Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.04.2013, Blaðsíða 7

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Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. apríl 2013 • 7
La Cucaracha
The state bird of Florida is
the mockingbird. It is a nice
enough bird, but your reporter
feels that the pelican would
have been more appropriate.
The state flower is the orange
blossom, which is fine, and
the state saltwater fish is the
sailfish, which is also good. Not
surprisingly the state tree is the
sable palm, but surprisingly the
state insect is the zebra longwing
black butterfly. If somebody
had asked your reporter, he
would have answered without
hesitation: La cucaracha, the
cockroach!
It may be understandable
why the politicians selected
the butterfly, because people
generally like them, but the
roaches have very few, if any,
admirers. There are no fewer
than 57 different species of
these critters in North America.
They are among the oldest
insects in the world, said to
have come out of Africa and
travelled here on the slave ships
in the 16th or 17th century.
Since almost every person in
Florida came from some place
else, they can all tell stories
about their first encounters
with this least attractive thing
in the Sunshine State. The most
common roaches in Florida
are the American cockroach,
also called palmetto bug, and
the German cockroach. The
American one is between one
and a half and two inches long,
but the German “only” about
one inch.
When your reporter and his
wife moved to Florida, they
rented a house for a year while
their own permanent home was
being finished. This was an old
house and, unfortunately the
previous occupants had been
somewhat lacking in basic
cleanliness. Consequently the
house was almost infested
with roaches. The just arrived
and ignorant Icelanders did
not know this. The roaches
are nocturnal, so the first
encounter came during one of
the first nights. Your reporter
had to answer the call of nature
in the middle of the night.
When he turned on the light
in the bathroom, he saw this
large, ugly critter with the long
feelers on the white tile floor.
Nobody could have expected a
barefoot Icelander to attempt
to step on and squish this large
an insect, so he just stood there
terrified and watched the critter
disappear down the drain in the
shower. A few mornings later,
the reporter got into a tug of
war with a large roach, that was
holding on to his toothbrush in
the glass container.
Some years ago the
Icelandic Society held a
Þorrablót in Northeastern
Florida. The American husband
of an Icelandic woman had
just bought a hotel, which
he offered as a venue for the
celebration. It turned out to
be an old, tired hotel, almost
a fleabag, but your reporter
and his wife did not mind too
much until they got back to
their room, after the festivities
were over. When they turned
on the light, they saw several
roaches on the walls and floor.
It seemed that they had been
having their own Þorrablót.
They disappeared quickly and
the occupants nervously got
ready for bed. When your tired,
and a little tipsy, reporter slid
under the covers in the bed, he
immedialty felt something that
made him jump up and on to the
floor like a steel spring. There
was a large roach in the bed! If
this jump had been recorded, it
might have broken the Icelandic
record for high jumps.
Some seasoned Floridians,
who want to minimize the
effect of sudden appearance
of a roach in their home, when
they are having guests, will
sometimes say; “It’s only a
palmetto bug.” It of course
is so much nicer a word than
cockroach. The creature
with two names has two
stubby wings, and on top of
everything else, it can terrify
people, especially outdoors
at dusk, by flying in the air.
This your reporter found out
the hard way one beautiful
Florida evening. He was at
a patio cocktail party given
by the Norwegian Consul
General in Miami, celebrating
Norway’s independence day,
May 17th. The unsuspecting
reporter was standing there,
with glass in hand, chatting
with two ladies, when, out
of the corner of his eye, he
saw something come flying
through the air. A big roach
hit his neck and landed on his
shoulder!
The startled guests saw
the Icelandic consul suddenly
take a jump, drop his glass and
run into the house flailing his
arms. When the commotion
died down and he explained
the sudden attack by the
cockroach, the Norwegian
host said; “It was only a
palmetto bug!”
Thórir S. Gröndal
Florida
Fritters are deepfried delicacies or tidbits. The spelling is uncan-
nily similar to the Icelandic word Fréttir. Thus you are getting news
regarding Iceland from the Sunshine State and some tidbits too.
Florida Fritters
Yesterday, I was thinking about the blockbuster movie The
Hobbit. Our family is huge
fans of that type of movie and
book genre. During and after
the “chat” in cyberspace with
our Icelandic Online Club
(IOC),” I was musing about
the idea that J.R.R Tolkien
and C.S. Lewis would have
enjoyed discussions about
the sagas, runes, Vikings, and
everything Icelandic in this
type of venue.
Did you know that Tolkien
had several Icelandic au pairs?
His children loved to hear
Icelandic stories about trolls
and the hidden people from the
domestic help that was hired
in their home. A story in the
Morgunblaðið in 1999 stated
that Tolkien would often come
to listen and that he took many
ideas from these Icelandic
folk stories and the Icelandic
Sagas.
In 1926, Tolkien started
a club called Kolbítar to read
the Icelandic Sagas. The word
Kolbítar could be someone
who sits so close to the fire
in the winter that they bite
the coal but also could be an
unlikely hero or character from
the sagas. This person may
have started out as a normal
person or even someone living
a frivolous and meaningless
life. In the end, somewhat like
the Hobbits, they rise up to
become the hero of the story.
Many names and places in the
fantasies written by Tolkien
and Lewis have their origins in
the Icelandic Sagas.
The Hobbit by Tolkien
was published in 1937 and the
three volumes of The Lord of
the Rings came in 1954-1955.
Lewis wrote the seven novels
in The Chronicles of Narnia
series between 1949 and 1954.
Online chatting and sharing
information in seconds between
people all over the world was
certainly not possible back in
the days of the Kolbítar club.
The IOC provides a unique
club experience by utilizing
current technology. ‘The
Icelandic Online Club’ meets
on a private Group page to share
pictures, videos, and all things
Icelandic. The club has group
chats to share ideas and decide
on club interests and activities,
as well as videoconferences
for group projects, meetings,
and video presentations. If you
belong to the IOC, you are a
full member of the Icelandic
National League of North
America and have access to the
INLNA information, voting
rights at the annual Convention,
and inclusion in the INLNA
projects. Club membership is
only $15.00.
To join our own Kolbítar
club contact ioc@inlofna.org.
A Cyberspace
Kolbítar Club
Sunna Pam Furstenau
Fargo, ND
Applications for the 2013 Grand Marshal and Honorary Grand
Marshal for the annual
Deuce of August parade in
Mountain, North Dakota are
being accepted now. Submit
your nomination in writing
and postmarked on or before
May 1st.
Selection Criteria is one
or more of the following:
1) Born, raised, or
contributed their time,
talents, or gifts to the
Icelandic Communities in
Northeast North Dakota
2) Past or present com-
munity member that is
serving or has served our
country in the US Military
3) Past or present com-
munity member that is serv-
ing or has served in a Public
Service position
4) The nominee must
be in good standing in the
community
5) Displays outstand-
ing pride in, service to, and
commitment to our commu-
nity through volunteerism
or community service work
6) Activities should be
above and beyond the nomi-
nee’s profession, paid work,
or normal call of duty
7) Must be able and will-
ing to carry out the Grand
Marshal functions
Submissions can be sent
to:
Icelandic Communities
Association, PO Box 63,
Mountain, ND 58262
or by email to:
sunnapam@me.com
Nominate a
Grand
Marshal
Sunna Pam Furstenau
Fargo, ND
Thórir S. Gröndal, ready for
life’s challenges
PHoto courtesy of tHórir s. gröndAL
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