It was a good day today. We hiked and ate and played cards and if you actually want to get to the card playing part, you’ll have to read all three of the Pürschling Blogs, it was a long day.

We got an early start for the first time on our trip. It’s been afternoon hiking as we adjust to the new time zone, but we’ve been here a week and today the apartment got cleaned so up and out towards yonder mountain we went. We stopped at a bakery for breakfast (the German bread!) and then the plan was to hike to August-Schuster-Hutte-Am Pürschling. The apartment manager where we are staying suggested this hike.  He is a hiker and has been giving us some good hiking recommendations (Laber).  He had suggested the Pürschling Haus Hutte and said it was about three hours out and back, a half day event, a reasonable trail with a Hut (Bier and snacks) and thanks to my husband a coaster ride (Do Over!). As he looked over the map he realized that the Kobelsattel Trail was the first part of the Pürschling Trail. That meant we would be near the chairlift for the Kobelsattel Alpine Coasters on our way up so we decided to hike up (some people take the chairlift up and hike from Kobelsattel) and coaster back down the last part of the mountain. We would be back mid afternoon at the latest.

My daughter is not a morning person, she doesn’t speak morning. Seriously, the kid mumbles unintelligibly until about noon. She jokes about (although I think she is serious and I am all for it) drinking a cup of coffee in the morning to get moving. So, today not only was she up early, but she was hiking up a steep mountain road at the beginning of a long hike and she was grumpy and her mood was irritating me, her mood and my husband.  He had started out the hike by swinging his trekking pole in front of my camera as I was trying to catch a “moment” between my kids.  He thought it was funny and I thought it was annoying. I told him so and then he thought I was unreasonable. I need to revisit my goal to say nothing. (Please note, I know that saying nothing is not always an option. You must choose your battles or “choose which mountain to die on” as someone once told me).  I was able to reflect on this goal of mine in the silence that ensued and I realized that tolerance has a lot to do with acceptance. Maybe today’s journey would help me practice acceptance.

Acceptance is what everyone wants, I see that more and more everywhere I look. It is of utmost importance to accept a person for who and where they are at any moment in time. There are many lines of fine print to this grand theory, but it is another goal of mine for the year. I want to get better at accepting people for who they are and where they are at the moment, myself included. I think I am an accepting person, but I also think I don’t do a very good job with my family. Accept my daughter’s preteen morning grumpiness, accept my husband who is annoying me by swinging his trekking stick in front of my camera and accept the grumpy, judging and nagging voice in my head and say nothing is my goal. Say Nothing. Say Nothing. Say Nothing.

Sometimes, it might be impossible for you to say nothing and so you end up saying a few somethings. Consequently, you have some time to hike by yourself (because no one wants to talk to you), enjoy the scenery and reflect on the joy of saying nothing and instead, practicing acceptance of your loved ones.

Regardless, the hike to Kobelsattel went quickly. It was a short (by this trip’s standards) forty-five minute hike and I thought that since there were lots of older gentlemen out hiking, we must be out at a decently early time. Judging by the deserted playground at Koffelsatel we were early and the kids played for a while.  It was a beautiful, sunshiny, but not too warm morning, my husband had relaxed a bit and my daughter had woken up. So, maybe when you do end up saying things, don’t judge yourself too harshly, just wait and try again in a while. We played with a happy German dog, laid in the warm grass and listened to the kids screaming and laughing.