For our, probably, final North American Summer Tour before Europe (2015!) we are taking the show halfway to Iceland (which is closer to St. John’s, Newfoundland than it is to our Chicago home). That’s right, we are venturing into the land of whales, moose, and lovable canines. In honor of the island’s Viking history I plan on growing out my facial hair in fierce directions. I draw my inspiration from the most bad-ass Viking I have ever met, Tim.

Most Bad Ass Viking I Know

Besides the rocky Dominion of Newfoundland (its official name prior to becoming Canada’s tenth province in 1949), we plan on swimming in Adirondack lakes, sampling Vermont syrups, and doing a bit of beach combing in Acadia National Parks. There’s also a good chance of us making friends on PEI and then making terrible cultural blunders in Quebec. It all should be good for a laugh or two and hopefully nobody gets deported. Noel

I was in Target gathering last-minute things for our trip, when I rounded the corner past the beauty items to see the long line reaching to the hair brushes. Some kind of computer glitch had taken out all the systems in the surrounding area. I am a patient girl, and I tried to make friendly conversation with the folks in front and behind me. And it did not happen. Come on people, I said in my head. A little humor together could make this waiting go faster, or at least pleasant. A couple registers came back to life after a re boot, and the line started to crawl forward. I finally made it to an actual “line” in front of an actual register thinking this was almost over. As I was looking around, realizing this is what it would be like if all computers died suddenly after all the satellites fall from the sky or something, I turn to see this old man with blue eyes behind me. We made eye contact, and began talking about the ridiculousness of this mess, but with a bit of fun and joking. I instantly liked this old man, and knew that if anyone in this place had time to spare, it was him.

We begin talking about life, and his belief that the solution of all the world’s problems could be answered in one word….”Honesty”. He wanted me to think about that for a minute, really think about it. Well, standing in the line, which was still stopped because of the computers, I had a few minutes to do just that. Our conversation then spanned topics such as Sweden, Noel and I, cultural pride, Antisemitism, the holocaust and the importance of continuing to talk about it with our youth. It was a warm and full conversation; he quoted my favorite Einstein quote, “Imagination is more important than Knowledge”. He advised to let my child be creative and explore, and only then do more answers pop up to be solved. Life is a race he advised, that no one wants to win. He divulged that his girl friend, saying this as a young boy would reference his girl, is always looking to that other event, that other place to be while not fully being in the moment. He lectured that people are not comfortable in the moment, and they rush to the next one, not knowing that you must feel content during every moment of life. I wanted to hug this old man, take him home in my pocket and bring him out every now and just to listen to his words of wisdom, which I already try my damnedest to live by every day. He was the old man version of myself, and I so wanted to laugh out loud. I told him about our upcoming trip and he wished me and my family well as I finally successfully paid for my items. Our summer trips have crazy amounts of moments like this one, and I am excited to begin that journey. I am looking forward to letting our family be content and fully aware in every moment we stumble upon.

Albert “Big Brain” Einstein

As I turned to leave I felt sad I was not going to see him again. I told him I was ever so glad that the systems decided to conk out, so that I was able to chat with him for so long. He smiled sweetly because I knew he was glad too. Corey