What a wonderful day to greet mother’s day, an invitation to go back to bed, but be it mother’s day or not, there are things to do and places to visit: like the ironing board and the kitchen, yes a mother’s work is never done. Of course what a boring life it would be when we would have nothing to do all day. I went to bed with the sound of thunder and rain. During the night it must have stopped somewhere, but the sky reminds us that it might be back.

I was reflecting on the mother’s days when I had a mother. My most vivid memory is not the box of store chocolates that I bought her, but dad fussing around and making sure that his daughter did not forget. Mum had a characteristic of being rather annoyed if that would happen and we would all suffer under her negative thoughts. It is probably one of the reasons that I am not so fixed on mother’s day. Of course I love to hear from my kids, but we do not really have a to have a day, because those days occur constantly and now my youngest and his wife have also become a mum and dad.

Yesterday I was indecisive whether to take a wheelie in my chair or not, but as the weather forecast was a little on the negative side for the evening, I decided on a quick tour in the afternoon. I travelled down to the path to the river, but this time took a left turn – I usually go right. My memories of left are not so good. I was still practicing with the chair and it had been raining and my first trip along the river in this direction resulted in me getting stuck in a muddy groove. There was no-one around to help, or see my predicament (actually I was glad) and I managed to climb out of the chair, grab my cane and pull the chair out of the ground. I immediately turned around and left the path of course. Now it was dry sunny weather, and I heard the sound of gunfire in the distance, so I wanted to investigate.

The red flag was up and on this side of the path there is the village rifle range. All good Swiss soldiers must practice at least once a year by law for their soldier training, which is three weeks a year for all recruits. As I got nearer the sound of rifle shots got louder until I arrived at the part of the path that was cut off by a barrier warning that it would be dangerous to go further, due to stray bullets. Not wanting to become a victim of army rifle practice I turned my wheelchair.

I used to be able to climb the many steps to the top of the river bank, but these steps are not made for wheelchairs. I took the scenic route and arrived at the top and saw that the sheep had returned. They had their own little stall with roof and all the trimmings, but the farmer removed this a couple of years ago and the sheep disappeared. Now there are some wooden planks on the ground and the sheep decided to return hoping that their house might be rebuilt. They were having an afternoon sleep.

The swans were also on their way so the world was OK for me. I decided to return home, my photo shooting was complete and I also noticed that the shots had stopped. The Swiss army had done its duty for another year.

Mothers have a good day, and non-mothers also have a good day. You might not have had the joy of kids, but the joy of being able to sleep through the night without the milk machines wanting their supply is a reward, believe me. Always look on the bright side of life, I say.