"You must do the impossible, for in the impossible you will see eternity."
Me. Funny me.
Yes, I created this little aphorism after doing the impossible.
We got off the train in Grindelwald to discover that our rented apartment in a Swiss chalet was up a long steep mountainside, equivalent to a black diamond ski run-without the moguls. And it was paved. Most of the way.
Tony looked to the curve and assumed the steepness ended there. Tony makes a lot of assumptions.
But the steepness continued. It got even steeper. It was so impossibly steep that the scenario became funny. Because I could either sit at the side of the road and cry or pull my luggage like a horse pulling a sleigh and laughing all the way.
Never mind the extra roomy suitcase I had loaded with heavy books. I make assumptions too. Deadly assumptions. Steep mountain + heavy suitcase is a road of regret.
If you take a mountain one step at a time, you will reach the top. And in doing the impossible, you see eternity and have very sore arms the next day.
Half way up the first steep mountain, a young, strong man, came out on his chalet balcony. He was watching me. Doubting me. Three quarters up the steep mountain, he walked around the balcony towards the road. I thought he was coming to help me. He wasn't. He had never been a boy scout. Where was his mother?
But I compassionately assumed, he had pulled his suitcase up the same steep road. And now he could gloat. Besides would I have even let him help me?
Yes.
I imagined the handle to the suitcase breaking. The suitcase would have rolled, gained momentum, careened down the mountain until it crashed and exploded against the railing. My books and pajamas would have flown into the sky in a fantastic fireworks display, falling slowly into the river.
I would have been relieved.
But I kept going. Slowly. All I knew was at some point, we were going to turn left. We eventually turned left but it was to another steep winding road. Across a torn up piece of asphalt, another steep pathway, and now a right turn. Two doors down, our apartment was waiting. With four flight of stairs.
My glimpse of eternity seemed to be eternal.
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