Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

In Part 1 of this account , we outlined the project (hiking roughly 1/3 of the Via Alpina across Switzerland with Tom, Carol, Bob, and Diane), and covered our first two days, hiking from Mels to Elm (and taking transport to Braunwald). Part 2 took us on to Klausenpass and to Altdorf, home of William Tell. In Part 3 we climbed over the Surenenpass and enjoyed rest days in Engleberg. Part 4 took us over the next pass or two to Meiringen, while Part 5 went on to Grindelwald and an excursion to a high mountain hut.  Day 9: To the Faulhorn After our two days of dubious weather ( see Part 5 ), the beautiful clear skies were back, along with more heat than we really wanted. Since we were there to see the mountains, it was a trade-off we were willing to accept. First light gilds the cap--more a wave than a lenticular cloud--on the Eiger. From the front porch of the hotel. As was our wont, we headed down the street and grabbed the First lift. This day, the last of our Via Alpina, actuall...

Here's wishing all my readers a happy solstice. I do love to think that the days will start getting longer from here, because though I like cool weather and am loving the snow we have all over right now (not so keen on the ice that has made my street a skating rink, but hope it will go away soon), I struggle with the darkness of a northern winter. It is always kind of amazing to me that winter begins when the day length starts to grow, so maybe it's not winter, but autumn, that is hard! My street getting its coating of snow. While you are snuggled in avoiding the winter chill or summer heat (depending on your hemisphere), don't forget to take the opportunity to nab a good book, cheap, from the Smashwords Year-End Sale ! Many of my books are on sale, with a new book on extra-deep discounts each week. For this week, both Death By Adverb (Pismawallops PTA #3) and Return to Skunk Corners (Ninja Librarian #2) are 50% off!

Photo by KL Caley Participating in the weekly #WritePhoto blog hop at KL Caley's New2Writing blog.  I'm a little late with this--expect more of the same this week, and next, but I'll put up a post when I think about it :)  Meanwhile, everyone enjoy the holidays of your choice (me, I'm a little inclined to choose them all, especially any with food associated). Today, in 530 words, we have a little Christmas story for you. Carriage   “Careful how you stow those things.” The order wasn’t necessary, but he gave it anyway.   “Are you sure this is going to work?” That was Crocus, always questioning his judgement. Questioning everyone’s judgement, to be fair. Crocus couldn’t take anything as a given, which he supposed wasn’t all bad.   “I’ve tested the horses. They’ll do.”   “Why can’t the reindeer—” Crocus started to ask.   “They need snow. The bare stones and pavements hurt their feet. Hooves,” he corrected himself. T...

In Part 1 of this account , we outlined the project (hiking roughly 1/3 of the Via Alpina across Switzerland with Tom, Carol, Bob, and Diane), and covered our first two days, hiking from Mels to Elm (and taking transport to Braunwald). Part 2 took us on to Klausenpass and to Altdorf, home of William Tell. In Part 3 we climbed over the Surenenpass and enjoyed rest days in Engleberg. Part 4 took us over the next pass or two to Meiringen. And now for Part 5.   Day 8: The Death of Holmes, and on to Grindelwald I admit that I was at most vaguely aware that Conan Doyle had bumped off Sherlock Holmes in what was to have been his last story about the great detective. (Note: Doyle did this because he felt Holmes distracted him from his more serious literary pursuits. Can you name anything Doyle wrote besides the Sherlock Holmes stories? Me neither.) I didn't realize until we got there that the great event had happened in Meiringen, at Reichenbach Falls, and that we would walk right past the...