Hafelekar

Today was a first for me. I rode a cable car up an Alpine mountain and then hiked the rest of the way to the top of the Hakelekar summit.  It was chilly up top, lots of wind but sunny. The view was absolutely amazing. From 7,658 feet you can pretty much see the entire Innsbruck valley, and then from the other side of the peak, the mountains just roll on and on and on into the horizon. Miniscule yellow and purple flowers were peeking up from the grassy areas, and a few patches of snow here and there were holding on even in July. As a final impression, so that one can create a complete mental picture, there were many traces of mountain goats all over the place, if you catch my drift.

For someone who has generally lived in flat places her whole life, being in the midst of such astounding mountains every direction you look is a pretty cool thing. The air was so bright and shiny...ok, maybe I'm slightly oxygen deprived, which would explain the rambling, but anyway...it was a thrilling experience, bottom line.

I'm grateful that I have had a chance to spend some time in the Austrian Alps. Our surroundings play such an important role in who we are and who we become. The mountains seem to beckon to you, they seem to promise something new. I think I can hear Mother Abbess singing to me off in the distance, "Climb every mountain,/Ford every stream,/Follow every rainbow,/'Till you find your dream."