Exorbitant College Costs and Campus Troubles. What Caused them?

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Ken Goetz

If you’re a college student, or a parent of one, or if you just wake up most mornings, you already know a lot about our exorbitant college costs and campus troubles. But do you know what caused them? Do you know why college tuitions have gone crazy? Do you know who’s to blame? I’ve found the answers. Here’s the straight scoop (with its nasty twists and ugly turns), my long hours of research summarized in only 2500 words.

The beginning

The wheels of change began to turn, little noticed, in 1980, the very year when colleges and universities began hiking their tuitions. That year marked the beginning of five consecutive decades of unprecedented increases in college costs, the disastrous 50-year span that dropped us into the sorry dungeon that we struggle in today. How bad is it?

Well, students now graduate swamped with unprecedented debt. Bloated administrations have usurped faculty power. Professors are frustrated, angry, and intimidated. College courses are watered down. Students are indoctrinated by bureaucrats. Free speech is suppressed. That’s bad enough for me.

As I searched diligently for what prompted this mess, I found convincing evidence that a single spark ignited the original fire and that it continues to feed the hot flames in higher education even today. That spark, that culprit (sad to say) was none other than the federal government.

Bennett spotted the culprit

Over 25 years ago, then Secretary of Education William J. Bennett, argued that, contrary to the intentions of policymakers, increased federal aid actually was making college less affordable (“Our Greedy Colleges,” New York Times, Feb 18, 1987).

Bennett noted that college tuition had begun rising in 1980, and had continued to rise every year afterward at a rate that greatly exceeded inflation. He drew attention to 1978, the year in which subsidies became available to a greatly expanded number of students. (The Middle Income Student Assistance Act was passed in 1978, an act that expanded to all undergraduates the eligibility for subsidized loans; it also made middle‑income students eligible for Pell Grants.)

Bennett argued that the increases in financial aid had enabled colleges and universities to blithely raise their tuitions, confident that Federal loan subsidies would help cushion the increased burden. “Federal student aid policies do not cause college price inflation,” he wrote, “but there is little doubt that they help make it possible.”

Tuitions zooming upward

Over the intervening years, tuitions and other fees zoomed steadily upward, and with crushing effects. The magnitude of this trend is apparent in the accompanying graph. Please examine it carefully.

From the Mercatus Center at George Mason University (used with permission)

Notice that tuitions and fees were relatively stable from 1970 to 1980 (if anything they trended downward), but this changed dramatically in 1980 when costs began to rise sharply, just as Secretary Bennett noted. Moreover, costs have continued their steep ascent far beyond the time when Bennett brought attention to it in 1988. This eye-popping escalation of tuition expenditures has greatly enriched colleges and universities across the nation.

It has been argued that many students do not pay full sticker price tuition and fees. This is a fair point, but no one can deny that the cost of attending college has soared to unsustainable heights, and leaving multitudes of students mired in debt. According to an up-to-date report, the current student debt totals $1.757 trillion. Click here for data.

Professional schools hit hardest

Those going on to professional schools are especially hard hit. According to various online sources, the debt for recent medical school graduates averages about $200,000 (really !), but a sizeable number report they are in the red for twice that amount. Try to imagine that. To illustrate how dramatically times have changed, consider how affordable education was for me. Admittedly, I’m of vintage age, but when I enrolled at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1955, my out-of-state tuition was $1,000 per academic year. My only support, thanks to a tour in the Air Force, was the G.I. bill that paid me $110 per month for four academic years. By working part-time and employing a bit of creativity, I managed to complete my undergraduate degree, two years of medical school, and a Ph.D. During this time I took out only one $500 interest-free loan. I later completed my clinical years of medical school at the University of Kansas without further borrowing. More to the point, I knew of no one then graduating from medical school with heavy debt.

Indirect costs enrich schools even more

The heavy surge of tuition dollars is not the only source enriching colleges and universities. Many institutions of higher learning have another significant source of income, this from the federal government. Research grants funded by the likes of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation carry with them so-called indirect costs. These indirect costs go not to the research projects themselves, but to the general coffers of the colleges and universities in which the research is performed. Indirect costs are meant for such expenses as building maintenance, utility costs, and, of course, administrative staff, some needed to comply with various federal, state, and local rules and regulations. (As we know, with government money comes government control.)

How generous are these indirect costs? For financial year 2021, the NIH spent $32.3 billion (direct and indirect costs combined) funding the grants awarded primarily to researchers in colleges and universities. The average indirect cost rate for colleges and universities is somewhere between 50 to 60% of direct costs. To estimate conservatively the annual value of these indirect costs going to higher education, assume an indirect cost rate of only 50%; at this rate colleges and universities would have received one-third of the $32.3 billion total dollars awarded by the NIH in 2021 – nearly $11 billion dollars – a hefty addition to academic money chests.

In short, the indirect costs pouring in from Washington, combined with the heavy inflow of tuition dollars, have provided colleges and universities with loads of money to spend. Where is it going?

Faculty woes

One might imagine that faculty members would be among the major beneficiaries of these riches. After all, they are the ones who directly educate their students and perform research, the basic missions of higher education. Despite this, professors have benefited little. Salaries naturally vary widely from school to school, but one of the latest sources I found compared the average salary of full-time faculty in the 2018-19 academic year with the salaries reported 50 years earlier. In 1970-71, full-time faculty members earned the equivalent of $81,030 (in 2018-19 dollars). In the 2018-19 academic year, full-time faculty earned an average of $88,703, an increase of 9.5% over the intervening five decades, a paltry amount when compared to the surge of lucre pouring into institutions of higher learning.

Not only have professors received little in the way of raises, but over the same period the percentage of full‑time faculty fell from 77.8% in 1970 to 53.9% in 2018. Since part-time faculty generally earn less than full-timers, one might infer that the total amount of college spending for faculty rose even less that the 9.5% salary increase for full-time members.

Proliferating administrations

Much of the money flowing into colleges and universities is being sopped up by administrators. Perhaps that’s not surprising. As Paul Campos, a professor of law at the University of Colorado, and an authority on the economics of higher education, was quoted the Yale Daily News last year, “. . . as revenues [of universities] go up, there has to be found ways to spend them. And one of the most natural ways to increase spending is to increase administration, the size of it and the compensation of the top administrators in particular.” How correct he was!

