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Yes, I Am In Your Business
Since moving back to the States, chances are that if I was in the next aisle from you in Target, I heard everything that you were saying to your friend on the phone. I heard what type of cheese you ordered standing in the deli line at the grocery store (and how many people were coming to your house for the dinner party). I heard every single conversation that 20 different parents were having at the bus stop, all at the same time! Even sitting now at a local café I am completely distracted by not only the conversation between the two workers behind the counter but also the conversation…
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“Uniquely Me”
It has been two months since moving back to the U.S.A. from Switzerland. Two months of raw emotions filled with both extreme highs and extreme lows. Two months of anxieties and clarity. Two months of a new kind of loneliness and reunions with friends and family. As the dust continues to settle, words are still hard to come by to explain exactly what is happening within my thoughts, my heart, and my soul. That said, every once in awhile there might be a song that comes on that can highlight a feeling. There is a T.V. show or movie that can give words to the unrest that lies beneath. The…
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Bonnie Scotland
Over the course of the last two and half years, we have been very fortunate to have traveled a part of the world that we have never seen before. And I think we can all agree that these experiences are not to be taken for granted. Mainly because every time you have an opportunity to experience a new place, a new culture, or a new landscape, it brings you out of your own ego, your own perceptions, your own narrow reality. And for this, we are very grateful. We have been to many different countries and cities over the course of the last few years and each one has left…
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Turning the Big 4-0
They say that when you turn 40 you enter into a new stage of life where you begin to see things more completely, or maybe better put, you begin to see things as they really are rather than what you want them to be. Ideology and theory become less of a focus and the messiness of what is real life becomes more of a comfortable norm. Maybe it is about being content within the “grey” areas of our lives, a place where we seem to be better suited to hold two opposing things together without discounting either. This has certainly been the case for me as I reflect upon the…
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A New Hang Out
A few weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, our family decided to take a train to Thun so we could jump on a boat to visit a castle on Lake Thun. It is a place that we have seen many times but never gone. Well, we finally did. And then I had to go back!! For those who have come for a visit or have experienced the Swiss transportation system on your own, you know that the efficiency and quality make traveling around this beautiful country very easy. We have become very accustomed to the accessibility of all forms of transportation, and taking a trip to another city or mountain…
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Finding Freedom
I recently read an article suggesting that people over 70 feel more content and are happier now than at any other point. Some of the reasons proposed were more free time to do what they enjoyed, such as hobbies and spending time with family and friends. Other reasons suggested worrying less and not caring what other people think anymore. What freedom. You have the freedom to do what you want and with whom you want to, and more importantly, you experience interior freedom while doing it. I am a few years from 70, well 30 to be exact in September, but I long for the interior freedom that this study…
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Domodossola, Italy
On a whim, I took a 7:35 am train from Bern, Switzerland, to Domodossola, Italy. The one-and-a-half-hour train ride is beautiful down through the Bernese Alps. Although it was cloudy and a bit foggy on the Switzerland side of the Alps, the sun was shining as soon as we crossed through the tunnel and came out into Italy. Domodossola is a quaint little town in northern Italy with a beautiful old section. Once you arrive at the station, it is a quick 5-10-minute walk up the main street before you reach the side street that leads to the old section. Once you make your way into the main piazza in…
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A Quick Day Trip to Luzern, Switzerland
With one sick child at home over the weekend and the other not wanting to leave the house because he only wanted to ride his bike, I decided to take a quick day trip to Luzern, Switzerland. After missing the 8 am bus to our village, I began the journey on foot down the hill to catch the train. One of the great aspects of living in Switzerland is its proximity to neighboring European countries and the size of the country itself. Living relatively in the middle of the country in Bern allows you to virtually go to many different cities, mountains, or excursions within a short time frame. Whether…
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Solothurn, Switzerland
What a beautiful little city Solothurn turned out to be. Located in the northern part of Switzerland, situated on the Aare River, Solothurn is the capital of the canton of Solothurn. It sits at the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. Since moving here, I have meant to take the short 25-minute train ride to Solothurn. I walked the streets of its old town and had a great lunch at one of its many small cafes. The architecture and the way the city was laid out were beautiful to explore, and it is somewhere I want to return to many times to come.
