The Passage of Time

Day before yesterday, we left Vex, Switzerland in the midst of some pretty intense fog and headed to St. Imier, Switzerland, via Chamonix, France (home of the very first winter Olympics), with a goal of seeing Mont Blanc (the highest peak in Europe). When we got to Chamonix, we found the clouds hanging too low for us to see the actual peak of Mont Blanc, but the surrounding mountains were beautiful, with their lovely blankets of snow and multitudes of fantastic waterfalls produced by the melting snow and ice. We stopped briefly at a grocery store to pick up a few things for lunch, before pointing the car back in the direction of Switzerland. We were limited in our purchasing power, since we had forgotten about the difference in currency between Switzerland and France, so we ended up having to make another, larger grocery stop once we were back in Switzerland. We passed through the beautiful city of Geneva at the Swiss border, before finally making it to our quaint little farmhouse near St. Imier, which was quite a feat, given the dense fog and living roadblock made up of a herd of milk cows, each outfitted with its own charming little cow bell.

Yesterday was my birthday, so, by my decree, we had a slow morning, followed by an afternoon outing. The kids gave me lovely homemade gifts, including paper airplanes, cards, a quesadilla lunch, and a necklace. We visited The International Clock Museum in the afternoon, which seemed appropriate given the natural propensity of people to contemplate the passage of time on occasions like birthdays. Marking the passage of time is now and has always been important to humans. The seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and years of a person's life matter, and we need to be conscious of their passing and how they are being used.

After a coffee break, we left the museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds and headed over to Neuchatel, where we visited a chocolate shop (because one of my birthday goals was to eat Swiss chocolate), did a little more shopping in the cute and lively town center, and then drove over to the lake to play at the neat playground (because happy children equals happy birthday mom) and eat dinner, which included two kinds of fondue (because my other birthday goal was to eat Swiss cheese). Since we were without Internet at our house yesterday, I was also able to check in with Facebook and email while we were out and was grateful to see so many sweet birthday wishes. I am greatly loved and am so thankful for the people I get to share my life with that make the passing of time such a blessing.

Thick Alpine Fog
(This is the view from our balcony in Vex.
A clear view can be seen in my Sweet Switzerland post, if you want to compare.)

Mont Blanc snow and runoff
(The peak rises up with the clouds to the left.)

They don't call it "Mont Blanc" (White Mountain) for nothing!

High Five, Lake Geneva!

Our sweet little farm house near St. Imier

Clay gave me this rainbow for my birthday.

Max's birthday masterpiece

I received this beautiful plane from Weston.

Ruth made quesadillas for my birthday lunch.

Ruth also provided me with this beautiful necklace. 

Marking time at the International Clock Museum.

Happy kids = Happy Mom

Dinner at Lake Neuchatel

Cheesy fondue

Birthday Bonbon
(Clearly, I only thought of taking a picture after I cut into it!)