Administrators have proliferated – and at astonishing rates. According to a 2014 article in the HuffPost, during the 25-year period from 1987 until 2011-12, (the most recent academic year available at the time), American universities and colleges collectively added over half a million administrators and professional employees, or an average of 87 every working day!

These bloated administrations are consuming oversized portions of the enlarged academic pie. For example, the James G. Martin Center recently published an article focused on the University of North Carolina system (See here). Included was a table revealing the number of administrators and average salaries on each of the university’s 16 campuses. That table is reproduced below. The total salaries of administrators in this system came to nearly 250,000 million dollars! And please notice the AVERAGE SALARY of those administrators.

Nationwide, countless administrators are filling posts that didn’t even exist a few decades ago – many of these under the ubiquitous umbrella of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Although these simple words have multiple definitions, the focus of them in academia is heavily on race and skin color, not, for example, on diversity of opinions.

This rapid growth of DEI staffing has come with heavy costs. Here is an example from the University of Michigan. The National Review reported earlier this year that UM will spend more than $18 million this academic year on salary and benefits for its diversity, equity, and inclusion staff. (This amount was reported to equal the cost of in-state tuition for over a thousand students. See article here) The vice provost for equity and inclusion makes $380,000, and 17 DEI staffers make more than $200,000, and 95 (out of more than 140) make more than $100,000 in total compensation. Note: DEI is an integral part of the Woke culture that I criticized in a recent post (See that post here)

What effects do these massive outlays produce? Although this question is difficult to quantitate, The Heritage Foundation last year published a report that analyzed data from 65 universities (all members of the five “power” athletic conferences) and compared the number of people having formal DEI goals (average of 45 per school!) with student satisfaction surveys from the corresponding institutions. Analysis of the data revealed little relationship between the number of DEI personnel and the satisfaction of students with their college, or even with their personal experiences with diversity. See that report here.

Salaries of Top Administrators

As Professor Compos noted, one natural way to increase spending is to increase the compensation of top administrators. And top administrators are pulling it in. To cite an example from my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the salary of Chancellor Donna Shalala in 1988 was $95,000; by 2019, Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s salary was $582,607.

The upward swing continues. In mid-2022, the University of Wisconsin Regents hired Jennifer Mnookin to be the new chancellor at a base salary of $750,000. A quick adjustment for inflation indicates that Chancellor Shalala’s salary in 2022 dollars would be $235,365, thus the inflation-adjusted value of the chancellor’s salary has more than tripled since Donna Shalala presided there.

Wisconsin’s generous outlay for its top academic position is not unusual. Professor Judith Wilde of George Mason University has studied the compensation of college leaders for some time. After analyzing approximately 250 presidential contracts with her colleague Jim Finkelstein, Professor Wilde said, “There are various add-ons in contracts that sometimes aren’t even defined. They may include an entertainment allowance, tuition support for family members, or even spousal pay. (UW Chancellor Mnookin’s husband will join the UW political science department as a full professor earning $275,400, which is, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, about $100,000 more than the median salary for full professors in that department.)

Beating state governors’ salaries

“What I find most fascinating,” said Professor Wilde, “is that presidents of public universities have higher salaries than any elected or appointed public official. Everyone we’ve looked at makes more than the governor of their state.”

As the salaries of top administrators have escalated, so has the size of their administrations. Admittedly, part of administrative growth is a direct result of governmental regulations that have left colleges and universities “immersed in a jungle of red tape,” according to a Congressional task force report written some seven years ago. (One might wonder what the task force has done about that recognition. Nothing, it seems.) Professor Campos acknowledges the burden imposed by government regulations, but he believes it is “overblown” and fails to adequately explain the soaring expansion of administrators in higher education.

“I think we don’t yet have a Vice President for the rights of the left-handed,” quipped a professor of English in the Yale Daily News, “but I haven’t checked this month.”

Administrators rule the roost

Whatever the relative causes for the bloat of administrators in colleges and universities are, one result is glaringly obvious. The balance of power has shifted. Professors now often must bow to the diktats of administrators. My discussions with university contacts, along with those cited below, leave no doubt that the morale of most faculty members, especially the senior ones who have known better days, has plummeted in recent years. Frustration and anger are common. Here’s a representative comment I found online.

My university’s grant office insists on rewriting all grants that are sent out, and as a result we don’t get any. I have literally just given up. It is not worth it to have all my work replaced and rewritten and then turned down.

A vivid and detailed description of certain campus challenges was provided by four Princeton professors in an article published recently in the online magazine, Tablet. That excellent article is available here. A snippet from it appears below.

Gripes from Princeton professors

What are we getting for this huge commitment of resources to administrators rather than classroom teachers? Today most universities lack core courses in the basics, but they do eagerly issue speech “guidelines” overseen by the new bureaucracy—to police how faculty conduct classes. Similarly, campus administrators are reshaping students’ lives in their campus residences, mandating student attendance at freshman orientation sessions and panels aimed at forming morals and attitudes on subjects ranging from sexuality to identity to “privilege.”

The Princeton professors concluded by offering practical suggestions to remedy this dismal situation. They advocated limiting the fraction of courses taught by non-tenure track instructors, and, in order to limit the amount of indoctrination that takes place in lieu of education, to subject to faculty review all mandatory attendance events held by administrators. Importantly, they also urged all institutions to adopt the Chicago Principles of academic freedom.

Are university governing boards the key?

One logical step not mentioned by the Princeton group would be to convince university governing boards of the problem and urge them to demand their appointed presidents or chancellors not only understand the disruptive effects of their bloated administrations, but that they also decisively reduce the excess, or be replaced.

Another obvious approach, admittedly a Herculean task, would be to induce Congress to rein in its own crew of federal administrators and demand they slash the myriad of regulations Washington has layered onto institutions of higher learning. (I offer this knowing that attempting to roll back governmental regulations is like sending a snow plow to reverse an avalanche. But miracles do happen.)

Conclusion

To conclude, Secretary Bennett was on to something when he asserted that, contrary to the kind intentions of policymakers, increased federal aid actually was making college less affordable, a trend that has continued over most of the intervening 35 years.

What Bennett did not mention, and may not have foreseen, was how high tuitions would climb, how stratospheric student debt would become, how bloated and authoritarian administrations would become, how faculty morale would suffer, how campus life would deteriorate.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

If you read this blog often, you know that I do not focus on a single theme. Unlike most bloggers. I just blather away, writing about whatever I find to be interesting at the moment, much like a weekly newspaper columnist might do. Admittedly, there are times, such as when writing the post above, that I spend considerable time and effort gathering information before I summarize here what I’ve learned. To be honest, I sometimes wonder whether it’s worth it, primarily because I have far fewer readers than the typical newspaper columnist. So here’s my pitch. If I pique your interest at times, and if you know others who might like to read my posts, please pass the word along and ask them to subscribe to my blog at writerken.com. And if they decline? Break their arms!

