One of the great things about living in Southern California is the proximity of open space to just about all developed areas. I live in Los Angeles, and am rarely more than a 30 minute drive from a solid hike in the backcountry. Today, the hiking destination was Las Virgenes Canyon, a hilly area on the west side of the San Fernando Valley.
For much of the year, the SoCal backcountry is yellow, dry, and crunchy, but for a couple of months in the spring, after the winter rains but before the summer heat, there’s a little water and the hills are green flecked with yellow mustard grass.
On today’s hike, I encountered all sorts of creatures – frogs and swarms of tadpoles in small seasonal ponds,hawks, small mammals, and even a very large rattlesnake poking his head out of the bushes on the side of the trail. There’s nothing like almost stepping on a rattlesnake to liven up the senses. From then on, every stick lying on the trail becomes a potential snake…
Whatever our respective political stripes, I believe Gentlemen and Gentlelady Adventurers the world over can agree that the Cocktail is among America’s greatest gifts to the world. And also that a Martini does not contain vodka…
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Strokkur Geyser Eruption from Jesse Keller on Vimeo.
This geyser is next to the original Geysir, from which all other spouting jets of geothermally heated water get their name. Unfortunately, Geysir, after centuries of regular eruptions, was plugged up a few years back by some tourists throwing rocks into it. Strokkur, however, soldiers on…
Eating Hákarl In Iceland from Jesse Keller on Vimeo. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of sampling Hákarl, an Icelandic delicacy made from what most people describe as putrid or rotten Greenland Shark meat, but what the museum1/Hákarl producer in the video above pointed out was not rotten but rather fermented. Hákarl is made by burying chunks of Greenland Shark in the earth for several weeks, then hanging it out to dry for several more. This leeches out the ammonia that is naturally present in Greenland Shark due to its lack of kidneys, making the finished product nearly edible, at least when accompanied by several shots of Brennevin (the local schnapps). Still, a significant amount of ammonia remains in the Hákarl, so while the consistency is definitely that of fish, the taste makes one think of old cheese soaked in Mr. Clean.
I was recently fortunate enough to marry a lovely and adventurous young woman, now Mrs Laura Marie Keller, née Kuebel. And better yet, thanks to generous wedding gifts, we found ourselves possessing of the means to have a hell of a good honeymoon. That is why I am writing this dispatch from the town of Ísafjörður, in the remote Westfjords region of Northwestern Iceland.
Laura’s preffered brand of adventure involves dramatic landscapes, sleeping outdoors, and long hikes without encountering another human being, and Iceland’s steep-sided fjords and vast unpopulated areas offer plenty of that. But while I love these rugged, outdoorsy adventures, I also like to savor some of the other adventures a country has to offer. So when I saw mention of the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft in the town of Holmavík (pop. 420), I knew I had to pay a visit.
And, Gents, let me tell you: it was worth the detour. It turned out to actually be a fairly serious collection of ephemera relating to witchcraft trials in the region in the 17th century, alongside some displays and recreations of folk magic rituals taken from actual Icelandic grimoires from the last several hundred years.
These grimoires contain what appears to be a mixture of contemporary European hermetic magic, complete with Enochian scripts, and older Viking traditions, using Futhark runic inscriptions.
Among the spells were one for calling up storms to afflict one’s enemies at sea, involving runes and the head of a lingcod.
But perhaps the strangest ritual was that of the Necropants.
First the sorcerer must convince a man to willingly bequeath his skin after his natural death for the purposes of the ritual. Then, after the donor is buried, the sorcerer exhumes the corpse and removes the skin, without a tear or scratch, from the lower half of the body. He then steals a single coin from a widow, and places it in the scrotum, and puts on his new Necropants, which will then produce coins anytime the sorcerer reaches down and desires one. I guess it beats working…