Weather

It´s appropriate to talk about the weather. Since being here the weather has been quite good with mostly fair days and little rain. That changed today with a forecast of gales and precipitation. Planning on a longer run, I cut that short to half an hour, being simultaneously pushed about by the gusts and battered in the face by hail, it was a little more that I had expected.
A friend from 2|1|4|1 had suggested that I take a look at the artist Roni Horn as she has spent a great deal of time here in Iceland and it has been a great influence in her work. I am reading her volume Weather Reports You - collections of weather reports and stories from an area in Iceland. Everyone talks about the weather, it is common small talk for many people. Just how the weather effects our lives is maybe not measurable but visible. More so in a place like this. Reports of extreme weather amaze and mystify whilst the day to day reality of living somewhere where your everyday activities either rely or are dependant on the weather can change your outlook and ultimately your life and how you live it.
The weather can change in an instant here and people seem to be prepared and accepting of a force greater than themselves. They have a fantastic weather service which has a lot of detail and I have checked this frequently since I got here. But until today I feel as if I hadn't really experienced the weather - but although it is not pleasant to run into the wind and hail and wet, it is a refreshing reminder of the power of nature and of how some things in life we have no control over.
To accept the weather as part of the identity of the location you live in and learning to live with it and by it - is maybe like accepting it as part of your own identity, such that it changes you and is reflected in the actions and things you pursue.