Tony Fogarassy, Winnipeg, MB

The lands and waters of the Ósar farm, located on the Vatnsnes peninsula in northern Iceland, reflect what it means to be Icelandic. Stunning scenery, abundant wildlife, and one of Iceland’s unique geological formations, Hvitserkur, all steeped in ancient Icelandic culture back to the time of the sagas. Ósar and Vatnsnes provide a unique view into the daily challenges of rural Iceland and a window into 11 centuries of Icelandic life.

The view from Ósar of the estuary draining the lake Sigríðarstaðavatn into the North Atlantic, along with the mountains of Langadalsfjall and Tröllakirkja, is second to none. The uniqueness of the Ósar geography results in one-of-a-kind cloud formations. The moonrises are riveting, especially with swirling clouds caressing the moon. The pink hued sunsets are iconic – a slow transition into night that is characteristic of northern latitudes. There are no more beautiful horses in Iceland than those that dot the pastures around Ósar. 

Ken Kristjanson, Winnipeg, MB

As I brought my bride of 64 years her Mother’s Day breakfast in bed, my thoughts moved back in time to my own mother. I was born May 8, 1936. In August of that same year, we were on the freighter the Roddy S. for the first of many nine-hour boat trips to our home for the winter at Albert’s Point on Humbuck Bay. My father and his brother Hannes had seized an opportunity to buy a run-down fishing station there from a man known as Footless Cope.

This was the height (or depth?) of the Depression and every opportunity to feed your family was seized upon. Footless Cope, whose real name was Cubby Jacobson, owned the fishing station at Albert’s Point and had a 99-year lease with a $2 annual fee. It consisted of an icehouse, bunkhouse, and a magnificent log cabin. The log cabin had been constructed by two experienced “axe men” from Sweden. They felled and peeled 25-foot white spruce logs and first built the kitchen. They then added another 20-foot log cabin for the family and, to complete the job, they added a third bedroom/office.

Katrín Níelsdóttir Winnipeg, MB   

The effort to rebuild the personal library of Stephan G. Stephansson is not new but it is gaining new momentum. In a recent interview conducted with Edward van Vliet, facility supervisor for the Stephansson House Provincial Historic Site, the ongoing work at Markerville came into sharper focus: a long-term project rooted in both preservation and community. At Stephansson House, that work centres on something that, strictly speaking, was never entirely lost: Stephansson’s personal library.

When the house was restored and reopened, the goal was to present it as it would have appeared in 1927, when Stephansson and his wife Helga were living there. At that time, the house included a substantial personal library—one that reflected both his intellectual life and the practical realities of farming on the Prairies.