Driving to the Sun

Reading Time: 2 minutes
If you’re like me, you might read "driving to the sun" and think I’m speaking of driving to Spain or to Southern France. This wasn’t the case today. Today, as I saw we were in the fog, or in a layer of cloud I decided that I would drive up to an island above the fog. The island, in this case was Pampigny.

You might say "but Pampigny is a village on a slope, not an island. You’re right, of course. Today though, it was an island. If you looked towards the Léman you saw low lying clouds until the Alps, and if you looked towards Neuchatel then you also saw clouds.

If I bring this further, then it’s worth noticing the sounds and sights that I had. I saw dew drenched plants. Where grass and dead leaves were in shade I saw frost. I noticed that the windscreen of a car was partially defrosted. As the sun swept across the windshield the morning frost was being melted away, clearing the windshield.

I also heard the pitter patter of drops of frost, that had melted to form drops. When they became too large to remain hanging from twigs, branches and leaves, they fell to the ground and the sound was constant. It sounded similar to rain but the clouds were gone and the frost had melted.

When I was in direct sunlight it was nice and warm and I felt like removing layers. it was nice to be above the grey neutral light that you get when you’re in a cloud.

It wasn’t so nice when I got to the end of the short walk and headed back into the coldness of the damp clouds. Immediately I felt the cold trying to pinch me. I brought a layer up to cover my face. Within seconds my sunglasses had condensation so I brought the layer back down.

Of Long Drives, or of Heading Uphill

When I was in Spain, if I wanted to flee the bad weather, I wouldn’t have gone up a mountain. I would have driven several hundred kilometres either west, or east, and I would have found blue sky. In Switzerland it’s a matter of going up a hill. A few days ago I ran up to the blue sky. I had seen someone else cycle up to the blue sky, which I think is less of a challenge. Running up requires more energy in certain cases. Around here, in Switzerland, you can be above the clouds, within a few minutes.

The rule is, if you can’t see the top of the Jura, you can get above the clouds.

And Finally

When I was in Spain the Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) had a news item about Seasonal Affective Disorder and how December had been especially dark with Neuchatel getting just seven hours of sunshine in the last month. Of course, in Switzerland, it’s easy to drive, catch a train, or cycle to the sunshine.

If you hike or cycle, you don’t need to get to the top of the mountain. You just need to get above the clouds. This is usually just a short way up the mountains. Other times it can be higher. That’s when the Little Red Train (Petit Train Rouge NSCTCM) train becomes useful from Nyon. You leave the "Soupe au pois" behind, and enjoy the sunshine for a few hours, before going back into the "pea soup", translated from French.

Of course, fleeing depends on shift patterns and weekends.