27 Oct 25
earth on foot 24
Ascona, Switzerland
Good morning, my friends! I’m here in Ascona, an area of Switzerland where they speak Italian! So, I have the opportunity to practice the beautiful language—something a bit stressful, but fantastic! I understand that to learn I have to keep speaking, even when I don’t know what to say or which words to use! Persist I shall.
Our resting spot, Monte Verità, is a magnificent, Bauhaus architecture conference center with a grand, technicolor history. It’s now home to 50 or so (mostly) particle theorists.
Who are somewhere nearby engaged in heated debate while I sit in the Zen garden. A bee flies into the flower garnish on my tea service, then commences unabashedly rolling around the yellow pollen interior. Gingerly, I move the sprig and continue drinking, noticing as I do the heart-shaped green tea cookie, perfectly baked. Eventually, the bee wriggles out and flies off to foliage unknown.
This moment of beauty comes in relief against this morning’s run along trails nearby—up and down and back up a mountainside. I didn’t exactly get lost, but my way turned into a much more adventuresome descent than I anticipated. One in which I tucked my water bottle and phone into hip pockets, thus enabling myself fully to clutch and crawl over sharp crags. This is what the Swiss probably call a Beginner slope.
By the time I got to the bottom, I so enjoyed the leafy straightaway that I was smiling away, rapturous with that blissful runner’s feeling gained while moving swiftly along a trail. Later on, I descended another steep slope to lunch by the lake— 118 floors so far today. And I have yet to finish teatime!
E ho anche visto queste cose, quando correvo: kiwi e vacche…
English Translation:
And I also saw these things, when I was running: kiwis and cows…
Yesterday, David and I drove with friends over the Simplon Pass, in the Valais region. I love quiet stillness of mountains. And did I mention the wonder of clouds?
Perhaps I didn’t mention that at the Pass there was snow because of the altitude.
I walked yesterday after dark, a fantastic thing to do! No one about except the mountains, and a lizard or two on the rock walls. The silence and darkness was profound. Ah, I really like the geography in Piedmont. And it is inspiring. Finally, after many months in a state of reluctant patience, I return to my novel writing project.
That’s all for now! Have an incredible day, and remember to smile!