Not much new to report, but I am finding myself writing the same email to a number of people - which means that it's time for an update. Nothing new is happening, but I am on the cusp of much novelty. I just don't know what the next step will entail. Whatever it is, there'll be much excitement.
I stumbled on a job announcement posted by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, for the position of Program Coordinator in Portland. No date indicated when the ad was posted, and there was no deadline for applying - so I sent my resume. Four days later I received an invitation for an interview - which was held last Tuesday night. I don't know how I did - I just find it terribly difficult to "sell" myself. I have all the skills needed for the position and I know I would be a good fit for it. Early next week I'll know whether I qualify for the second round of interviews. If I were to be offered this job my permanent return to Portland would be accelerated, meaning that instead of spending the next few weeks playing and visiting friends, I'd have to work hard to get ready to leave Switzerland. This job would allow me to call an end to the Lemonade Project. It would allow me to come home, to find a new focus for my life and to once again work in the field about which I am knowledgeable - and passionate. Now if you would all please keep your fingers crossed for me, I'd be very grateful!
The only other news is that spring has sprung. We continue to have one day more beautiful than the other with unseasonably warm temperatures. Today I hiked in shorts and t-shirt. The snow is mostly gone from the valley floor and once again the fields are white with wild crocus. The tourists went home, and the villages are delightfully quiet. Last year I was complaining because at this time of the year there isn't much to do. Cross-country skiing is over but the hiking trails still are under snow and slush. This year there was much less slush because it basically had not snowed after Christmas and therefore a lot of the snow was already gone before it started getting warm. The other big difference with last year is that I treated myself to the yearly ski pass primarily to take advantage of spring skiing. I definitely intend to go one or two more times.
I am actually very proud of myself for having dared to downhill ski again. Two years ago my bad knee was so bad that even walking was a challenge. Last year I did fine cross-country skiing but frankly was scared the one time I tried downhill. So in the fall I made two decisions to challenge myself: first I got my skis out of my storage unit in Portland and hauled them up here. Then I spent a small fortune for the yearly pass. The pass was the key though, because it allowed me to ski for just 2-3 hours at the time, and to quit when I was cold, or bored, or the knee was bothering me. The first few times I limited myself to one or two runs, doing them over and over, until I felt confident. And little by little I found my skiing legs again. I started to have fun, all by myself, skiing faster, not hesitating when trying a new run. And the crowning moment: on a whim I decided to ski down, all by myself, the 10k of the Morteratsch Glacier, from the Diavolezza to the Morteratsch train station. A guide had warned me that the run was very bad - that he no longer was taking clients down that way. I had already decided that I had missed the opportunity, but since this was an item on my bucket list, when I found myself at the top of the run, it being a beautiful and warm day, I decided to go for it. What a feeling! Yes, some of the moguls were almost as tall as I... but I did it slowly, carefully, stopping for pictures, and thoroughly enjoying the fact that I was doing it, enjoying the feeling of being all alone in the middle of all these glaciers, in the total silence and overwhelming beauty of the mountains. And I paid a little tribute to my father with whom I had actually climbed some of these mountains in another time, in another life.
Skiing amid the glaciers. Piz Bernina.
Lake St. Moritz is starting to thaw.
Fields white with wild crocus. On the way to Guarda.
Encounter on the trail.
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