These giant stone formations were found along the coast of the southern shoreline in Iceland. The large hexagonal column formations are volcanic, of course, as is everything in Iceland, but I had never seen such formations anywhere else in the world.

The formations themselves are magnificent, but I love how my family managed to spontaneously arrange ourselves in such a good pattern across the rocks. Large prints of this photo, taken by our excellent guide, Snorri (what a great Icelandic name), hang on the walls at my parents' and siblings' homes.

The photo is also a bit sad and reminiscent, as it was the last big trip we were able to take as a family. We had tried to arrange to take a family vacation together once a year, with the entire family. The year before, we had all gathered at my sister's ski house in Vermont in the winter and had a very enjoyable long weekend. Then the following year we went to Iceland, one of the few places that none of us had ever been. Since then my wife and I have divorced, my brother and his wife had a baby girl, I moved to Washington State, and it has been impossible to coordinate everyone's schedule for a holiday.

The photo is a very nice reminder of a certain time when we were all together as family, all relaxed and enjoying the same things at the same time and happy to be in each others' company. And it was all in such a magical place, the hot geysers, the mountains, the icebergs stranded on the beach (a photo for another submission later), the glaciers, the whitewater rafting, the long days or sunlight, all made it quite easy to understand why Icelanders belive in magic. It was clear that we had experienced our own magic here, and it showed itself in a wonderful family portrait that we did not have to try very hard to produce. Hard to say if we'll get that chance again.

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