Francoise

Fortunately I don't know how it feels to live through a category 5 cyclone, or hurricane. But now I have experienced the agony of having a loved one go through this hell. For those of you who don't know: my sister Francoise lives on a tropical island, offshore from Townsville, in Queensland, Australia. There was no evacuation center on the island and she and her husband live in a prefab house. As I was snuggled in my bed I was thinking about her and her husband, with visions of them clinging to a palm tree before being blown off... As of last night I didn't know whether they were alive or not, injured or not, whether they had lost their house and all their possessions with it. Finally this morning I had the news via sister Brigitte, that they were unhurt and that the house had made it too. I am amazed that the cell phone worked - although now we won't have further news for a while because the island has neither power nor water, and her battery was running out. It doesn't matter - she is alive. I hardly slept through the previous night and spent all day yesterday thinking about her, worrying about her - and today, now that I can relax, I am absolutely exhausted, with something like a hangover although I didn't have any alcohol.

All the rest seems so trivial...

Yesterday, to unglue myself from the computer and the Australian TV network, I forced myself to go cross-country skiing. As every day for the past few weeks, the weather was gorgeous, and warm enough for me to remove all my outer layers - down to a thin fleece top. The snow is disappearing fast, not so much melting, as just evaporating. The south slopes are starting to show bare ground - as they were last year by the end of March! We desperately need fresh snow, lots of it, and fast. So yesterday I chose a section of trail on a south slope, thinking that I'd better do it now, because if we don't get more snow, it might no longer be doable in 10 days from now. The track led over a foot bridge over the Inn, about 3 meters wide (10 feet). As I was in the middle of the bridge I heard an unusual noise behind me, and when I turned around to investigate, I was almost knocked over by an elk who was running across the bridge just about at the speed of light. I could have touched her (it was a cow) - it's a miracle she didn't ram me. I had not yet recovered that a German shepherd followed, at the same speed, obviously after the elk. I tried to slow down the dog but didn't make any difference. By the time I reached the far end of the bridge, both dog and elk had disappeared. No dog owner ever materialized.

I am alternating downhill and cross-country skiing with walks. Earlier this week I went downhill skiing. I am still sticking to my 2 hour outings because skiing alone is rather intense - no mid-slope chitchatting - and after a while, boring. In a helpful coincidence, my bad knee also starts to scream after about 2 hours, and so I have every incentive to quit. Nevertheless, I am pleased to notice that I found again my skiing legs. Granted, I ski much less aggressively than I used to because any hard hit is really painful on the knee. But I am no longer afraid or hesitant and I am again truly enjoying myself, although my performance is much less elegant than it used to be. The most important is to move, challenge myself a bit, enjoy the view, and above all, the sunshine.

New drama on the work front: the colleague from Zuoz who generously gives me rides, was let go because of "restructuring". These are the words that my own employer used when I was laid off from the Lazar Foundation. She is 60 and single and I am outraged that in Switzerland employees are not treated any better than in the US. Granted, the termination is effective only on March 31, just one month before her contract, as everybody's, was expiring. She is one of the few experienced staff to whom I go when I have a question. She is efficient, professional - I can't imagine why on earth she is being let go. Now she has 2 months to find another job, but also she has to work for another 2 months for an employer who doesn't want her, who doesn't care about her and I can't imagine where she'll find the motivation to do her best!


Last weekend business was brisk at the bakery: both bob sleigh and polo on snow world championships were taking place in St. Moritz.














The polo games were held on the frozen lake on which a temporary tent city was built.















It was the place to see and be seen. Never had I seen so many fur coats.



















Of course there also had to be Swiss folklore!