Sunday Morning Thoughts – November 3, 2024

Wish we had “I voted” stickers here, because I totally did.

Of course, when I brought this up with a group of friends last night that started an entirely different discussion. I would like to formally apologize for bringing it up yesterday. I did, however, vote on whether 16-year-olds should have the right to vote at a cantonal level. I had just dropped my vote off across the street.

Anyway, that’s all I’m gonna say apart from: fingers firmly crossed for all of us on Tuesday. I’ll be asleep when the first results trickle in and that’s a good thing.

OMD, I just realized that I’ll be writing this for like hours there’s so much I need to talk about. Note to self: don’t make promises to people that involve you going into town to take pictures because you need to use them in your newsletter – they will expect you to do it. Or rather, I will expect me to do it. That’s probably a fairer statement. Yes, spellchecker dude I know that the “me” in “expect me” is technically wrong. I’m being creative with language – get with it.

Einstein – yes, that’s where we’re starting. That’s the reason I went to Aarau on the 7.35 bus this morning. Well, that and the fact that I didn’t do my weekly shop on Friday or Saturday. I was off adventuring.

So, top left: Einstein Passage at the station. All students who go to my High School and arrive by train pass through here. On the wall behind me and to my left is this ugly ass bronze thing that you can barely read. Since most of you don’t read German, we’ll not worry about that too much. Up the ramp to the school I went and I got to the Einstein Haus – middle left. I went around to the back of the building and across the street you can see where Einstein lived when he went to school here. I put some arrows that somehow only came in white. It’s the middle building.

Could I be bothered to go across that road? Nope, it’s a bit of a pain and the plaque on the building is so high up, the picture of it would not have turned out any better. Again, it’s the middle building right across the street from the school. And somebody should really clean that plaque, it’s a disgrace.

Promise kept. Moving on. Well almost. Somebody made a video that I should share here.

I then went to the two supermarkets at the station and came across something that needed investigating. They sold Süssmost right next to Apfelsaft – I’ll explain below. I had conversation with a few American friends about apple cider and I got all confused. To me Süssmost and Apfelsaft were the same but then one of them said something about fresh from the press so suddenly I wasn’t sure if the process in making them is also different.

So, I broke one of my rules and checked what the difference is. Well, technically I didn’t break a rule because I checked and copy-pasted it before I started writing as to not lose my flow. Okay, we’re good.

AI said that in German-speaking Switzerland it is Süssmost and in Germany it’s Apfelsaft. Both meaning apple juice. That makes so much sense to me because if I try to Swiss Germanize Apfelsaft it comes out as Öpfusaft and that just sounds so wrong in my dialect. Like something I have to say so that Germans understand me. And you know how I feel about that. I can also tell you what it is in French (cidre doux) and Italian (sidro dolce). That’s Swiss French and Swiss Italian – just in case it’s different from French French and Italian Italian.

And then I was wondering about the term “apple cider” and how that factors into the entire confusion. That was triggered by the bottle of Süssmost saying “cidre/sidro” on it which is clearly the same word as English “cider”. Here’s what AI told me, and I am totally giving it the benefit of a doubt, because this is what I said 😊. My native English speaker friends from either side of the pond please let me know if you agree with this.

That's a great question! The term "apple cider" can indeed be a bit confusing because its meaning varies between regions:

1. In the United States: "Apple cider" typically refers to a non-alcoholic, unfiltered apple juice, which is similar to what is called Süssmost in Switzerland. When Americans refer to the alcoholic version, they usually call it "hard cider."

2. In the United Kingdom and other parts of the world: "Cider" generally means an alcoholic beverage made from fermented apple juice.

So, while Süssmost can be translated to "apple cider" in the American sense, it would not be accurate in the British context where "cider" implies alcohol.

Does that clear up the confusion?

This did help, actually. And I did say thank you, because it’s the polite thing to do.