Stay tuned.

The Wooden-Headed World of Woke

Posted on March 8, 2023March 8, 2023 by Ken Goetz

Have you been following the wooden-headed world of woke? The nonsensical, fatuous, obtuse, moronic, dimwitted, imbecilic, and dopey world of woke? Admittedly, the word means different things to different people. To read a broad view of the varied meanings click here.

One of the least divisive definitions of woke I found is “alert to and aware of issues of social justice.” That sounds fine to me, but the actual effects of this wokeness are, to be honest, frightening.

As I reported in my last post, simple words like field have been banned in some woke circles because the word “may not be benign” to descendants of slaves, and immigrants. Go figure! And the “woke” get even wackier.

This woke cult has invaded supposedly rational organizations and left them scratching their respective heads for words that won’t “dehumanize” someone. Really! Apparently even calling a person a “woman” can be offensive.

Dealing with the horror

How can one deal with that horror? Well, the American Cancer Society jumped aboard and recommended cancer screenings for “individuals with a cervix,” while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prefers “breastfeeding people.” (But be careful! Others recoil at that description and opt for “chest feeding” people). Not to be outdone, the Cleveland Clinic came up with “people who menstruate.” (That of course excludes a considerable number of older women who no longer menstruate. But medical logic be damned at the Cleveland Clinic!)

Here’s another example: The Lancet medical journal wrote about “bodies with vaginas.” Are you in tune with that approach by the Brits, or do you think they too have gone crazy? If you are a woman, I have another question. Do you feel better when others avoid that simple descriptive noun and refer to you by using one of the above alternatives? If you don’t feel better, or if you are possibly surprised by the change, you might want to unite with other women of the world, and bombard these idiots with the ridicule they deserve.

Nicholas Kristof

As one would imagine, thoughtful individuals on the left naturally have recognized the damage that wokeness may do to Democrats. Here’s how Nicholas Kristof, writing in the New York Times, expressed it. I fear that our linguistic contortions, however well-meant, aren’t actually addressing our country’s desperate inequities or achieving progressive dreams, but rather are creating fuel for right-wing leaders aiming to take the country in the opposite direction.

I’m not sure exactly what Kristof meant by the “opposite direction,” but he is correct that these word manipulations by woke folks aren’t addressing real problems, many of which begin with education and security (or lack thereof) in the inner cities, the sites where genuine progress could, and should, be made.

Kristof might have added that the fuel he mentioned, that provided by those woke folks, is likely ignited in more than just right-wing leaders. That fuel surely flares up in people who line up across the political spectrum, often raising their temperatures to fever levels.

The woke crowd also has come under attack by noted comedian Bill Maher. He has said, Woke … I only heard the term three or four years ago … and it was, like, alert to injustice? OK, I’m down with that. But he went on-

Maher’s opinion

It became sort of a by-word for a lot of this goofy stuff, that’s what I’m always railing against.

In a recent interview with Jake Trapper of CNN, Maher said this. I mean, five years ago, Abraham Lincoln was not a controversial figure among liberals. We liked him. Now they take his name off schools and tear down his statues. Really, Abraham Lincoln isn’t good enough for you? Maher went on:

Woke, which started out as a good thing, ‘Alert to injustice’ — who could be against that? — but it became sort of an eye roll, because they love diversity, except of ideas,” Maher said. “And that’s not really where we should be. I mean they have a trail of very bad ideas, I would think.”

A Maher quote worth pondering

But then you have Trumpers and then you have wokesters, he continued. And, you know, those fringes are not doing this country any great favors.

Maher also voiced what I, and many others, have noticed. I believe what I’ve always believed, he said last year. Then, referring to the woke crowd, he said, You change these things and then you yell at me for it.

I’ve recognized the same phenomenon over my long life. As some of you may remember, I’ve reported here earlier that I was a Kennedy Democrat in college (see here). I still hold to the same principles. I believe everyone should have equal opportunities, and equal freedoms, regardless of race, religion, or other preferences. But the political landscape has shifted steadily over the years. Although I have not changed my values, I find myself now astride a spot a bit to the right of the shifting middle line.

If you enjoy reading these posts, please pass them on to others. I don’t know what topic I’ll dig into next, but I’ll try not to bore you. Stay tuned.

Is It Racist To Ask What Field You Work In?

Posted on February 26, 2023 by Ken Goetz

What is your field of work? Apparently some individuals deem that to be an unsettling question. Let’s examine this viewpoint.

Please take a moment to consider what the word field means to you. What does it bring to mind? I asked myself that question and instantly came up with a stream of impressions: baseball field, football field, battle field, Flanders fields, Field of Dreams, amber fields of grain, and field of work. Did you come up with anything similar?

I’m curious because earlier this year (you may have seen the notice) the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work removed the term “field” from its curriculum. Why? Because it may have racist connotations related to slavery. (see here)

Huh?

This change supports anti-racist social work practice by replacing language that could be considered anti-Black or anti-immigrant in favor of inclusive language, according to a memo sent to the school’s faculty and students. Language can be powerful, and phrases such as “going into the field” or “field work” may have connotations for descendants of slavery and immigrant workers that are not benign.

Could be considered? I suppose if you have a certain mindset, and you’re adept at fatuously gathering wool, you could come up with such nonsense. When I was younger, I worked in wheat fields and oat fields, shocking grain, often sweaty, thirsty, and worn, working for zero pay on the farm where my grandfather worked as a sharecropper, yet never once have I connected that time with the word field.

What are they thinking?

Try to put yourself into the minds of those California social workers. Imagine for a moment the variety of words that could be considered anti-black and may have connotations for descendants of slavery. Make up your own list of words that might, against all logic, offend someone. Go all out. The important point here is to cut loose from reality, and to take pride in your daffy efforts.

Here’s one that came right off the top of my head. Hand. After all, slaves used them, immigrants use them (as do you and I, but no matter). And no matter that hand, just as field, has a cluster of meanings.

