Iceland vs. Ferry County

I went for a drive a couple of days ago. Steering the residency's 1983 Suzuki down the driveway, I merged onto the rural highway and headed into town. Cruising down the road, I spied an oncoming car. As the driver and I met each other, my hand automatically opened to give a friendly wave at the man in his Audi. He gave me a strange look and obviously wondered why someone he didn't know would wave at him. At first, all I could think of was the disappointing fact that he didn't return the wave- and then I remembered that Iceland is not Ferry County, where people wave... and Audis are scarce.

With my errands finished in the village, I returned back to the residency where my brain continued to compare and contrast my hometown of Curlew, Washington with this island I have called 'home' for the past three weeks. I felt like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz when she suddenly realizes that she's not in Kansas anymore. Iceland differs from Ferry Country just about as much as Kansas differs from the Emerald City.

Hints I know that I am not back home:
-People don't wave at each other
-Trailer parks are scarce
-Severe lacking in blue tarps and orange bailing twine
-No one parks their broken-down cars in their yard
-I can't find a Ford pickup anywhere.
-Churches are almost completely empty on Sundays.
-It's really hard to find a bag of Doritos.
-There aren't any Ponderosa Pine or Douglas Fir trees.
-No one is talking about the upcoming hunting season.
-Children don't yell 'MISS BYRD!!!" at me when I am in the village.
-It's not 90 degrees and HOT!
-Gas costs a lot more.
-People do not decorate their homes with taxidermied animals.
-Shark cheese.
-Chickens don't roam the streets.
-Lava.
-Geysers.
-Hot springs.
-Um...glaciers.
-Groups of old men don't sit around local cafes and chat about their farm equipment.
-I haven't seen any advertisements about upcoming 4-H shows or county fairs.
-Innertubing is not considered a pastime.
-Jumping in the freezing cold ocean and swimming IS consdiered a pastime.
-People die from falling in cravases here.
-Bud Light cans are missing from the roadside ditches.
-Coors Light cans are missing from the local roadside ditches.
-Pabst Blue Ribbon cans ar missing from the local roadside ditches.
-WalMart Popcorn Chicken containers are missing from the local roadside ditches.
-"Holy ennit, cousin?" is not a common sentence.
-A series of extra vowels and are present in the alphabet.
-"Aint" is missing from the local vocabulary.
-I can't drive to see my parents on the weekends.
-Gum costs $3.50 per pack at the gas station.

Here's in celebration of the differences between Ferry County and Iceland- two very different places, but both are filled with very good people.