Jim and Sue were often seen spending time walking on the path around the lake. They could drive by car to this lake outside of Zurich in ten minutes time. A walk around the lake took them less than 3 hours. Their record was 2 hours and 37 minutes. Having lived in the U.S. many years ago, they both enjoyed the fact that here there were no billboards and while at the lake, they both agreed to turn off their cell phones so as to enjoy the serenity and the sounds of the great outdoors.
Last week a couple Jim had met at his office agreed to join them for a walk around the lake. David and Sarah had come from quite a distance and when the two couples met at the parking lot at 10 a.m. David commented on the traffic in Zurich. “It was a hard drive, getting through the city, but here we are, looking forward to spending this great Spring day with you two.”
Jim and Sue’s eyes showed surprise as they watched David and Sarah pull backpacks out of their car and hang binoculars around their necks. “You never know when you might be lucky and see something special,” was David’s comment to Jim and Sue’s not knowing what to say.
After 15 minutes of walking, not however at the brisk tempo Jim and Sue were accustomed to, Sarah said, “Did you hear it?”
“Hear it?” replied Sue.
“Yes, I hope you have a coin in your pocket.”
What does she mean, thought Sue. Maybe the ice cream vendor is up ahead. He sometimes stands at the curve at the end of the lake on warm days. Did Sarah hear the noise of the vendor’s bell?
“Listen, I hear it again,” was David’s next comment.
Jim and Sue concentrated on sounds but heard nothing unusual.
“It’s a cuckoo. One only hears cuckoos in this area in May and June.”
A cuckoo, thought Jim. Cuckoos belong in clocks. I never liked the idea of such an annoying noise in my home.
“Yes, I think I hear two of them. The saying goes, if you hear a cuckoo, touch a coin in your pocket and this will bring you good luck. Perhaps we can get a look at them,” said Sarah.
Bob unpacked his binoculars and Sarah took her book of birds out of her backpack. She opened it to the page where male and female cuckoos were pictured. Sue saw that there was a card fastened with a stapler to the page in the book with dates and times and places noted on it, obviously the occasions when their new friends had seen cuckoos.
The four of them stood and listened for the next many minutes and Sarah did indeed spot a cuckoo with her binoculars. Jim and Sue were fascinated. Their excitement continued the rest of the afternoon as David and Sarah pointed out details and shared information about insects, plants, trees, bushes, birds, water fowl and clouds. They showed them pictures and diagrams, read texts from the books in their backpacks and sometimes made notes or picked up small samples of leaves and wild flowers.
Needless to say, that evening Jim and Sue had a new understanding of a walk around the lake and were looking forward to future nature walks with their new friends.
—Ann Jaeggi
June 2012
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