While doing this, you might wonder if you will be able to find others who agree with you. Loonies who indulge in this sort of thing would be laughed off the streets if they didn’t have like-minded clones with similar delusions. To illustrate that there is nothing new under the sun, I offer two comments (of several found online) from fellow social workers regarding the Southern California School’s memo.

We at the University of Minnesota Duluth are considering making a similar change, and I’d love to learn how other programs are thinking and talking about this if so. I imagine it will become a more common topic of conversations in social work and other disciplines.

Hello! We are going to be implementing changes at Ferris State University. We are currently discussing this within our leadership team and then will begin the process of rolling out the adopted changes. As you all can imagine, the amount of changes are astronomical (literally just thinking about the million places “field” shows up in our documents, and even my title is enough to blow my mind).

Uh Huh!

Imaginative zeal on the rise

This imaginative zeal to ban what zanies consider objectionable material pops up often these days. Here’s another example for you to consider.

Kansas puts clusters of three letters, along with three numbers, on its automobile license plates. The letters are randomly generated and later scanned to eliminate any that might be considered obscene, or otherwise objectionable.

Trouble popped up some time ago when a pair of imaginative eyes spotted a license displaying a combination of three letters that snapped the observer to attention. The offending letters were NGA, such a hot potato that it was sent sizzling to officials in Topeka, who in turn took swift action and ordered a good number of Kansans having plates harboring that objectionable sequence of letters to switch to another combination, warning them to return the licenses or risk being ticketed for having invalid tags.

Just across the state line, The Kansas City Star broke the news on its front page and quoted two spokespersons from Kansas’s division of vehicles, one reporting the combination of letters could be read as an abbreviation of a racial slur; the other saying “The plate combination, if read as a phrase, can be perceived to read as a racial epithet.” (That stumped me.)

The Star’s editorial board jumped in as well. The state has officially recalled 828 plates with the letters “NGA” – although they are randomly assigned letters, and appear to be a condensed version of a loathsome racial slur.

Appear to be? Is that so? Perception carries a delicate scent, some noses being unduly sensitive (or perhaps fanciful) to it. Might certain nostrils flare after a quick sniff of a license plate embossed with, say NG, or even the fainter whiff emitted from a lone letter N (which in turn alerts a conspiratorial brain: That N word!)

If this nonsense continues, our alphabet, and much more, will be in danger.

HOUSEKEEPING NOTE:

I plan to continue looking at this weird phenomenon in my next post, possibly by examining how one liberal columnist, who obviously knows the stuff above is inane, found an interesting way to write about it. (As some of you have noticed, my opinion at times diverges from current thoughts. For one example, see here.)

For those of you who have noticed my absence from this space over the past several weeks. I apologize for my tardiness. I’ve been working on other material that I hope to publish elsewhere. Beyond that, as sometimes happens to everyone, I’ve had a string of time-wasting chores that needed to be attended to.

How a one-time house painter attempted to become an “artist”

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Ken Goetz

The story of how a one-time house painter attempted to become an “artist” never entered my head until an observant neighbor sent me a thought-provoking email, one that prompts me to tell you this story.

It started earlier this month when I posted a photo of the Christmas lights decorating my balcony. I realized that one could look beyond the balcony and see into my apartment through the double set of sliding doors and check out parts of my living room/dining room, but I thought nothing would come of that. Click here for that view.

Did you notice the multicolored painting with bands of different colors? Well, Michael, who lives nearby in this apartment complex did. He emailed me after seeing the post, saying: “Through your glass doors, I see a “Frank Stella”. Poster, print or canvas? It is a classic Stella image and beautiful.” Did you notice the authority in Michael’s words? I did. He obviously knew plenty about Frank Stella, and likely art in general.

The work Michael saw on my wall was indeed a Stella image, one I had painted after seeing it on the cover of a medical journal. Mine wasn’t a hopeless project. I had worked with a professional painting crew during my early college days, painting new houses and learning a bit about mixing colors. I also had a steady enough hand to draw straight lines, and this work of Stella’s (Sacramento Mall Proposal #4) has more straight lines than I care to count.

Stella’s version is big, stretching over 8 1/2 feet on each side, and much bigger than anything I wanted to hang on my wall, so I settled for a canvas about half that size, roughly a 4 foot square. I gave the entire canvas a coat of white paint and then sketched the pattern in pencil so both the major and minor bands of color would become miniature version of Stella’s.

Using acrylic paints, I mixed the colors one by one and painted the thicker bands free hand, starting with the red square in the center, and then moving progressively outward with each different color up to the final brown. Next, I added the thinner bands onto the white background, each band getting darker as I moved outward. I used a small brush this part and was very careful to keep the edges as straight as possible.

The result? It was a colossal disaster! My effort looked terrible. it looked blah, it looked nothing like Stella’s, even though my colors matched his reasonably well. The problem slowly came into focus. I finally recognized that my blunder was my white lines. They were too thin, barely visible and not bold enough to separate the different colors, not able to add any sparkle to the painting.

The solution was obvious, and it made me sick. Every one of the white lines needed to be widened. And there were so, so many. I thought of the time that would take for me to painstakingly widen each line with my tiny brush. I wondered whether it would be worth the effort, whether I should just toss the piece into the trash.

Then common sense arrived. Why not use tape to define the limits of each white line? I bought a roll of masking tape, masked one complete side of the painting at a time, slapped white paint between rows of masking tape, and in about an hour I finished the whole thing.

To come back to Michael, I’ve known that he is a financial advisor who has a post-graduate degree in economics, an occupation I couldn’t connect with his obvious knowledge of Frank Stella, and presumably other art as well. I was truly puzzled. So I emailed him with questions. Had he studied art formally? Did he also paint?

It pays to ask questions. Yes, Michael has a broad knowledge of art. Many years ago, he told me, he had owned an art gallery. He had bought and sold art in Switzerland and Germany. And yes, he also does what he called “some amateur painting.” He sent photos of some of his interesting work. Another benefit of blogging, I thought, learning more about other people.

To wrap this up this story of a one-time house painter, I’ll add that mimicking Stella wasn’t my first attempt at being a copy cat. Years before I had seen a reproduction of a composition by Alberto Magnelli that I liked, so I painted my version of that one in oil.

And I even did one more about a dozen years ago, this one being a copy of The Sun by Edvard Munch, a huge mural in Oslo University’s assembly hall. This one has more curlicues and other wrinkles than the others.

That’s all for today, the story of a one-time house painter’s artistic attempts as he tried his best to put matching colors on canvas. Too bad I didn’t know there were websites designed for guys just like me. See here.

