We have a slate of 14 people, with one double, on the board of the ICCT (the Icelandic Canadian Club of Toronto) of which I am a member and co-editor of the newsletter. With nothing on offer except a remote, sparse, virtual encounter, it seemed like a good idea to do a thumbnail sketch of each board member—not easy. They are all disparate individuals, with interesting backgrounds and skills. When you consider the size of a thumbnail, even a big one, you won’t get much information, and you want distinctive facts—what makes each person different, something by which you will remember them so that when you (finally?) meet them face to face, you will nod in recognition. (“Oh, yes, you’re the one with the Métis citizenship card,” or, “You’re the one who likes to bake” or, “you’re the one who wrote the history of Kinmount,”—and so on.

But the most salient fact about most of us (me included) is the Icelandic connection. I call it symbiotic, and it is, almost mystic—no, not almost. Mystic, yes, and magical, too. Many of them described the first association as “igniting a fire”—one they didn’t even know existed. And now they/we can’t put it out. Who would want to?