beyond the dreams of some viking lord

Take a sec to consider how the residents of the Icelandic turf house circa 1890 would view my house today.

First, the bedroom. Look at the sheer size of that bed. Based on the size, you’d probably think at least four or five people sleep there, right? NO. It is exclusively for the lord of the house. Just from that alone, you know it’s a wealthy household. Also, the bedroom is heated in winter. Not just “next to the kitchen, the warmest room of the house”—the bedroom itself is heated. In fact, the entire house is heated.

The living area is similarly palatial, with vaulted ceilings and lots of natural light. One could fit an entire Sunday dance hall in here. The pantry seems understocked for late October, but you have to understand how wealthy these people are. They order from a catalog and food is brought to their house by cart the very next day. Fresh fruits and vegetables (even in midwinter). Meat, eggs, milk, bread. Exotic spices and sauces, pastries, premade soups…anything one could want.

When you think about it this way, it really puts the water main issues in perspective. The massive construction on the adjoining street is still ongoing with no signs of stopping. We’ve had at least three water outages from some bozo accidentally(?) crashing(?) the water main, and two announced outages from 10 am to 3 pm for them to hook up attachments. Plus intermittent water pressure issues (one day the water pressure was fluctuating wildly all day, so you’d be washing a dish and suddenly HIGH PRESSURE BLAST sends water spraying everywhere). But we’re still living beyond the dreams of some Viking lord.