparently toured one and had a spectacular meal. The other excursion that interested me was to Golden Circle, one of Iceland’s most popular tourist attractions, a circular route that visits geysers, waterfalls, hot
springs, and volcanic craters.

Great presentation at the
tomato farm

From scattered pictures that I saw, Reykjavik appears to be a city of modern buildings, many painted in warm and wild colors, perhaps to warm the people through long, cold nights? And for her last night there, Jordan had a spectacular meal.

Reykjavik

Now she has texted that she’s landed at DFW, although she’s still at the airport, presumably going through customs. It’s just shy of nine o’clock, and she’s been up since one a.m. our time. I don’t expect a detailed report tonight, but I will be glad to have her home and a bit in awe of her adventure.

Last dinner - scallops

Whitefish followed the 
scalops