My Saturday began with a cool fall morning run.  It is nice to have a little incentive to get going as I head out the door and immediately rub my hands together.  On a familiar path between two farms I looked up to see a bike hanging from a sign...  It made me laugh..  I could picture one of the Swiss farmers near me coming upon it and hanging it there to get it out of the way.  I could often use big signs like that in my way shouting out, "Bike this way!"

The reward at the end of a long busy week was a trip to the top of Pilatus with family.  I met Jane, Uncle Doug and Aunt Suzanne in Luzern...  I walk through the Luzern train station twice a week, but today I walked a little quicker as I looked across the street and see three faces that make this foreign country feel a bit more like home today.  It was a busy Saturday in front of the station-- what looked like various scout groups in circles chanting and yelling-- getting excited for a day of fun!  They echoed my anticipation.   We took a boat ride across lake Luzern, rode a cog train up the mountain, lunch up above the clouds, and a boat ride back...

Time goes by so quickly that it seems that the true beauty of photographs is that it can take moments in time, hold them, making those days last a bit longer.  The scenery was stunning but it was connecting through laughter, tears, and love that keeps me looking back.. 

Walking up a steep path with Uncle Doug brought a gentle reminder of my Dad..  We spoke of him as we walked up through the clouds to clearer views.  As amazing as the views were my thoughts were also of those who constructed the path to the top.  I stopped and pointed to the biggest steel nail I had ever seen and wondered how it would have been placed there..  As I stepped off the trail into a view of snow topped mountains and green/blue lakes I smiled at thoughts of my dad teaching a directionally challenged little one to climb steep hills.  My legs burned a bit as I got to the top but I  was in awe of what I would have missed to see the view from the top.  I got the message dad,  in a panorama view, hard things are worth it!

As we were heading to the stairs to catch the cog train back our exit music was a beautiful Alp horn!  Cheers to a day on a mountain!