Carly & Nature reach an understanding

I've never been the scientific type (or the math type, while we're at it), but I think I have somehow restructured the laws of the universe.  I don't think I can describe it in words, so in the spirit of my new-found discovery I've included a very scientific diagram of this Eureka moment below.  I like to think of it as the Law of Things that Usually Repel Each Other Not Repelling (the Things being "Carly" and "Nature"):

There are so many things wrong with this picture, I almost didn't know where to begin.  And yet, somehow, despite the odds, here it is - courageous and clearly a work in progress (kind of like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which is my least favorite construction I've ever personally seen).  Don't be alarmed.  It's unlikely to happen with much frequency, but for what it's worth it was actually a pleasant discovery.  I wouldn't have even made it if it hadn't been for Jana and Martin who decided to get married at the top of the world (aka Hasliberg, Switzerland) and I schlepped up there in heels to watch it.  The ceremony was brief but nice.  I'm always struck by how easy it actually is to get married.  You swear an oath that has to be the shortest of any solemn oath taken: I do / I will / Jawol / Ja.  And that's it, that's all it takes and you're in a legally binding relationship.  No wonder so many people get in trouble in Vegas.  Anyway, after that we had a fantastic lunch in the Alpentower restaurant and enjoyed a few hours of good company.  Then we traded our wedding finery for wandern Kleidung and made our way in down the mountain's slope in the middle of a breezy sunny afternoon.  (Above right: the happy Ehepaar)                                                                                                                                   

It was a lovely, brisk walk.  Along the way I had several full-fledged conversations in German and did my absolute best to enjoy all the natural beauty around me.  Autumn is settling in with her blushes of red and orange, but the slopes are still fairly green with just splashes of late summer flowers.  Jana's grandfather pointed many of them out to me along the way.

      

 

I will not claim that our little wander, though briskly made, was some mountain-scaling, gravity-defying, vertical-flying activity otherwise known to some as "hiking" (you know who you are).  Some of you will perhaps also remember that I recently tried a form of hiking last May with fairly disasterous results.  Despite the fact that I constantly tell myself and others that I don't actually care what Nature thinks of me, this is a lie.  I'm still actually somewhat depressed about how crappy of a hiker I turned out to be, so today was fantastic for restoring that can-do feeling, leaving me cheerfully confident in a shadow of some innate ability to move through nature and enjoy it if I really, really want to. 

It doesn't mean I'm going back to Ratitovec, of course.  I'm an optimist, not an idiot.