Kingdom by the Sea

I'm pretty happy with life in Switzerland. There are two or three things that I miss about Scotland though. One of them is the sea. I was born close to the sea and always lived near it. Going down to the sea is special. It can be beautiful yet terrifying, ferocious or placid, thundering or silent. There is a constant dialogue between sea and sky - natures paintbrush. It is mysterious and wonderful - why else the word "unfathomable" - and especially for an island race it represents a special type of boundary. A cross between a territorial border and one that separates us from nature. The habitable and the uninhabitable. It defines the culture of the people who grew up alongside it. On the east coast it is fishing communities, on the west coast trade and shipbuilding. Now, sadly, only ghosts remain.

The phrase Kingdom by the Sea has always made me tingle, maybe because of my cultural roots, but more likely because of an unhealthy teenage obsession with the works of Poe, and his Annabel Lee.

This is the Zürichsee. In Winter, when the lake steamers are gone, it seems to have it's own share of ghosts.

You still get some of the atmospheric effects associated with the sea though.

Although Switzerland doesn't have a coastline it hasn't stopped them having a navy and the Americas Cup. As a condolence they have many beautiful lakes, including the Zurichsee. Not the same thing, but nice. This morning I had an early stroll along the waterfront and these photos will need to suffice as a substitute.