Have a Happy New Year! See you in 2023. Stay tuned.

Merry Christmas, Dear Readers

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Ken Goetz

Merry Christmas, Dear Readers! I will keep this short, because I am scurrying around, trying accomplish enough today and tomorrow so that I will be able to relax and enjoy this Christmas weekend with friends and family. We in the Kansas City area had a couple of inches of snow last night, and my cell phone tells me it is -2 degrees Fahrenheit (about 40 degrees below normal) as I type this in mid-afternoon. Looks like we’ll have a White Christmas! Have you seen the movie with that name? I have, at least three times. I see it’s available on Amazon (see here).

The apartment complex where I live had been undergoing repainting until this cold spell, and because of this few residents have put up outdoor Christmas lighting, but I bucked the trend and put a little color on my balcony. A couple of nights ago I went on the other side of the canal that flows past my place and took a photo, just to show that I and my downstairs neighbors are in the spirit.

My neighbor’s brightly lit Christmas tree reminds me that when I was very young, in the mid 1930s, my Schafer grandparents would decorate their fir tree with strands of tinsel, something rarely seen today. They also added a few ornaments, but the most striking addition to the tree was a collection of a dozen small candles, each about twice the size of an ordinary birthday candle.

Each candle was nestled in a decorative holder equipped with a clamp designed for attaching it to a branch. As you can imagine, those candles were placed with extreme care, because Christmas trees ignite easily, and they burn with intense heat. Predictably, the candles were lit only briefly, for only a few minutes each night, and when we sang carols and opened gifts on Christmas Eve. The candles’ flickering flames were spellbinding. For a small boy, those moments were magical.

I doubt that I’ll see you again before the new year arrives, so Happy New Year to all. I look forward to seeing you in January. The world is going through bad times, enough to make me occasionally grumpy. If this keeps up, I’ll probably have some gripes after we ease into 2023. I may even get back to politics. You may remember I graciously gave President Trump a grade of D- (see here). President Biden should be so lucky! Stay tuned.

Remember Pearl Harbor Day

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Ken Goetz

I remember the attack on Pearl Harbor. I lived in Timber Lake, SD, a small town west of the Missouri River. It was Sunday, December 7, 1941, I was nine years old.

So what? most of you might say. Why, I weren’t even born then! If so, I suggest you belong in what psychologists define as an “out-group.” If you’re not familiar with the word, imagine this. Suppose you learn of a massacre of 30 children in the Ukraine. How would you feel?

Next assume you just have been informed that 30 children have been murdered in a school one block from your home? How would you feel? In the Ukraine case you would be part of an out-group because you have no direct link to the event. In the local case, you might even know some of the children. So you would be part of the in-group. Would your emotions be different in the two situations?

In-groups and out-groups can be defined in many ways: having the same ethnicity, the same religion, the same location, or even, according to me, living in the same time frame.

I was railroaded into this train of thought this morning when I looked at my kitchen Word of the Day Calendar and discovered that it didn’t even mention that today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Shocking, I thought. (I felt better when I saw that my At-A-Glance desk calendar proudly mentioned that fact in CAPITAL LETTERS (and it even added the tidbit that we have a full moon today).

Anyway, as a member of the in-group who was alive during the attack on Pearl Harbor, here’s the briefest summary of that day. The attack by three types of Japanese airplanes (torpedo planes, bombers and fighters) began early on Sunday morning. The destruction was massive See here.

We had no television (no one did at that time), but the news came over our radio on its shelf in the living room. We heard anxious voices at the scene being interrupted by explosions and the rat-tat-tat of machine gun fire. We quickly learned of heavy losses that included the battleships USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma that sank to ocean’s bottom. Six other battleships were damaged, along with cruisers, destroyers, and other vessels.

More than 2,300 Americans were killed during the battle and another 1,100 wounded. This, of course, was the event that propelled us into World War II. On the next day, December 8, it was an unusually warm day in Timber Lake, and I was standing outside the open front door of our little home on Timber Lake’s Main Street, listening to our radio through the screen door when President Roosevelt came on the air and gave his Day of Infamy speech. I can still hear his voice, probably because I’ve heard it numerous times since then in recordings made at the time. His opening sentence was:

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” Even I, at nine years old, recognized the significance of his words. So I say, again, “Remember Pearl Harbor!”

Tensions had been rising between Japan and the United States for some time before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Tensions possibly similar to the world today as dictators are rattling their warhead and shooting them into the oceans. Meanwhile, the Russian attack on Ukraine smolders on. You may have heard that Ukrainian drones recently attacked air bases within Russia. The war seems to be getting hotter. And this is up-to-date: Vladimir Putin just said, minutes ago, just as I was about to hit “publish” on this post, that nuclear risk is rising, a possibility I have considered here before (See here).

Thought for the day: Let us hope that another day of infamy is not around the corner.

Want to visit Mars or the Moon? Iceland is cheaper.

Posted on November 18, 2022November 18, 2022 by Ken Goetz

Did you happen to see the NPR story today about Iceland touting itself as a better destination than Mars or the Moon? After all, Iceland has otherworldly sights like red rocks, black sand, and sub-glacial volcanoes, not to mention such goodies as oxygen, and plenty of water. If you haven’t seen the story, you can find it here, along with photos and a very funny little video called Mission: Iceland. Don’t miss it!

I was particularly interested because, as many of you know, my last seven posts on this site combine into essentially a travelogue on Iceland. I describe much of the country and recount some of the interesting adventures my daughter, Anne, and I had while visiting that island nation in August. If you’ve missed any, they all are still available. You can find the first of the series by clicking here.

Briefly, the NPR story reveals that Iceland’s tourist board claims that their country offers more amenities than space, and at a fraction of the cost. Another advantage of Iceland? No space suit is required. Not only that but their geothermal pools are luxurious, as our time in the Blue Lagoon proved to me. Maybe Iceland does beat Mars and the Moon.

Geothermal bath in Iceland — **Enjoying the soothing Blue Lagoon**

Even NASA likes the place. It often has used Iceland as a representative of the moon’s terrain for training purposes, and it is still doing so as it prepares astronauts for other missions.

Here’s a quote from NPR’s story: Iceland is an amazing analog for both the Moon and Mars,” says NASA’s Kelsey Young, who researches the exploration of planetary surfaces and who has done geologic fieldwork in Iceland.

