It’s Not Reykjavik. Welcome to Shakyvik.

Reykjavik. 24 February 2021. Quarantine Day Two.

I awoke from a jet-lagged stupor at 10am. The bed shook. HARD. While I’m a pro at shaking a mattress (wink), I was in bed alone. MTM is across the Atlantic in Charleston.

And. The. Bed. Still. Bucked.

Bleary, I stumbled from bed, fired up my computer, and found Iceland’s earthquake site in time for another rumble. (Their government has a website and corresponding app for everything: Road conditions, volcanic activity, covid, weather, wind. My god, the wind.) Over the last 48 hours, almost 300 earthquakes have rumbled greater Reykjavik.

Seismologists trace the tremors to Grímsvötn, a volcano that last erupted in 2011. It sent an ash plume twenty kilometers (twelve miles) into the atmosphere the last time it blew. While not as disruptive as the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, Grímsvötn closed Keflavik Airport, the one I breezed through Tuesday morning.

For readers who don’t know much about Iceland’s geology, the island lies along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a seam between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. As they grind together, magma and ash burble upward. When enough volcanic matter concentrates on the surface, it forms an island like Iceland, the land mass one visits today. Iceland itself consists of 130 volcanoes. While many are relatively inactive, Grímsvötn is one of Iceland’s three hot-spot cones. Along with Katla and Hekla, they lie along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge’s main seam as it bisects Iceland from south to north. On average, one of these volcanoes erupts every five years. WE ARE OVERDUE, PEOPLE.

I AM TOO EXCITED TO BE SILENT ON MY SILENT RETREAT. Every time the ground shakes, I rush to the computer to see if the volcano is erupting. I stand there, stupid-worked-up, and beg the Icelandic volcano gods to hold off until I escape quarantine. SO I CAN ACTUALLY SEE IT.

How does MTM react to this Shakyvik crisis? At least, one of us has the sense to be worried.

While I flit around the apartment squealing every time the ground moves, MTM orders me to show him the space. Why? I cackle. Because you need to go to the sturdiest interior room if a big one hits, he barks at his idiot wife.

Like I need another excuse to sit in the bathtub!

In other news, how efficient is Iceland’s covid app? I got this message by text and email six hours after I landed at Keflavik.

Finally, I’d like to introduce you to my dear friend Sarah Thibault. (Seriously click the link. I own the lovely featured painting called “Doomscroll.”)

A gifted artist and writer, Sarah’s work hangs in spaces from the American Embassy in Uruguay to discerning homes in Madrid to my very own bedroom. 🙂 She writes about topics as diverse as learning tarot during quarantine to why your phone camera makes noise on Medium.

Sarah launched her Artists + Travel podcast today, and I’m the inaugural installment! Click the image below to listen, or simply CLICK HERE to go to Spotify.