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Just deserts

In case there is any question of beauty being reserved for alps and snow and shades of grey, blue and white, take a look at the Australian desert scene and don't for a moment imagine these shots are unusual. Probably the most pictures I took on any trip was on the one we made to Alice Springs, Uluru, Katherine Gorge and Kakadu where desert featured more than any other landscape. Of course a lot of alpine landscapes are desert landscapes but it is very hard to find a photo gallery of just deserts in Switzerland.
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It's a load of trash!

In the German speaking part of Switzerland everything is clean, efficient and workable ... and the trains leave on time. At left you can see a typical Swiss German re-cycling bin. You will notice how clean and efficient they are. The aluminum can recycling bin has a hook on the top so that a truck can just come along, pick it up by the hook and drop off an empty one. The bottle bin is taken away like a skip and replaced with a fresh one. In the Italian part of Switzerland they are less concerned with punctuality (our Cisalpino train to Lugano at the weekend left 10 minutes late for no reason that was obvious to us) and more interested in a bit of flair. This also applies to recycling bins. In Lugano, they are really into aesthetics.The concept is the same, but those sneaky Italians have buried all the ugly bits. Notice the loop (left) to lift the whole contraption. The slip-proof stainless steal plate on the ground shows the size of the container which goes about 2 metres into the grou...
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Nature does not live by the calendar

As I walked through the park on my last couple of mornings before leaving Wollishoven where we have been living temporarily I continued my daily pondering. I walked on the opposite side of the park just to give myself another view of the world. Where before the old mansions towered above me, magnificent chandeliers blazing in every room, overwhelming in their grandeur, the view from the other side of the park gave them an air of stony self-containment within their cocoons of conifers. Lone dogwalkers constitute the sole oncoming traffic. Even the ducks are shivering as they maintain their daily routime of ducking and diving (is it a coincidence that ducks are called ducks I wonder?) Autumn has several phases: the first a gradual enrichment of foliage hues, transitioning to the brilliant glow of mid-autumn. Gradually, Autumn fades into Winter, and the two seasons coexist in the congenial harmony of a perennial relationship. Nature does not feel constrained by man's attempt at order...
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