City Walk

Advent Coming

On a chilly grey day, we met two young ladies in St. Gallen to see some of its seasonal finery. The Christmas lights were being put up.

But the store front decoration colors were bright and festive.

Huge (about 15 inch) filled cookies made with old wooden forms. Price: 230 Francs


A fountain figure. The fountains are turned off for the winter.







Sweets for one‘s sweet.



And dinner for us at the Schäfli




Then to the chocolate store.


And goodbyes to the visitors. Their next stop - Germany. 🇩🇪 

Snow

This Morning 

After a blustery rainy night, that led to a blustery cold day.

Tree Season

Get It Now

Most communities are preparing for the Advent season. That means finding a fine specimen of a conifer and getting it hauled in to the town square. And it needs to be big. 

We saw this yesterday.

It was not actually flying through the air of its own volition. A helicopter was above it.

First Snow

Of the Season

After days of heavy fog, the temperatures dropped, and last night the snow fell. 

Yesterday 

Early this morning 

By midday it was all gone.

St. Martin’s Day

November 11

Named for the Saint who became bishop of Tours. He is recognized in art usually as a rider on a horse cutting his cloak in half to share with a beggar. This was Martin Luther’s baptism day, one day after his birth on November 10th, and how he got his name. 

And the sun came out briefly from the thick fog this afternoon, long enough to get the pots housed for winter. 

Walk in the Alps

Above the Fog

We left a thick blanket of fog below for sunshine in the higher elevations. We had planned to have dinner at a mountain restaurant in that sunshine after church. But we found that absolutely everybody and his wife, brother, and cousin had the same idea, so no places were to be had. But we still had a nice walk in the highland moors and old timber woods. 

Der Waldmann…. äh….Die Wald Frau


Big trees, big rocks 

Pleasant paths

Big mountains

Last Autumn Color

Just Before Winter

The tomatoes didn’t survive our being gone, but we are eating the last of them. A few squashes are still trying to ripen. We are about to put pots inside for the winter. Then the last seasonal clean up will follow. But a few bright blooms are still making a brave show. 

There is some consistency in that color, wouldn’t you say?

But there were a few others.

Also in the rose family. A couple of survivors of the big hail storm.




And contrast


Autumn glow 


Wisteria and birches and willow and fir.

Happy November

From Switzerland 

🇨🇭 We are home again, after nice visits with family. Autumn is well advanced, but the leaves are not entirely fallen from the trees.

The birches, firs, and wisteria.

Golden, Colorado

Pioneer Town

The town is full of beautiful bronze sculptures.


And it has empty hills all around it, no creeping urban sprawl.




It retains an old flavor - no urban renewal here.


Coors beer was born here

The building above, where we had a fine dinner….


Clear Creek, the heart of the town


This butte ( not including the photographer’s finger) is the town symbol.


Manhole cover


It’s an artsy town, lovely for tourist browsing.












City park






Goodbye, Golden.