Can a lake be the end of the world? It is round, with shores, and shores mean there is something thelse beyond the water.

Yet this morning, Lake Léman looked like the end of the world. It is large enough to feel like it, too. As if the water that gushes down from the Jura mountains and the Alps continue straight over the edge behind the horizon.There were no children playing in the water. One crazy lady braved the cold and dove in. Her swim made no sound, and almost no ripples on the water. It was the end of 2015 and the last swim of the year.

When one is sorry in French, one “suis désolé”. When something is desolate in French, it is “désolé”, too. It was a cold morning, but the lady was not desolate about plunging into the desolate waters.At the end of the world even the swans are hungy. Just like everywhere else. Also the gulls and the ducks are hungry, but they are simply less rude. At the end of the world one needs to be rude in order to be fed.

At the end of a year one can throw oneself in the water and flow with the current over the edge of the world. Alternatively, one can stay ashore and look out for the next  year. All it takes is a sliver of curiosity regarding what is right beneath the horizon. White swans and a good friend are also excellent company when one must choose to welcome yet another year.(Geneva, Switzerland; December 2015)