As some of you have noticed, I’ve been silent here for over a month, longer than I would have liked. Why the silence? Well, I’ve been doing a bit of traveling, and I’ve also occupied myself with other jobs. I’ve spent time researching for a fairly extensive article I’m writing with the intent to submit it to a major newspaper. I’m also involved in another project that has taken more time than it should have. End of excuses. I hope to see you back here soon. Please stay tuned.

Exploring Iceland, the Island of Fire and Ice, Days 7 & 8

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Ken Goetz

For our final days of exploring Iceland, the Island of Fire and Ice, we investigated Reykjavik, the capital city. Nearly 70% of Iceland’s citizens live in the Greater Reykjavik’s region. (Roughly 235,000 reside around Reykjavik whereas the entire Island is home to about 345,000 residents.

We had settled into the same hotel we had on our first day in Iceland, The Foss Hotel Reykjavik. I’ve mentioned a couple of times (for example here, and here) how fantastic Iceland’s hotel breakfasts are. Here’s an example. When we made our morning entrance into the Foss Hotel dining room, we usually began by selecting from a variety of fresh juices and coffee choices and taking our filled cups and glasses to a table waiting with folded napkins and flatware. Having established our beachhead, we made our initial foray to the lengthy line bulging with appetizing items.

The hot portion of the line offered bacon, eggs, sausages, hash browns and other potatoes, meat balls, baked beans, miso soup, pancakes, and more. Another section featured a broad selection of cold meats, cheeses, sauces and salsas. There was a selection of flavorful breads ranging from Icelandic black breads to rye and flatbreads. Toasters stood at the ready, as did a selection of butters and a generous mix of delicious jams.

If you have a yen for cereal, hot or cold, you couldn’t find a better place. The choices covered the gamut for discerning taste buds. After that, of course, were yogurts, skyr, milks, and creams, along with a cornucopia of toppings, twenty or more as I recall, each neatly stored in shiny stainless steel containers and including all of the common nuts, not to mention other options such as chia seeds and goji berries. In short, here was a cereal lover’s nirvana.

Last, but definitely not least, were the pastries. These tasty teasers usually were too much for us to consume while on the premises, but we couldn’t pass them up. Wrapped in paper napkins, they made a fine snack with coffee later in the day.

“Flying” over Iceland

Reykjavik shines with attractions. On Friday we rambled a good distance, walking along the shore and making our way to an immensely popular feature called FlyOver Iceland. Once inside that building, we buckled ourselves into seats before beginning our breath-stopping ride, our seats responding as to gravity while we skimmed virtually over Iceland’s wonders. You can experience an exhilarating sample of our experience by clicking HERE. (Do not pass up this opportunity! You will love the dynamic views of Iceland’s stunning topography. I suggest you right click on the link and open it in a new tab, ideally on a PC.)

We naturally sampled some of Iceland’s most popular provender. After “flying” over Iceland, we stopped for lunch at Reykjavik’s oldest hot dog stand, called Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (English translation: “The best hotdog in town”). We had walked past the stand several times, and each time there had been a long line of folks waiting patiently to order from that little stand that has been in business since 1937! Anne took her place in line shortly after 1:30 p.m. while I settled onto a nearby bench to observe her progress. Some 20 minutes later she returned with our lunch, and a smile.

Waiting in lind at Reykjavik's hotdog stand — **Waiting for our Reykjavik hotdogs. Anne is fourth from the left side in this photo**

We learned these hotdogs are made from lamb as well as pork and beef. Toppings include crispy onions, raw onions, ketchup, mustard, and remoulade. Anne had ordered mine with everything, and hers with all but raw onions. The hotdogs, we discovered, were surprisingly delectable.

Famous Hotdogs and Coke — **A tasty lunch of hotdogs and Coca Cola, a highly popular drink in Iceland**

Well fortified by our satisfying lunch, we nosed around the city center, slipping down to the harbor and marching up, down, and across much of the city center. As the afternoon faded, we headed back to the Foss Hotel. Anne proudly noticed she had accumulated over 15,000 steps that day (as I think she had on other days as well). That meant we had put 7 miles or more on our shoe leather that day. Actually, it wasn’t unusual for us. We hiked hours every day.

We popped into the Hotel’s Beer Garden for our evening meal, sharing an order of fish and chips and splitting a burger. Although the bar serves an astronomical number of brews from around the world, we settled for local tasty brews. After dinner we began packing our suitcases for tomorrow evening’s flight home.

Evening at Foss Hotel Beer Garden — **Toasting our last dinner in Iceland at the Foss Hotel Beer Garden**

Saturday

After lingering over the final morning meal of our trip, Anne and I ran our eyes over the hotel’s dining room for a final time, storing memories of Iceland’s fantastic breakfasts. Next, we finished our packing, checked out, and left our luggage with the porter. We had more to see and do. Our first stop was the Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Church, which sits atop a long, sloping hill about 3/4 a mile from the Foss Hotel. With our eager stamina, we made the climb in less than Google’s estimated 15 minutes.

The church is beautiful, as the above collage shows. Notice the openings high above. Identical sets are on all four sides of the edifice. We took an elevator up to near the top and climbed the remaining stairs to the bell tower where we admired the city in all four directions. I took the featured image of this post that looks to the northeast from the tower, toward the Foss Hotel Reykjavik. Inside, the organ pipes are big, much larger than they appear in the photo above. And finally, did you notice the shadows of Anne and me? The sun was SHINING, a rarity during our trip (but we have no complaints).

After our leisurely visit to the church and its surroundings, we ambled down the hill, zigzaging from street to street to take stock of more of the town and making our way to the harbor where, we had been told, a super gustatory experience could be had at Saegrefinn (“The Sea Baron”), Gourmets near and far claim that restaurant makes the best lobster soup ever, and it comes, along with bread and butter, at a reasonable price in expensive Iceland. We, as people usually must do, waited the better part of an hour to be seated. The verdict? The lobster soup is truly tasty, but I think I’ve had lobster bisque equally good.

Waiting for lobster soup at the Sea Baron restaurant in Reykjavik — **Patiently waiting at the Sea Baron restaurant for world-renowned lobster soup**

After enjoying that renowned soup, we walked briskly back to the Foss Hotel to collect our luggage and wait for our driver to return us to the airport. While waiting, we watched the lobby’s TV stream a live view of the nearby volcano (just 20 miles away) as it continued its recent eruption, spurting out bursts of fiery lava that oozed bright red onto its slopes.

