SUMMER AHEAD
These last days, we finally enjoyed warmer temperatures - on land and at sea. Most of the snow in town has melted and a spring-like feeling caught us all.
At the same time, from one day to the other, more and more migratory birds returned. Among them, also the golden plover.
In Icelandic folklore, the arrival of the golden plover is announcing the end of the winter and a sign that summer is about to start.
This bird has been referred to in several poems, with the one below, written by Páll Ólafsson, being one of the most known ones among Icelanders:
"The plover has arrived to send the snow away,
to banish boredom, she can do that.
She has told me that soon the whimbrel will come,
sunshine in the valleys and flowers in the fields.
She has lessoned me,
I sleep too much and don't work enough.
She has told me to wake up and work
and with anticipation now to welcome the summer."
We can't wait for winter to end, the sun to stay, and to welcome all our migratory visitors back to Skjálfandi Bay!
Happy Earth Day!
Icelandic Original:
"Lóan er komin að kveða burt snjóinn,
að kveða burt leiðindin, það getur hún.
Hún hefur sagt mér, að senn komi spóinn,
sólskin í dali og blómstur í tún.
Hún hefir sagt mér til syndanna minna,
ég sofi of mikið og vinni ekki hót.
Hún hefir sagt mér að vakna og vinna
og vonglaður taka nú sumrinu mót."
