Saturday, August 13, 2011
We s
pent a fantastic week with my longtime friend and student MJ Link in Grindelwald, Switzerland. MJ had been many times before and knew all the best routes and hikes. Michael and I finally arranged to go with her and we hiked everyday, mostly, downhill. It was easy to take a train or bus or gondola to many different beautiful hiking destinations. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau looked down on us wherever we were, and the sweet sounds of cow bells, mingled with the spectacular scenery showed us what Mahler was trying to share with his music.

Today is my sister’s birthday, and I just got home from a wild time we spent together in Las Vegas (well, not so wild really) and a fantastic bike trip in Death Valley.