Only four months to go

I just realized yesterday that we have only four months or so left in Zurich. We're supposed to ship ourselves back to the U.S. on March 1, 2007. I'm already starting to get wistful about Zurich. Lately, I catch myself thinking, oh no, this is the last chance I'll have to do this or I'm really going to miss that. Like today, I was sitting eating my lunch by the lake and thinking I really need to do one more hike before it gets too cold and rainy. Something close by, like Uetliberg, would do.

Perhaps the wistfulness is part of an overall melancholy I'm feeling these days. All the summer visitors have come and gone. The big, exciting trips around Europe are mostly over. The hubby is out of town on business. Jul, my partner in unemployed crime, is off running around Japan. So, here I am, left to my own devices. Yesterday that consisted of spending most of the day surfing the web and downloading music followed by a dinner of beer and potato chips. Not pretty, I know.

Here's the other problem. My state of joblessness is finally starting to catch up with me mentally. Without trips to plans, projects to work on or a job to go to, I've taken to sleeping in till 9 or, sometimes, even 10. The day can just slip by with nothing to show for it. Occasionally I start to feel anxious because I don't know what to do with myself. The last 8 months or so of leisure have been reallly nice, but it's starting to have a downside. I need to feel useful and productive again.

Perhaps my next adventure (you knew there had to be one!) will help clear the fog of idleness. On Monday, I leave for an apple orchard where I'll spend five days as a volunteer farm hand. No sleeping in there, that's certain. I expect I'll be getting up at the crack of dawn to pick and sort apples, plums and pears. The farm is family run, all organic and located in a beautiful area of Switzerland near Bodensee (Lake Constance), or so the brochure says. I found it through an organization called WWOOF, or World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

I'm looking forward to getting to work and spending some time outdoors. Fall has been beautiful here so far (I've probably just cursed next week's weather by writing that). I'll also hopefully get to practice my German, which is in a dreadful state right now. And with any luck, I'll come back with a couple of bottles of freshly pressed cider. The farm operates its own cider factory. Reports to come.