31 Days in December #18: Time in Thun

L drops us in Thun, the nearest town, before lunch. He teaches music to high-schoolers in a reform school on the other side of the lake. D is working all day. W and I wait at the train statin; we pass off a rehearsal CD to Leanne, who will sing Sunday. (She and I will rehearse again Friday.)

A castle above Thun

Thun has Switzerland's big military school with specialized tank training. Military trucks have rumbled by in convoys while we've been here. D says tanks also drive by on the roads, which thrills her grandsons.

Tree bark

I love the old trees, pruned into knobby faces overhead. The tree bark adds texture to the side of the streets as we walk by.

Trees laughing overhead

W and I find the Christmas market and browse the regular market booths lining the streets. We taste sausages and cheeses, admire home-crafted wares, and marvel at the skilled tradespeople - from candlemakers and bakers to woodworkers and jewelers. L meets us in Thun after noon, on his way home to Oberhofen. He takes along our few purchases to lighten W's bag.

Founded in 1133

W and I decide to walk home (5km or 3 miles). It seems further because our feet still feel yesterday's walk around Bern. There's a wide walkway along Lake Thun (Thunersee). White swans paddle past, along with ducks and turns. Older couples stop to feed the birds and sit on the benches along the lake.

Many swans a-swimming

Above us, castles tower against the blue sky. Bells in clock towers chime the quarter hours.

W pauses on our walk

We snap a photo of a staircase with feet instead of posts at the bottom.

Funny footed stair

L has made tortellini, and by the time we're home at 3, we're hungry. Deeelicious!

When we're done, he takes us to a new suspension bridge, 5 minutes away by car. The bridge connects the villages of Aeschien and Sigriswil. Children walk from their village to the next village's school over a 340 meter (375 yard) span and above a 180 meter (200 yard) chasm. The bridge also connects the hiking trails the Swiss love.

The suspension bridge

W doesn't like heights but he pays the 8 CHF (about $9) to the ranger so I can walk across and back. Every time someone treads on it, the steel bridge sways. It's like walking in a moving bucket. I remind myself that if the Swiss have engineered it to support their schoolchildren, it's probably safe. How amazing to lean over the canyon and the breathtaking surroundings. The trees below look like matchsticks and the houses like dots on the mountains.

Villages along the valleys gouged out
by mountain streams

W stays home to finish grading (papers from students back in Seattle), but L and I leave about 6pm to pick up D from work. We go straight to church to rehearse for Sunday worship. About 15 musicians show up to sing and play, ending with prayer at 9:30pm. We relax together, eating a slice of toasted Panettone after the half-hour drive home.

The evening view from the hills above Oberhofen

Read more:
*I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Exodus 6:7 ESV

*Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago). Luke 1:68-70 NIV

*He has put all things under Christ's feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:22-23 ESV

Moravian Prayer: God, you are the one to whom we belong. Help us to trust your word, made flesh, in Jesus the Christ. Enable us to see the fullness of Christ in all. Amen.

31 Days in December #17: Bern, friends, and bears

Leanne and I go over the music for Sunday a few times before W, Doris, and I have to leave for Bern. Neither Leanne nor I know our part but we're in the first rehearsal so it's no big deal. 

The streets center around fountains
with historical statues

Bern is Switzerland's capital city, beautifully dressed for Christmas with 4' live trees fixed to buildings along the main streets. When the sun goes down, the lights twinkle down on each side of the thoroughfare where pedestrians walk.

Das Rathaus (Parliament)

We're meeting Regina and her three children (5, 3, 1) who have taken a 2.5 hour train trip from NE Switzerland to Bern. There's a play car for children on their express train and the children have had a good trip. 

Regina's family under the clock tower

D and Regina lived in our neighborhood when their son was a baby. We met at a cafe in Kirkland and then again on walks closer to home. They spent Christmas with us in 2010, playing a trombone duet and little M sitting on my lap at the piano for the carol sing.

At the Bärenpark

The kids walk with Regina and me all the way from the station through town to the bear park. One bear is strolling around the stumps, to the delight of the children. The littlest gal is an angel: she sleeps all the way to the park, walks around a bit while we're there, then hops back into the stroller without fussing. What a pleasure to see them on their own soil again, after several years ago on ours!

Doris and I at the Christmas Market

After Regina's family catches the train back home, W, Doris, and I walk through the Berner Christmas Markets. I love the Christmas celebrations in this part of the world.

We head back home through Thun where we pick up some chocolates at Aldi.

A cream horn to finish up

Doris makes a cheese fondue for supper: bread, apples, cheese. Accompanied by pickled onions and red cabbage, it's the perfect meal. A few pastries finish up the evening.

Read more:

*Jacob said to his household, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves." Genesis 35:2 ESV

*But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us"). Matthew 1:20-23 NIV

*Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34 ESV

Moravian Prayer: God, you dared to become as vulnerable and frail as we are. Grant us the courage to let go of what keeps us from living a redeemed and renewed life in relationship with you. Amen.

31 Days in December #13: Setting the table and enjoying the view

The neighborhood: typical Swiss architecture

After a good night's rest, we head to the church to set tables for tomorrow's event. The organizer has set up a model of the finished tablescape. Young gals are cutting heavy fleece-paper to size for tablecloths. We lift the wicks on the tealight candles before inserting them into their holders: tomorrow's crew has to light them quickly before the concert.

It's calming to be with people of similar DNA. The women move easily between tables, placing things just so, rearranging, counting sugars and creamers, and pulling tablecloths straight. Doris and I relax into the rhythm of their work.

Frost outlines the trees.

The weather outside is cold and the views look like picture postcards.

Ice crystals on branches

This corner of Switzerland hasn't had snow recently. In the mountain shadows, last month's snow lingers. Each morning, white hoarfrost lines the trees.

The fog burns off under the blue sky

We're looking forward to strolling beside the Thunersee (lake) next week. The sidewalk stretches along the lakefront for many kilometers. Last visit, an old man with an traditional Swiss Alpenhorn practiced at the side of the walk, the deep tones echoing off the mountain slopes. (Listen here to a mellow Alpenhorn.)

Walkway along the Thunersee

Per capita, Switzerland may have the highest number of qualified sailing aficionados. The boats lie quietly at anchor, the wind resting between the mountains. W and I feel the stress of the past months draining away as we take in the beauty.

Tranquil lakescape

Read more:
*When the cares of my heart are many, may your consolations cheer my soul. Psalm 94:19 ESV

*Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 ESV

*Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us. 2 Timothy 1:14 ESVMoravian Prayer; Spirit and Sustainer, make us bold in our faith as we proclaim you as God and King. Remove any shame we may have of being your disciples and help us step beyond our own weakness to share the good news to the world.

Great Comforter, there are times our lives seem hopeless. Days are filled with stress, sorrow, grief, and pain. Holy Redeemer, walk with us, abide with us and sustain us with your ever present love, even in times of great joy. Amen.