elk in switzerland

Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less, dependent on nature, in a world of close to seven billion people. Achim Steiner,  U.N. Under Secretary General What's killing all the honey bees? That is the question posed by Swiss filmmaker Markus Imhoof, in his documentary More Than Honey. With breathtaking cinematography, Imhoof documents…

Summer is winding down and the nights are getting cooler here. Apples are ripening and the dry grass has been cut from the fields.The air has a crisp feel to it that hints at fall. Soon we will be entering our third season here in Switzerland. I love this season more than any other. Some…

“Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine.” ― Honoré de Balzac I wake and he's already gone, catching an early plane out of Zurich. I don't even know what time his flight leaves. I can tell by the light filtering through the blinds that it is grey outside. It…

This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First, to let go of life. In the end, to take a step without feet; to regard this world as invisible, and to disregard what appears to be the self. Rumi   Lewis had mentioned that the…

I simply love letters. A letter is so much more than an email. An email is just a click in time and doesn't demand too much attention. It doesn't feel real or permanent. It is quickly erased, easily forgotten. But a letter is forever. Thick, creamy cardstock stationery.  Whispery thin, onionskin air postal mailers. A letter…

Naturally, there are a lot of cows here in Switzerland. I see them every day when I run. They congregate in the most unlikely places. By the train station, behind the grocery store, on the beach. They seem to be free to roam, at will. When we go hiking, we have to maneuver around them…

Autumn Leaves The falling leaves Drift by my window The falling leaves Of red and gold. I see your lips The summer kisses The sunburned hands I used to hold. Since you went away The days grow long And soon I'll hear Old winter's song. But I miss you most of all My darling When…

Once again I am saying goodbye. I am at the airline gate, watching the back of my son's head as he reaches the last possible point to turn around and catch my eye.  But then he waves goodbye, without even glancing back. He always does that, it makes me crazy. He knows I am still…

Our apartment is directly across the street from a popular health club. I can stand at my kitchen window and watch some guy on a treadmill reach his personal best. I can see a Spandex-clad woman tinkering with the scales to make sure she hasn't gained a pound. And with my warped imagination, at night…

I am in Paris, sitting on a bench, inside the Musée de l' Orangerie, surrounded by Claude Monet's Water Lilies. The painting wraps all the way around the enormous room. It feels like I am in a large garden, on the banks of a vibrant pool of light and shadows and, of course, the lilies.…

I swim out beyond the little cove at the local beach. Past the dock, past the lifeguard and past the other swimmers enjoying their holiday. Even beyond the kayakers and the sailboats. The water is cold and clear swirling beneath my near-numb fingers. Looking up with my tired eyes, I see that on three sides…

I had a dream about Mom last night. In the dream, I was looking at an old photograph of her and then instantly the picture turned into her. She was alive. The warm sun was shining behind her and her face was bathed in gold. The feeling was utterly peaceful. She just sat beside me…

I know it's starting to feel more like home here because I'm baking bread. The first few efforts were pretty measly, the one with the weird dinkel flour was too dry and the other loaves came out thin and flat. I'm working with different altitude, strange yeasts and foreign grains, but my substitutions and makeshift…

Friday is Swiss National Day. I'm so proud that I know this fact and that come Friday night I won't be scared out of my wits when some loud and overwhelmingly spectacular thing happens. Like last time. Last month I had been enjoying a quiet afternoon until all of a sudden there was an ear-splitting…

Recently my husband told me I was behaving exactly like a 10-year-old. We were scheduled for a morning train trip somewhere and I was very cranky. I hate early morning travel and rushing around early. I like to enter into the morning hours gently with my mug and my newspaper, enjoying the post-dream state. Anyway,…

The rain is coming down in a cold, solid drench. It's a day I could call a wash. A day I might pull my arms out of the sleeves of my raincoat and zip up into a ball until the sun comes back. After a two night business trip with my husband, we check out…

Then your tail will divide and shrink until it becomes what the people on earth call a pair of shapely legs.  But it will hurt; it will feel as if a sharp sword slashed through you.  Everyone who sees you will say that you are the most graceful creature they have ever laid eyes on…

Mid-June in Copenhagen. A summer rain. The wind is steady and the air is cool enough for a sweater. The fog is heavy even though it is near noon. A woman of a certain age sits alone at a wooden table in a small cafe.The interior light is golden and the old stone walls are…

On witnessing the glacier at Saint-Bernina, Switzerland, June 7, 2014 Snow-blinded, it is hard to see at first My eyes come to rest on a valley where serene snow mass divides and forms a gelid chute Impervious, alive yet paralyzed.   White tongue of solid ice deceptively still and silent, but beneath static serenity a…

Yesterday a tree fell in our yard and I didn't hear it. Of course I didn't - I was here in Switzerland, thousands of miles away from home. But I felt the impact, I can tell you. Our son called to tell us about a huge thunderstorm in Durham and he walked us through the…