I want to pick and choose.

I love the fall, but when I awoke at my usual time to dark random thoughts flowed through my head.

Fall is my favorite season: the cooler temperatures, the colors, the clear sunny days (mostly that is and of course today isn’t one of them), the possibility of fires in the fireplace, the chestnuts: in short most everything. I even love the return to “normal” time.

So I’ll pick the fall as my favorite season, but choose longer days.

And even dead, beautiful leaves

I enjoy fruitcakes: I’ll pick the treat and keep nuts and raisins, but choose one without candied fruits.

Food is still a favorite item: I’ll pick the cheese cake, the lemon meringue pie, the champagne, but I’ll choose for them to be healthy and calorie free.

I enjoy having a pet and would love a dog, however my life as it is doesn’t allow for the necessary consistency: I’ll pick the animals, but choose cats.

Babette and Clea - sisters!

 Weather: I returned to Europe as I disliked seeing the sun every day – that still holds true, I love the seasons so I’ll pick them but choose to have my rain overnight, my fog briefly and my sun (in the summer) not to hot.

And a heart in every pool of water

I know that the world contains both good, bad and indifferent: I’ll pick to be here, but choose to only have the good (o.k. a spot of indifferent is acceptable).

Disease, illness, pain, and sorrow – they all hit us at some point in our lives: I’ll pick to be here, but choose for none of these to affect any of my family and friends.

Number 601

This is my 601st blog...

And since it is the first of September I thought it fitting to interrupt my Canadian series with one on the beginning of fall.

As my former housemate said in her blog http://theexpatwriter.blogspot.ch/2016/08/i-survived-summer.html, we have survived summer!

And although it is not yet officially automn, this morning when I drove down from “my” mountains I discovered the season’s first fogs along the River Rhone. That of course meant that I had to stop several times for photos as I just love the shades of gray, the romanticism of slightly blurred scenery and the feeling of the air’s temperatures lowering.

Rhone River towards St.Maurice

Fog along the Rhone River behind the fields

Plowed fields and fog along the Rhone River

Peaks lingering in the clouds and fog this morning

Fog makes even the roads and electric wires prettier!

Then there was the sun rising on the mountain peaks.

Part of the "Cimes de l'Est" as seen from St.Maurice this morning

My coffee buddies were mighty surprised when I showed up and announced that it was a gorgeous day and that I was in a very good mood: as one said, “a woman in a good mood so early in the morning, wow”. Hmm… wonder what we, as women, have done to give them that image of ourselves.  Nevertheless, even that remark couldn’t put a dent in my joy at not  only having survived the summer, but also to be entering my favorite season – FALL.

Break out the blankets, keep on the lookout for leaves turning yellow and orange, enjoy cooler temperatures and the pleasures of a sweater or jacket: life would be good.

Indian Summer

I may not be on the East coast of the USA where the phrase was originally coined, but it so fits today’s weather: one would think that we were in mid-September or the beginning of October, not its last day!

I started out on my walk dressed as I have been for a month, but it took only 100 steps for the sleeveless jacket to come off and it was early on in the forest that the sweatshirt also ended up around my waist. We haven’t enjoyed weather this warm for quite some time.

The oranges are basically gone – a cushion of brown underfoot; some yellows linger and there is even the odd red leaf, mostly strawberry or blackberry.

the leaves cushion the path

strawberries are long gone

 Oh the beauty though of being able to see further in the forest, to notice the light shining on the moss and ferns: as usual I needed to do no staging, mother nature arranges things so well.

and yes ferns can live in cold climates

parts of the forest have a lot of moss

Believe it or not, I found this patch of moss with that leaf turning it into a heart just like that!

There was the noise as well: of me shuffling leaves or if I stood very still, I could hear the sound of the larch needles falling onto the other leaves – the sound of rain without the wet or the gray – I’ll take it!

Larch needles falling on dried leaves sounds like rain drops.

Off the beaten path

Which I could just as well have entitled “detour” or “wandering” or “once again I took the path less traveled”.

Yesterday when I set out for my last weekend in the mountains I had no intended plan other than delivering some flyers on the way. My last stop was just in front of the border at the Café de la Frontière restaurant, run by one of our favorite waiters from years ago at another restaurant. Now although I was just depositing some flyers I wanted to at least say hi (he is the other person who gives hugs as good as my younger son) so peeked into the restaurant instead of just leaving the flyers on the sideboard of the entry. Not only did I get my usual hug, but another of our favorite waitresses from the same restaurant of days past was there having a cocktail before lunch (she now is the manager in yet another restaurant – one that myself and the boys really like, but as they are both less available, we have not yet found the time to go back there). Ah, the beauty of it all – so stopped for some conversation and a tomato juice – after all I was getting on the road, right? She and I made a date for lunch next week.

