One of the wonders of the world.

July 11.

I'm in the Swiss Alps. For the first time ever. And it's magnificent. Another world. Eden. Where my ancestors lived in the 1600s. Before they came to Germany. I'm seeing what they saw. And it makes me wonder why they left. Oh, I guess I know. They had to make a living. Economic conditions were bad. But for me, this place seems like Paradise. Because it's isolated, relatively speaking. Like the end of the world. I could make it my cocoon. A place to write. To think. To isolate myself from the rest of the world. And to enjoy the majesty and the beauty of the Alps. I suspect that many of the Swiss living in the Alps are my kind of people. Living off the beaten track. Not particularly concerned about the rest of the world. Evidenced by the Swiss longtime neutrality in world wars. Instead, the Swiss go about living the idyllic life. Life that almost seems shut off from the rest of the world. Yes, today I haven't read a newspaper or watched TV or listened to the radio. Instead, I'll write my broodings and go for a walk. In the Alps. One of the wonders of the world. --Jim Broede