On the banks of the River Aar

Spring has arrived, there is no longer cold freezing temperatures and the sun is shining. It is time to go.

We live in the country, but thankfully only a half hour walk from the nearest market town. Behind us there are mountains, the first row of the seven rows of the Jura mountain chain. We are surrounded by forests, our neighbours are horses and as time progresses, there will be cows in the field. Only yesterday I saw a farmer showing his herd that outside there is the green, green grass of home waiting to be munched. The cows all followed his words, nodded and then he lead them back to the stalls. This was only a preliminary visit. The real thing will arrive probably during the next couple of weeks. There was quite a mooing going on afterwards, you could hear it all over the village.

“What do you think Daisy, is it dangerous outside?”

“No of course not. This must be your first summer. Just follow your nose. No more hay, the real thing.”

“What about emptying the udder?”

“You ask silly questions Daisy. It will be back to the milking shed but afterwards you can stay outside all day and night when the weather gets better. Even no problem with the re-cycling process?”

“You mean ….”

“Yes, just drop it when you feel like it, the flies will thank you for it. No place better as a home for the flies.”

I decided to move on to the River. Yes, we have everything, the River Aar meanders from somewhere in the middle of Switzerland, through the town of Bern and eventually reaches Solothurn, my area. At the end of its journey it disappears into a couple of Swiss Lakes - Biel and Neufchatel. Walking along the river is one of the pastimes of the local population, which is where I took the photo. It is amazing the tricks that light play on the surface of the water and the shadows of the neighbouring trees on the banks of the River were caught in a perfect silhouette. The River Aar is fairly clean, we have fish and yes, you can take a swim if you are a good enough swimmer. The banks are quite shallow, but in the middle it is deep enough. I am not one of the swimmers, but I know a few who are. It’s free, and I suppose healthy.

There are boats on the river, and if you are lucky you have a mooring place for your boat, although these are few and far between. There is a long waiting list for a mooring place. Otherwise you have to drag it down to the river from its parking place.

How do I get there? Just five minutes walk down a sloping path and I arrive at the river. Sometimes I even have family duck taking a walk across my garden, the mother duck proudly showing her babies how the humans live.