One of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever been is Switzerland, and not just because of the high altitude.
How can someplace be so wild and rugged…
…and yet so tidy and tame and settled?
You can take an escalator to the top of the mountain…
…and just when you think you’re alone in the most remote place in the world…
…you stumble upon a chalet where you can buy a cup of Ovaltine.
Or you hear cowbells and realize you are not alone after all.
When you’re looking straight up at the sky, where no mountain ought to be–surprise!–you realize its just playing peek-a-boo from behind the clouds.
We went for a hike, but the landscape seemed so domestic that we felt we should really call it a stroll.
We stopped to make a friend or two along the way.
And belted out the words to The Sound of Music because…why not?
Unlike the deliberate and well-defined cable car ride up to our little village, there was no clear threshold, no magic doorway from domestic to wild. The landscape changed so gradually we hardly noticed.
No cowbells here.
And then a shroud of mist descended so swiftly.
The path was obscured and maps were useless.
We couldn’t see the landmarks described in the guidebook.
It would soon be dark. We had no choice but to put one foot ahead of the other…
…keep walking…
…enjoy the mystery and adventure…
…And trust that sooner or later we would get where we were going.
That’s life.
All images and words copyright 2014 Naomi Baltuck.
NAOMI BALTUCK ~ is a Contributing Editor and Resident Storyteller here
at Bardo. She is a world-traveler and an award-winning writer, photographer, and story-teller whose works of fiction and nonfiction are available through Amazon HERE. Naomi presents her wonderful photo-stories – always interesting and rich with meaning and humor – at Writing Between the Lines, Life from the Writer’s POV. She also conducts workshops such as Peace Porridge (multicultural stories to promote cooperation, goodwill, and peaceful coexistence), Whispers in the Graveyard (a spellbinding array of haunting and mysterious stories), Tandem Tales, Traveling Light Around the World, and others. For more on her programs visit Naomi Baltuck.com
The BeZine 
Love the photos and your reflections on life.
LikeLike
Thanks so much!
LikeLike
Stunning photos! Having briefly visited Switzerland in my youth, I can say that the mists in the mountains was definitely one of the things I remember most about it. That, and that the people were so nice. We were able to visit a ruin called “Dornach” which is a very small keep close to Basel that has a tree growing out of the top! 🙂 I laughed when you mentioned singing “The Sound of Music”…it’s the perfect place to do it. Again, your photos are wonderful!
LikeLike