Saturday I was driving from Carinthia to Styria, its eastern neighbor. The highway avoids the first of the two mountain chains in between, but it crosses the second one at a height of almost 1200 meters.
Just before the highest tunnel, the fog gave way to sunshine and I decided to take the exit to the old pass road, trying to look for a side road that would lead me up to sunny meadows amid frost-covered trees.
First I took the wrong side of the pass road, the one back to Carinthia, and when I saw that it only lead down in to the fog again, I turned around and tried my luck on the other side.
And really, I was lucky, a small road went up the mountain into a frosty forest.
I didn’t have much time to explore, but what I saw was a fantastic winter wonderland, only that the snow was just an immensity of icy needles. Inside of the forest it was as if snow would fall, and at the same time the sun came through. Magic!
It’s interesting how rarely we follow our dreams and desires. I have crossed that pass so often, quite a few numbers in the same weather conditions, frequently wondering if I should take the exit and explore the area. Until now I never did.
Like yesterday, the Song of the Day is “Higher Ground”, but this time interpreted by Barbra Streisand on her 1997 album of the same name. Hear it on YouTube.