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professional horizon chaser The promise of rain never happened yesterday and the heat put me to sleep at around five in the afternoon. Then when I woke about an hour before midnight I saw that the ground was wet. At first I thought that that was it, but shortly after midnight there was a five minute down pour. So in the end I guess that the weather forecast was correct if slightly off in its timing. ... Late this morning I spent some time reading more of my new hero Richard Halliburton's European adventures at the beginning of the twentieth century. He was in Switzerland and decided that he had to climb the Matterhorn even though he had never climbed a mountain before in his life. It was simply something that he had to do and he did it with the help of two guides that took pity on him and his college roommate. To keep things more down to earth Halliburton mentions the comment that his companion Irvine made when they reached the summit. Rather than saying something prosaic, Irvine said that at last he could spit a mile. Halliburton was ready to kill when he heard his friend say something so vulgar. Another highlight for him was seeing the Chateau de Chillon, which was unknown to me. I guess that I haven't read enough of Byron like he did. Then again I never went to Princeton in the 1920s either. According to the Lonely Planet web site: Chillon Castle receives more visitors than any other historical building in Switzerland. Occupying a stunning position right on Lake Geneva, the fortress caught the public imagination when Lord Byron wrote about the fate of Bonivard, a follower of the Reformation who was chained to the fifth pillar in the dungeons for four years in the 16th century. Byron etched his own name on the third pillar. The castle, still in excellent condition, dates from the 11th century and has been much modified and enlarged since then. It's worth spending an afternoon viewing the tower, courtyards, dungeons and numerous rooms containing weapons, utensils, frescos and tupperware. The castle is located within walking distance of Montreux, the centrepiece of the Swiss Riviera. Maybe I'll have to add that to my list of places to see, because Switzerland is one of the countries that I've missed in my two outings to Europe. I wound around it the first time I was there and the Baltic is a long way from the Alps so it wasn't going to happen the second time either. From Switzerland Halliburton was on to Paris where he met a charming girl who danced at the Folies Bergeres. I can't say that that happened to me when I was in Paris. I did wander into the red light district, but that wasn't nearly the same kind of experience. ... Early this afternoon I spent some time at one of my favorite places. I went to the library. My reason for going was to get some travel books. I not only wanted some new ones on Spain, I also wanted some of the ones for the places I had just seen in Europe. I wanted to fill in some details of what I saw and it helps to get another perspective. Besides the photos and descriptions make more sense once a person has been somewhere. ... I may have mentioned it once or twice before, but I am going to say it again. In my opinion, the Vertigo comic book Lucifer written by Mike Carey is the best book being offered on the market. Morningstar has style like none other and Mazikeen is just as sharp. Of course if one hasn't read the book, those names mean nothing. Coming in a close second in a completely different genre would be Ruse put out by the fine folks at CrossGen comics. ... Two years ago on this day I was in London. One year ago I was falling in love. I really shouldn't compare the two events in my life, but I just did. Both of them were happy times and I have to wonder when the next moment is going to come into my life.
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