The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1995, Síða 55

SPRING / SUMMER 1995
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
165
out well. When we are young again for the
second time, I shall send Finnur at Kjorseyri
some potatoes to try out which I have pro-
duced myself. I am too inclined to carry
out various experiments in agriculture and
gardening which only sometimes turn out
well and cost me a lot of money and time
— and have sometimes made me an object
of scorn or humour on the part of others.
My greatest regret in life is my journey
west across the ocean. I expect I would have
been of more use in Iceland. I probably
would have studied something that I
wanted to learn and that was of use, such
as medicine or philosophy, which I have
always found very enjoyable.
I never read except at mealtimes and in
bed in the evening. I want to be consid-
ered an industrious man, but am an ad-
mirer of learning and the arts, although I
have not been fortunate enough to learn
anything of that sort.
I have a good library compared to what
one can expect of a farmer, as books are
generally a rare sight in the country. It is
mainly informative books of various sorts.
I have read a considerable number of works
on psychology, Scientology, chemistry, and
natural science, in addition to popular
works on agriculture, architecture, and so
on. It would doubtless have been more
advisable and more useful to read less
widely and to know more about a certain
field. At home in Iceland I was drowsy in
the mornings and could get up and go out
at any time of the night. As soon as I came
to Winnipeg, I became sleepy in the eve-
nings and could not sleep longer than 4
a.m. I can scarcely force myself to get up at
night or to stay awake with anyone who is
ill. I have been plagued by insomnia until
about three years ago. Shortly afterwards
my hair started to turn grey and a year or
two later I began to grow bald, although it
was mostly the grey hair that fell out.
Now my hair is beginning to get whiter
again.
I have always had a very sensitive tem-
perament, and it is this facet of my nature
which has made life most difficult for me,
To judge from my own experience it is a
very bad characteristic. It can make life dif-
ficult and unbearable, and one suffers
more for this trait than any other.
I expect I am regarded as a cheerful
man, and am to a certain extent. But I con-
sider serious matters more important.
I have been fortunate in my children,
up to this time. They are all fairly intelli-
gent, obedient and courteous. My daugh-
ters who remained in Winnipeg both write
to me practically without exception every
week, which is probably a rarity in this coun-
try where people do not seem to place the
same importance on raising one’s children
as they did in the country in Iceland. My
daughters and sons-in-law also regularly
send me books and magazines they know I
will be interested in reading.
I should mention that I possess no apti-
tude whatsoever for mathematics. My
brother, GuSni, taught me considerable
arithmetic, which I learned without any
understanding and have never had any use
for since. There is little I find better read-
ing than good criticism. That has proved
my greatest good fortune. I expect I would
otherwise have become one of those gar-
bage-writers who are so numerous these
days - and that is the last thing I want.
I have never had time to revise anything
I have written for publication. I feel I
should be able to think logically and much
quicker than I can write, but that “work
produced shows the work that went into
it,” as they say.
I could write more and doubtless bet-
ter, but those are my private affairs and are
not to be mentioned except privately. I have
been so foolish as to long to be the editor
of a newspaper, but that will likely not hap-
pen until the next life — there are so many
things one can become then.