The Icelandic connection - 01.09.2010, Page 31

Vol. 63 #2
ICELANDIC CONNECTION
81
to be meaningfully occupied in life. And
the man knew that he would not add to
the nation’s debt or to his own personal
debt by working with the snow, which
was free. There is no law of the Land that
says we must monetarily profit on that
which we create, although it is good to
bring in some monies, for even the squir-
rels gather cones for the coming winter,
fulfilling an inherent desire for their most
basic needs. It is just that the pen in the
man’s hand had prodded him to ask again
an ancient question: when is enough,
enough? Contentment is an elusive realm
that respects no tribe, no culture, no era,
no nations, but when found is the most
wealthiest realm.
After the man had worked on the
snow fortress for about ten days, he got to
thinking that he ought to protect his
investment. He had been told that it is
good to invest wisely in life, which would
be saying that to invest unwisely would
then make the man a fool. And so one day
he went to town to talk with an insurance
agent. He said to the woman, “I’ve been
working on a building for about ten days
now, and I should probably think about
insuring it.”
The woman asked for more details,
and the man said that the building was
made of snow. The woman quickly
answered, “No, it’s too high a risk.” In
some ways it made sense to the man, but
in other ways it did not.
The man knew in his heart that some
things in life can be had by persistence.
The pen in his hand prodded him that he
must not persist in something if it was not
just, yet this same pen in his hand prod-
ded him to continue in his quest, simply
because it was just.
One week later the man again saw the
insurance woman and asked her, “Would
you reconsider? My fortress is made of a
hundred percent fire-retardant materials.”
And the woman replied, “No, it is too
high a risk!”
One week later the man again
approached the woman and asked,
“Would you reconsider? I am willing to
pay a $200 premium, and 1 want you to
write up the policy in such a manner that
there is absolutely no chance whatsoever
of me collecting any monies in the event
of loss, which there will be.” The woman
was deep in thought for a moment and
then burst out laughing, and said, ‘Til see
what we can do.”
You see, the man was an investor in
life, and as youth slipped away from him
more and more even as the world spun
from night to day, he knew with greater
resonance that there was no law of the
Land that said one has to monetarily prof-
it on a car or boat or plane or house or a
life. All he wanted was an insurance poli-
cy that was written in such a manner that
there was absolutely no chance whatsoev-
er of collecting any monies in the event of
loss, which there would be. His wife of
many years thought that the man was a
bigger fool as he aged more, throwing
away $200 on some foolhardy, pretend
insurance policy. But the man knew in his
heart that his wife loved him, and the
man’s wife knew that sometimes there is
merit in a fool's quest.
And so, about two months later,
around March 19th when the eagle had
just returned, the owner of the insurance
company came to the man’s camp for a
cup of coffee and to take pictures of the
man’s snow fortress. The insurance man
said. “You know, you don’t need an insur-
ance agent to write up a policy like this.”
The man answered, “I know that, but
I still want an insurance agent to write it
up.”
The insurance man said, “You don’t
have to pay me $200. How about paying
just$10?”
The man responded with great con-
cern, “I cannot do that, for if I only pay
you $10 then I will not look like a fool.”
The insurance man scratched the