silence

Posted on 13/9/2009 at 21:58 - Post Comment

dutchwomanabraod

sunday 13 september 2009

i really like the hectic of a big city, and i miss it once in a while. going down to locarno for browsing the shops and maybe a cup of coffee makes up for it a bit. it is not what i would choose if thinking about big city, but it is ofcourse the closest thing to it. today i went hiking with a friend of mine. deciding where to go was very easy this time. i had to go up a mountain, to a lady, to bring her a sweater i have been knitting for her. she and her partner have been living up in the middle of nowhere for more then ten years by now. living at 1375 meters above sea level. there are a couple of other old stone houses around, but those are only vacation homes. they lived there for many years all year round. in winter time that means maybe not being able to get out of your house for weeks because of snow. just being able to go out side, struggle to the wood pile and going back in. living in a totally cramed space. most of us would start to scratch the walls because of claustrofobia. that's for sure. in the summertime she runs a small restaurant where lots of people drop by, so then she might be happy when the day finishes and she can retreat to silence. i know she doesn't care for going to the city. she needs peace and quietness. nowadays she and her partner move to a village down below in the valley in autumn, because as you get older life in the wilderness gets more of a strain. after visiting her, my friend and i continued our trip for another couple of hours. up and down, and up and down different moutains, and where we walked there was only nature. we saw some other hikers on an alp, otherwise it was us two, my dog and trees, steams and whatever. sometimes we talked, sometimes we just walked in silence picking up the energy from what was around us. it clears my mind, it takes away my troubles, it gives my brain a total pause where i am not thinking at all. i am looking forward to the next time we go out on expanding our horizon in the alps. so incredible, being on top of one mountain, seeing all those others where we haven't been yet, and they all yelling to be climbed. i never knew i needed the calmness of hiking as i need the liveliness of a city. and luckily here where i live i have both sides.

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