Our driver, the same friendly woman who had brought us into town, came a bit early and efficiently deposited us at Keflavik International Airport. We took off on time for our evening flight to Chicago, officially ending our delightful eight days in Iceland, the island of fire and ice. We flew over Greenland and, being far north, that land mass was still bathed in sunlight as we passed overhead. I’ll end this series with a collage I put together for us to ponder. Any thoughts?

Comparison of Greenland's and Iceland's terrains — Anne took the left photo as we flew over Greenland on our way to Chicago. I took the one on the right when we had rolled along Iceland’s Highway 1 in our Land Rover. Both shots were taken in August, 2022. As Shakespeare famously said, “What’s in a name?”

Next time, I’ll tangle with another topic. Thanks for stopping by. And stay tuned.

Exploring Iceland, the Island of Fire and Ice, Day 6

Posted on September 28, 2022September 30, 2022 by Ken Goetz

I realize I’m cracking eggs too often, but memory compels me to report another superb buffet breakfast awaited us as we began our 6th day of exploring Iceland, the Island of fire and ice. Breakfasts in Iceland’s hotels were top notch, highlighted by endless choices of morning favorites, cheery talk, melodic chinking of silverware, and the constant traffic to gather seconds, and to sample other items.

After soaking up the atmosphere in the Geysir Hotel’s dining room, not to mention gratifying our taste buds, we wrapped up a couple of goodies (tasty Danish pastries) and tucked them away for a later snack. Our main target for the day was the Blue Lagoon. Anne had reserved the Premium Package for us there in early afternoon, so we didn’t need to rush away from Geysir.

Our drive, according to Google Maps, would take only about an easy hour and half. We noticed we would drive through Reykjavik on the way, and then reverse ourselves and come back to Iceland’s capital city for our two final days on the island.

So, having plenty of time, we delayed our checkout from the hotel and walked the few paces to the Geysir Center, a large modern building adjacent to the hotel. We discovered a gorgeous mall featuring Icelandic brands, a restaurant, an ice cream shop, and a fast-food soup outlet. I’ve mentioned before how Iceland’s shops in their tourist areas are kept neat as a pin (see here). Below is a photo depicting a portion of the Geysir Center. Neat? Or not?

Below I’ve spliced together the two ends of the building to show the cafeteria at the other end.

It was after mid-morning when we finally loaded our luggage into our Land Cruiser and aimed for the Blue Lagoon. The air was uncharacteristically dry along the way, the visibility sharp and clear, fine conditions to study the varied terrain of Iceland as it glided by.

The Blue Lagoon has an interesting history, albeit a fairly recent one. It was formed in the 1970s when water and steam discharged from the newly built geothermal plant next door refused to seep into the surrounding permeable lava field as engineers had expected it to. They soon realized that a high silica content in the lava had been released by the heated water and in turn sealed the rocks. Thus the lagoon gradually grew into a gigantic pool as more hot water was released. Because of the way silica (the lagoon water’s most abundant element) reflects sunlight, the water has a bluish tint.

Therapy for skin ailments

In the early 1980s, people began easing into the inviting warm waters. Not only did they find the dip agreeable, but reports soon surfaced that the experience had curative effects for such common afflictions such as psoriasis, eczema, rheumatism, and sciatica. You can find more historical details of the lagoon here.

Commercial opportunities for the warm healing waters were obvious. In 1995, a clinic for treatment of chronic skin conditions was established on the site. From this grew an enterprise now consisting of a couple of fancy hotels, a spa, two tony restaurants (one Michelin recommended), and more. In short, it has become quite the place, not to mention one of Iceland’s major tourist attractions.

Checking into the Blue Lagoon

I didn’t know all of this when we pulled in the Blue Lagoon parking lot, a broad space filled to capacity with cars, vans, and buses. We posed in front of the sign before checking in. The check-in was highly efficient, thanks to a number of attended computer stations. All was fully booked when we arrived. Without Anne’s reservations, we would have missed a memorable adventure.

At the reception area, we were given an electronic wristband which served to secure our lockers and to make purchases inside the lagoon. Thanks to the packages Anne had ordered, we were given towels, bathrobes, and slippers, and directed to the men’s and women’s locker areas. The water in the Blue Lagoon has no chlorine in it, so all guests must shower naked (the lagoon’s emphasis) before putting on swim suits, thus ensuring they are well cleansed before entering the water.

As I eased down the ramp into the huge pool, it felt somewhat like slipping into a hot tub, but there was a definite “smoothness” to the the water, and it felt fabulous. Once in, I could feel the squish of what I thought was a thin layer of silica mud on my toes. Anne and I found each other and explored sections of the lagoon. Submerged shoulder-high, we ambled and bobbed about, stopping at a poolside bar for Gull beers (the drink was part of the admission fee), and even having algae masks applied to our faces at another station. Those face masks, green and thin in texture, dripped off within minutes, but stickier white silica mud masks, also available, lasted much longer. Plenty of whitened faces floated above the shimmering azure surface.

A gigantic hot tub

The water temperature in the Lagoon varies between 37 to 40 degrees Celsius (98.6 to 104 Fahrenheit), comparable to a hot tub. It is a blend of fresh water and sea water that converged about a mile deep in the earth where extreme heat and pressure combined to force it up to the surface. Through methods I didn’t investigate, the lagoon is said to be naturally renewed ever 40 hours. Sites pumping the hot water in are spotted around the lagoon, and the water near those places is warmer, a difference we noticed when nearing those sites. Time was not a factor as we padded through the cozy, enveloping warmth, soothed and relaxed, zigzagging occasionally to avoid fellow bathers.

When we finally came up the ramp into the chilly air, I glanced at a wall clock and was astonished to see that we had been immersed for two hours. After we both showered away residual molecules of blue, Anne and I met in the cafeteria and had sandwiches for lunch. Tourists filled the tables. We found ourselves seated next to a retired British couple who had arrived via a cruise ship for their second trip to Iceland. Residents of Kent, they were hearty travelers, having covered much of the globe, yet somehow they had missed the USA. No problem, they were scheduled to fly to New York City later this year. Anne offered suggestions, among them certain Broadway plays they might enjoy.

