On seeing

I feel as though I could have been here four days or four weeks. Each day is calm and passes with just the perfect pace, and yet so quickly I find again that it is dinner time and then I pass quietly into sleep. I have never felt so comfortable with routine. I wake usually an hour or two after Catherine and Werner; Catherine leaves out some bread and butter and jam for me, as well as the tea pot with an earl grey tea bag--all I must do is heat the water, she reminds me as I come down the stairs from my room.

Time is so quaint and habitual here that I think I should feel the same on my last day here as my first--not that I will have gained nothing from beginning to end but that my affections for this place should always remain constant. It is strange perhaps that I find such comfort in traveling, yet traveling for me has never been about seeing all. In fact, I find that it is largely about halting 'seeing', the desire to see all and thereby know all, that is the essence of traveling for me. I find that such a desire inevitably just hinders seeing. Why are we always so intent on seeing? Our old phrase 'seeing is believing' evinces that it is through sight that we come to know. But what of our other senses? I am perhaps the worst offender of this tired phrase, for I am always reaching for my glasses even in the moments that I could pass by more on feeling or another sense. It is not that I romanticize blindness but rather I like to think how it may be that to truly 'see' is to relinquish any desire to see at all.

But of course, photographs are still a joy to have, so long as we first see and look and feel before the camera comes in the way. Here are a few from a trip to Thun, where my grandfather and his family spent much of their time.





A home where my grandfather's family lived...the rightmost window I believe.
And the castle of Thun--beautifully perched up on the hill.

My uncle Werner has quite a brilliant sense of humor, much like his brother my own Papa. Catherine tells me how a friend of theirs came to visit and on the way received a traffic ticket. The friend left it at their house, expecting Werner to pay it. Werner jokingly only paid 2 francs out of the 50 which were due, resulting in another ticket for his friend and court date. Werner loyally accompanied his friend to court to explain what happened--suffice it to say, the judge was not amused.

Werner also has strong political involvement as he writes letter to the government to ask questions and make complaints, particularly those concerning injustices against animals. Although he enjoys normal servings of meat, he is one of those who believes that the animals must not suffer in the process of their raising. Switzerland has high standards for the handling of animals and Werner is intent upon buying only Swiss meat, rather than American, although I imagine that even with transportation costs it may be cheaper to purchase US meat. A half a kilo of chicken cutlets costs 20 francs, which with the ailing US dollar amounts to about 22 dollars. I am of the mind though that we should spend a larger percentage of our earnings on food, and I think we have it very much backwards in the states.