Why Birds Flock to Iceland The North Prepares for ... - Land og saga

© Ragnar Þoresteinsson© Andrew FortuneMemories ofa CountryChildhoodGrowing up in one of the oldest settlement areasHave you ever wondered what it is liketo live in a remote valley, far from thecity? Margrét Hólm Valsdóttir shares theexperience that shaped her life.It was May, 1976 and I was 8 years old.I was excited and a bit nervous. We weremoving from the small town of Akureyrito the valley where my father oversaw thegenerators at the hydroelectric power stationat the head of the Aðaldalur valley.SummerThe summer was very hot, so we wereoutside every day. The sun never went down.There was no school, so we had lots of funthe whole time. I celebrated my 9th birthdaythere. There were lots of fl ies in June, butthey never came inside. The fish and thebirds live on them, so we had lots of fi sh andbirds that year. It was beautiful.The river came rushing into the valley fromthe mountains. After the power station it flowsto the Arctic Sea. There were lots of trout inthe river, so we fished and played by the water.AutumnIn early September, the farmers brought thesheep down from the mountains. They wereall mixed together from different farms, sothey are brought to the ‘réttir’, where they areall divided up. It’s a big celebration and lots offun as we all helped to sort out whose sheepwere whose. There was no school until after theréttir, so my new friends and I would play inthe valley. We would eat dinner at whicheverhouse we were closest to—and would oftensleep there, too. It was over 15 km across thevalley and yet, we were all like a big family.When school started, there were 15 in myclass: 10 boys and 5 girls. Today, there areabout 40 children in the whole school. Thefarming dictated our school life, however.For instance, in 1979, the summer was badbut the weather improved in October,so the farmers had to harvest then. Theschool was closed so everyone could helpbring in the harvest before the stormsbegan and the snow buried everythingin a pristine white. Also, there werenever any meetings between 5 and7pm because that was milking time.We children grew up learning totake responsibility for the animalsand our siblings. We helped with thework, too. There was no crime—our education in life taught usto be well-rounded. We learntrespect for our surroundings, thepeople and our friends and family.When one of the animalswas sick, we would fight for its life, so we learnedto value life.Sometimes, teenagers with problems fromReykjavik and other big towns were sent to livein the valley with a family and it would havea healing effect on them, changing their lives.Life was so beautiful: the nature, the valleyitself, the people; all together they created thebest experience growing up. When you neededit, all the community was there to help.WinterLiving at the head of the valley, we didn’t needpictures on our walls as the big picture windowsgave us the best views we could want. In winter,the snows were offset by the Northern Lights.We were so used to seeing them, we didn’t thinkanything of it when they appeared.Snowstorms are common in the northernwinters. Sometimes, the river providing thewater to the power station would freeze,damaging the generators. The electricityfrom the power station was used all acrossthe valley but it often broke down, leavingthe houses without light and heat. Everyonehad candles but it got cold if there was a longpower cut. The farmers would hook up theirtractors to run the pumps to milk the cows.Communal LifeMy mother started working in the littlestore that served as a community meetingplace, too. It was a general store that seemedto have almost everything but sometimes,we would have to get some things from thetown of Húsavík or even Akureyri. Whattoday is an hour trip could take over 2½hours over heavily rutted gravel roads insnow and ice, so we didn’t make that tripmore often than necessary! The mountainroad would often be closed anyway.The old phones were communal. If youphoned someone, the others could listen, too.In the early 70’s, black and white televisionsreached the valley. Programmes were shownonly a few hours a day. On Sundays, at 4 o’clock,we all watched ‘Little House on the Prairie’.Colour TV’s didn’t arrive until 1980. Whenneighbours bought a VHS video machine inthe same year, everyone went to watch.It was not always easy, but I had awonderful childhood—a childhood thatshaped my life in a beautiful way. I’ll foreverbe thankful for that move to the valley.Today, Margrét is married, with twochildren, to a farmer by Lake Mývatn,where she is also a manager at theReynihlíð Hotel.–asf88 www.icelandictimes.comwww.icelandictimes.com89© Ragnar Þoresteinsson