Dear Mom,
It's lunchtime at the Top of Europe...well, some 800m south of the top. My tummy is feasting on a little picnic while my eyes feast on one of the most spectacular views ever. The rugged Bernese Alps stretch out bathed in sun, ice and snow. Straight across, almost close enough to touch is a most stunning trio: the Eiger (3970m), Mönch (4107) and Jungfrau (4158m).
As I perch atop a promontory wayyyy above the tree line, I can swivel in any direction and have the earth peel away in vertiginous drops. Schynige Platte was said to be closed due to a huge dumping of snow and avalanches that washed out the path in many spots. Still, I'm happy I persevered for I have this stunning panorama all to myself. I even spotted quite a few marmots scampering across some of the snowy climes. Oooops, better put on a hat and some sunscreen, I can hear you saying.
OK done, I'm back. The silence, the breathtaking silence. How often can you say you hear nothing, I mean absolutely nothing? No distant traffic, no tourists, just the wind whistling. You would love it up here. OK, so you wouldn't have cared much for the sweaty hike up but I know this place would be more than enough to swallow up all your worries, if only for a while and make you feel lucky to stand witness to its vast beauty.
Now breathe in deeply children", you'd always say. I'm breathing it all in Mom. I'm filling my lungs, memory and mind's eye with this moment, bottling it so that I can return here and share it with you whenever I need to. I know you are with me in spirit Mom.
PS This intoxicating aroma of wildflowers and mountain air...even world class chefs couldn't top this. Heresy, I know. Sure beats the smell of skunk that so strangely used to send you into delirious raptures...one of your many endearing idiosyncracies Mom!
Better hit the road now. Love you.
H xoxox
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