So it was almost an hour later before I again got in the car and headed on. I didn’t need to stop for lunch as had grabbed a sandwich before stopping with the intent of number one not being tired when I finally drove (big meals see me needing what my husband used to call a “pause”) and number two of not having to stop.

It was another of our glorious fall days so when I had to stop at the traffic light after having passed beautiful fields with rolling mountains still covered in orange and yellow, I made a snap decision and turned right instead of going straight!

A narrow road led through a small village up the hill and through the woods until I came out on a plateau overlooking Lac Léman on the one side and the back country of France on the other: wow would be about the only word that I can use to describe it. I returned through the small village of Ballaison – had always wondered where it was and how it looked when I passed the signs on the lower road, but had never bothered to stop – and continued on my way.

the scenery that had me turning off the main road

I do love my reflections

wandering through the woods

Although not wonderful sites in themselves, the views are extraordinary

The view overlooking the lake

quirky? out in the middle of nowhere someone got clever!

 

Ballaison's church, which I am going to have to go back and explore

the trees lining the road in Evian as I drove through

Vineyards and the mountains still covered in colors!

Today the weather is holding so yet another walk in the woods, yet another train adding color, yet another dip into my past as a child as I shuffled leaves to my heart’s content.

the yellows are predominent now, most of the orange is gone

This bird was re-introduced to the Swiss alps several years ago

I do like fall!

Seasons, walks and pastures

Yesterday I was bemoaning the fact that when the local forestry department decided to cut down some trees they didn’t bother to check and see what had happened to the paths in the woods below said trees. I only was able to continue my normal way as I had known that part of the woods and was able to climb under, over and around the obstacles.

Today I simply took another path.

It is to my way of thinking the best time of the year to be out and about: the fall colors are gorgeous thanks to all that awful heat and dry that we had this summer (glad to see that there was at least something positive to come out of all the days and nights that we could hardly move or even rest well).

The cows are back from the high pastures and one of my favorite fields is full of a mixture of yaks and various-colored cows – all still with their bells ringing at every movement.

part of the group at Planajeur

Imagine a yak that looks like a skunk!

Yes?

I'll keep one eye on you

Pose? Me?

even a couple of more classical cows inhabit the field

Then there is the local specialty – the “Brisolée”: roasted chestnuts, various cheeses, mountain ham, the compact dark rye bread and for dessert squares of apple tart – the entire thing washed down with cider. One continues to enjoy it in one’s dreams thereafter (and believe me after that meal I defy anyone not to need a nap!).

Detours or…

Discovering Marconi

This morning whilst the weather was still decent I headed down the road to go to Salvan as I had a question and the mayor’s office is only open on Tuesday mornings and Friday afternoons.  Although unable to settle my particular request it did lead to my taking a walk.

One that I should have done years ago, but somehow never got around to doing.

Salvan is where Guglielmo Marconi achieved his first experiments in the wireless transmission of sound.

There is a walk that one can take to the various rocks and sites used for this purpose and if it hadn’t been for the parcoursvita (a sort of path that combines various exercise elements for strength, endurance and flexibility) that was halfway around, it truly would have taken only 30 to 40 minutes, as advertised.

Imagine the longest distance he achieved was in between Salvan and the small village where I rent in the summers Les Marécottes. The fall colors are going to be much better than in “normal” years, thanks to the extreme heat and lack of rain this past summer – there are even some reds!

All goes to show that even the tiniest of villages or spots also have their own interest or claim to fame. The church also has a wooden plaque honoring the Swiss chef that went down with the Titanic.

View from the "Bergère" rock

View from the "Bergère" rock

towards the mountains from the Age d'Or

Detail from the top right corner of the preceding photo

Plaque from the ITU attesting to Marconi's work here in 1895

Another plaque from the IEEE about Marconi's experiments

through one of the telescopes

through one of the telescopes

Just some of the fall colors to be enjoyed this morning

Fall in the alps

And all of a sudden we have arrived at the last day of September – fall started a few days ago and I am blessed to be able to enjoy the time in the mountains.

The days are shorter; the air clean and crisp; when the skies are blue they are really blue -when gray more fog than cloud; I can again walk along paths that were too hot this summer; the tourists are rare, especially during the week; in short a great place to enjoy time on one’s own.

As much as I love my life at home, my life here is necessary to my equilibrium.

The mountains color my fall beautiful!

sunset September 29, 2015