What else was there? Ah yes, I’m now officially *I need a shoehorn to get into some of my shoes* years old. I don’t have too many shoes that go over my ankles, but my hiking boots do. That’s their job, right? I’m very bendy and I can totally touch the floor with the palms of my hands without bending my knees. Super easy. That’s not the problem. It’s my feet. I hear it’s a perimenopause thing so I’m rolling with it and got myself a shoehorn. A small one they happened to sell at the station. Haven’t tried it out yet, but I have high hopes.

High hopes for there being less swearing.

I copied three pictures into here. Random pictures from Friday’s hike. Pictures I forgot to mention in Friday’s newsletter. This first one fascinates me to no end. The light hit the leaf just right and the water droplets showed off the color that lay beneath. I don’t know how I even noticed this. I mean it was one of thousands of leaves I waded through. Isn’t nature just insanely fantastic? I don’t even know what to say.

Then there is this one at the station in Airolo. It says “the mountain yogurt that goes moo”. It makes me smile every time. Not a big yogurt eater but I’m guessing this one is fabulous. For those of you wondering why you didn’t see any cows in my pictures from yesterday, they’ve been taken down the mountain into their winter quarters. It’s not safe to have them up there in winter. Also, I don’t think they would like it too much. I could be wrong of course.

Then there was this monument that I took a picture of. It says “Gotthard tunnel 1872 to 1882”. Not trying to imply you guys don’t know Roman numerals. We might not have as many war memorials as other countries, but we do honor the lives lost building infrastructure like tunnels. In this case they are talking about the Gotthard rail tunnel. The one where the tunnels go around in circles to gain altitude. This monument is also at the station in Airolo.

It made me pause for a moment. Then I took the train through those amazing tunnels. It is a fascinating region. And if you put “Gotthard” in the Substack search bar you will find that I’ve written about it on several occasions.

Also, on my mind is turning a new leaf and how that only makes sense if there are lessons learned. Of course, we can all start over and vow not to make the same mistakes again. In my experience there is a bit more work involved. I know there are areas in my life where I try the same thing. This time will surely be different! This time I’m gonna make it.

Why am I doing that to myself? I’m not done doing the work yet. And I know it. In this case it’s something that only affects me and that I need to figure out for myself. It’s also something that needs a bit more patience on my part. I’m well on my way to collecting and reframing all the puzzle pieces. Almost out of the woods.

Then there are situations where I’m calling myself out. I think that’s personal growth. Yesterday I made fun of a situation – a lot of fun – and then realized that I only had a 30 second glimpse into the life of the people involved and that I should have been kinder. Ouch, that one hurt. Note to self: “I wonder why this was so important to them and triggered that reaction. I hope they are okay” is a perfectly okay reaction. Not funny but more compassionate.

I have an example from this morning. Lovely guy asks me for advice. Clearly because I’m a woman and should know what his wife meant when she asked him to pick up a certain food item at the store. I had no idea, but I managed to help him figure it out and he left super proud that he found it. I really felt for him.

How about not expecting other people to know everything we know? How about sending our significant others (yes, I know I don’t have one – what’s your point?) to the store with a picture of what they are looking for?

Watch out there is a gender stereotype coming up.

Some women would be lost at a hardware store if they were told to pick up e.g. nails. While the person who needs the nails will have the information as to what kind of material the nail needs to penetrate, how long it needs to be to get the job done, how strong it needs to be, what it is ideally made of etc., she might be standing in front of the nail aisle totally lost. And who can blame her? Let’s not make each other’s life harder than it needs to be.

Back to turning that leaf …

There are situations where walking away is the only option. Where refusing to learn from past mistakes or even refusing to see that things have gone wrong - the same kind of wrong - several times affects an entire group of people. As painful as that is, I’ve learned that certain things are not worth investing time and effort in – or at least not over and over again.

Sad but true. So many missed opportunities for change.

I guess it triggers me because I can relate. I can so relate. I’ve also learned to say, “not my circus, not my monkeys” and walk away. Or in my case - hike away.

I have a huge sea of opportunity in front of me. I just need to take that next step, and the path will become visible. I bet it’s as pretty as this waterfall.

Happy follow your own path Sunday. Okay, I just made that up. Do it anyway 🤗