Return to Reykjavik

Then it was back to Reykjavik where we checked into the now familiar Foss hotel. Anne then returned the rented Land Rover to Hertz, feeling rather sad to part with the vehicle that had served us well. She had picked it up in rain and, perhaps fittingly, drops began to fall as she left the lot. The evening sky had warned her, so she prudently had donned rain gear and enjoyed her 25-minute walk back to the hotel. Her rain-spattered face was grinning when I caught sight of her in the hotel lobby. We headed for the hotel’s Beer Garden for a light supper of Gull beer and an order of fish and chips that we shared. We had two more days in the town, and we began planning to make the most of it. Stay tuned.

Ending Note: My skin was noticeably smoother and firmer for a couple of days after soaking in the Blue Lagoon. Imagination? I don’t think so.

Exploring Iceland, the Island of Fire and Ice, Day 5

Posted on September 15, 2022September 15, 2022 by Ken Goetz

For our fifth day of our exploring Iceland, the land of fire and Ice, we had ambitious plans, with three major attractions on our list. We left our elegant but dimly lighted room in the Geysir Hotel and headed for the dining room, anticipating another delicious and expansive breakfast. We were not disappointed. A huge buffet, offering practically every breakfast item one could imagine was set up in there (shown above), all sorts of foods located in an extensive area behind the spot this photo was taken.

Notice the steam

Look through the windows above and notice the steam rising from thermal areas just across the road. Notice also the parched land and rock just outside the windows. a feature I assume the hotel’s landscape architect left natural to reflect the nearby thermal areas. Also located nearby is the Great Geysir, one described in print in the 13th Century, and the source of our word geyser. The Great Geysir has pretty much run out of steam, so to say, and it rarely erupts these days, but another good-sized one is just a short distance from the hotel.

Strokkur

Known as Strokkur, this geyser erupts frequently. Since we were so close (Strokkur is just a couple hundred yards from the hotel), Anne and I went to see it do its stuff, examining various hot bubbling springs on the way. A group of maybe 50 folks stood upwind from Strokkur, their phones and cameras at eye level. We joined them, and within a couple of minutes, WHOOSH!! Off it went. Strokkur’s water source heats quickly, and it erupts every 4 to 10 minutes, often spurting its plume of boiling water up 100 feet into the air or more.

After our inspection of the engrossing thermal area (which reminded me of similar spots in Yellowstone National Park), we set off in our trusty Land Rover to explore more of Iceland’s diversified topography, our first stop being another watery wonder, Gullfoss, the most photographed waterfall in Iceland.

Google maps told us it was a short trip from Geysir to Gullfoss, and it was. When we arrived and stepped out of the car, the wind was whipping wildly (I had to grab my cap), turbulent water was pounding nearby, and the sun peeped out!

We made our way to near the roaring falls and paused with opened-mouth awe at the tumbling waters, their churning force. Anne walked down further down the path to where the mist was swirling and shot the video below. It’s best viewed on a full computer screen. After you click the play button in the center, I recommend you watch it in full view by clicking the symbol in the lower right corner. You’ll need to press your ESC button to come back to this view afterward. (I mention this because you may be as nontechnical as I am.)

GullFoss with its two tiers of falls is mesmerizing. We took time to stand and gaze at the scene, imagining the enormous source that fed this amazing waterfall, its average flow being about 375,000 gallons per second during the summer, less in winter. For more information about Gullfoss, see here.

Next we retraced our path through Geysir and drove on to see another fascinating example of Iceland’s topography. Google maps told us we had about an hour of driving to reach the Kerid Crater, a prediction that hit the target.

The Kerid Crater is believed to be a magma chamber that collapsed at the end of a volcanic eruption some 6.000 years ago. The crater is nearly 200 feet deep, including the water pooled at the bottom. One can amble all the way around the crater’s rim on the path provided and admire the colorful black and red slopes that contrast with the aquamarine water, but Anne and I had another major attraction on our schedule. More information about this ancient crater can be found here.

Our next target was Thingvellir, a fascinating national park that sounded absolutely fascinating. What made it so appealing?

Two reasons

First of all, it is the site where Iceland’s first governing assembly was formed, this occurring way back in 930. (Yes, in the tenth century. Think of that!). So Iceland developed a primitive representative parliament some 800 years before anything similar was adopted in the United States and France.

Secondly, part of western Iceland rests on the North American tectonic plate, while the rest of the country lies on the Eurasian tectonic plate. And these two gigantic plates are grinding and slowly moving apart from each other (at a speed of less than an inch each year), yet that slow, massive displacement is the cause Iceland’s frequent earthquakes, along with its clusters of erupting volcanoes.

Beyond that, Iceland is the only place in the world where this tectonic rift rises above sea-level, and, as we discovered when we arrived, you can see the edges of both plates clearly in Thingvellir. For more about this amazing piece of ground, see here.

Two gargantuan tectonic plates — **Ready to hike between two gargantuan tectonic plates**

The park is made for walking, and we set out to explore parts of it on foot. We hiked along a curling course, navigated lots of steps and stones, and discovered a hidden waterfall splashing over black volcanic rock. Much more information on this remarkable park can be found here.

Waterfall in Thingvillur — **We found another delightful, crystal clear waterfall splashing merrily over black rock**

We then returned to our car via another path, covering some 2.5 Km on that late afternoon ramble. By then it was time for us to return to our base at the Geysir hotel. We had reservations for a special dinner that evening. Although our 2022 birthdays had occurred months earlier, we planned to celebrate them again while in Iceland. Anne piloted our Land Rover back to Geysir, thus completing the roughly triangular route we had followed on this inspiring day.

Once back in our ultramodern Geysir hotel, not to mention our dimly lighted room (although the lighting was irritating, the hotel overall is great), we had time to freshen up and even mix cocktails before wandering down to the hotel’s restaurant. Anne had alerted the staff to our special dinner, and we were offered glasses of champagne to set things in motion.

Celebrating our birthday at the Geysir hotel — **Celebrating 140 years!!! Anne’s 50 plus my 90**

We ended out birthday fest with delicious chocolate caramel cake, a fitting end to our great day of exploration, a day that we happily noted had been nearly entirely free of rain! And more excitement lay ahead of us. Next morning, we were to return to Reykjavik, with one of our much anticipated stops along the way being the Blue Lagoon, a highly-touted and huge outdoor patch of milky blue waters. Anne had reserved time for us to float in its healing warmth. Stay tuned.

As most of you know, I am posting descriptions of each of our memorable days in Iceland. If you’ve missed any of our earlier days, you can find them by clicking on these choices: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4.

Writer Ken

A personal blog on science, medicine, travel, politics and current events

Author: Ken Goetz