In lands I never saw — they say
Immortal Alps look down —
Whose Bonnets touch the firmament —
Whose sandals touch the town;
Meek at whose everlasting feet
A myriad Daisy play —
Which, Sir, are you, and which am I —
Opon an August day?
~ Emily Dickinson
(The Poems of Emily Dickinson, #108)
I like Emily’s first stanza — it’s very descriptive! I guess it takes a poet to show us things we might not have noticed before (bonnets touching the firmament and sandals touching the town). As for the second half, hmm. She lost me — I’m probably thinking too concretely for the message to sink in. Oh, well, it’s a pretty picture nevertheless!
One guess is that “Sir” might be Samuel Bowles, one of Emily’s correspondents, who traveled a lot. She may have envied his knowledge of places she would never see, and he may have envied her brilliant poems that he could never write. I do love the imagery of mountains with bonnets and sandals. Reminds me of one of her poems when she refers to the Arctic circle as a polar hem.
The thought of the Alps with snow-covered mountains cools me off and is pretty to see and a nice place for a hike. We have a storm going on right now and dropped 15 degrees, just like that.
Our landlady just got back from a trip hiking in the Alps and sent us a picture — breathtakingly beautiful! I remember seeing those majestic mountains when flying over them on a plane between Italy and Germany. And of course, they make me think of the book Heidi by Johanna Spyri.
I went with my father to Germany and Austria in 1969 and we stayed in a little place in the mountains in an Alpine village in Austria. It was nice hiking and we got hiking sticks and went out while we stayed there. The people have their walking sticks with points on the bottom and each town they go to, they collect metal shields to nail on the side of the walking stick to signify they hiked there. It was pretty. I went with both my parents in 1979, but we never went into the mountains except by car. I loved the book Heidi and remember seeing the movie as a kid, probably on World of Disney every Sunday night or perhaps at the show.
I remember you writing about that trip. That must have been magical, staying in a little place in the mountains and having a chance to hike there, too. I bet Tim would have loved collecting those little shields for his walking stick. 🙂 Once we stayed at a motel in the Shenandoah National Park and hiked a little on the Appalachian Trail. And two years ago we stayed in a hotel in Black Mountain, NC. Beautiful places but I think the Alps in a little house would be even more spectacular!
It was very picturesque. When I went with my father (and his aunt/uncle), it was August, but with my parents (and his aunt/uncle), it was in early May and there were wildflowers everywhere – very pretty to see. It was a little chalet, a bed and board and the woman took care of the meals/rooms and her husband tended the chickens and cows. He’d drive the cows past our windows very early in the morning with their clanging cowbells as he took them up to the mountains to graze. We had these delicious flaky buns for breakfast every morning with butter she churned and jam she made. A very idyllic setting. Every place you went in Austria had those little shields and people were proud to show off their shields to fellow hikers. I’ve read how nice it is to hike the Appalachian Trail – you were lucky you tried it out. I hope you stay safe from Erin and are far enough away for no strong winds. I’ve been hearing about the winds increasing as it gets wider.
I love these trips down memory lane, at our age we have so many good memories to enjoy recalling, sweet treasures to cherish and dream about. Now I’m thinking of the mountains in Norway and how they sloped steeply down into the fjords, and waterfalls everywhere. I love going back there in my mind…
I know you enjoyed your vacation in Norway as we compared notes a while back – it was/is a very beautiful part of the world with friendly people. I remember my parents encouraging me to travel because they said travel memories are something to cherish forever, so I am glad I listened to their advice. I have a little pang of wistfulness when I see the Viking long ship cruises advertised on “All Creatures Great and Small” … that is the only PBS show I watch but when I see those ads their destinations are always so breathtaking.
Oh Linda, I do understand about those pangs of wistfulness! It’s so nice to have “All Creatures Great and Small” to look forward to in January, after the excitement from the holidays dies down. 🙂
I think sometimes about other trips, not by air, but scenic trips by bus would be nice. A local bus company has nice Fall trips up north for four or five days, or to Ohio in the Fall, then I hear about a tourist bus accident like happened in New York today … I know I am not missing anything and my traveling days are over. You and I never thought twice about boarding a bus, or a boat for a fjord day trip, or the steep mountain funicular ride, or a plane … carefree travel – we were fearless then – sigh. I got the first e-mail yesterday from PBS re: “All Creatures Great and Small” saying they would be back in January 2026 with new people added to the cast. Didn’t you tell me you subscribed to the PBS “All Creatures” e-mail? If not, I’ll forward it if you’d like.
I heard about that terrible bus accident. Those buses look so top heavy to me, and go so fast, that I’ve never thought it would be a good idea to be trapped on one. About the same level of apprehension for flying. It doesn’t make sense, but I feel safer on a train, even though I know they have their fair share of accidents, too. Yup, I am subscribed to PBS and got the email, too. 🙂 Something to look forward to!
Then there was a second accident, the following day with a group of junior high school football players. Train travel would be safest these days – you’re right. I saw the “leaf-peeping” train trip years ago that went through New England during peak leaf color time and you slept, ate and viewed everything from the train. Now that would be perfect because, even if you had rainy days, you and your camera would stay dry and you would still see the magnificent sights.