Swan Song

As I relaxed and was watching television this evening I was reminded of my time that I was stationed in Keflavik, Iceland. The base was thirty-four kilometers from the capital city of Reykjavik, most of the time I rode the bus. The ride wasn’t always interesting, but one thing unusual was that many of the headstone in a cemetery were lit with bright colored Christmas lights. I’d never seen anything like that in the United States, especially out in the countryside where I live.

I was fortunate, because of my rank; I could go off base in civvies. (Civilian clothing) I was often mistaken in Reykjavik for an Islander, because of my full red beard and the civvies I wore would match what the men wore. This mistaken identity caused a few odd encounters for me. I may share them at another time, but back to my story.

Another type of travel for me while in Iceland was to fly in an airplane. When I had free time and could catch a ride to other areas of Iceland on board a military transport, it didn’t cost me anything but time. The ride was less than first class, not serving snacks, often bumpy and always noisy. I was able to visit several areas that would have been inaccessible otherwise.

We had a physician who needed hours in the air to gain his commercial pilot’s license. He was willing to fly several of my fellow Navy friends and me to other destinations in Iceland. He would pilot the plane if we would pay for the rental of the airplane. We flew to Akureyi circling over the island of Grimsey or over Heimaley to the volcanic island of Surtsey’

It was advantageous for both parties. I can’t remember which flight it was on, but it may have been to Akureyi. As we flew over one area, it was filled with hundreds of tiny ponds, almost small enough to be called large puddles; we could see a breeding pair of swans at each puddle claiming it for their own. Now that was a memorable flight. On the return trip heavy clouds hovered close to the ground. It was difficult for our Doc pilot to navigate in the pea soup; he hugged the ground, following a highway a few times. Because I’m writing this, it’s obvious we made it back to base safely, and that trip wasn’t my swan song.