The Traveling Plant: Preparatory Logbook

Philip Lavender

Iceland, c. 1000

Gothenburg, Sweden
Researcher, Department of Literature, History of Ideas and Religion, University of Gothenburg

You will be arriving by boat. Over the wave-peaks the rugged coast gives way to the glacier-clad interior. That interior is best avoided. The fertile strip around the coast is the most hospitable for you. But as you come ashore, cast your roots down and feel the nutrients in the soil, tephra, spewed from the many volcanic vents. Good for you, but in this fertile soil there is also a relative scarcity of thriving vegetation. At around the time that the last heavy ash-rains coated this island, visitors arrived on boats like the one you came on. They needed trees to construct houses and ships. Your plant-siblings have a hard time here since this colonisation. The northern climate too poses problems, but while you’ll notice a chill in the air, you’ll be able to feel the sun’s rays upon your leaves for much longer than normal in the summer. Consider this adventure-tourism: many human visitors will in the future. Your stay may not be laid-back and sultry, but perhaps you are not a laid-back and sultry plant. A human being, looking at you, might think that not much is happening. But looks can be deceiving…