What a winter! After I praised the glorious weather in the last editorial, the rain set in. It rained for days and weeks. It felt like ages!

Amongst the obvious consequences was my declining mood. Just before the deluge, it felt like we were given that perfect winter as a recompense for all the coronavirus difficulties that stubbornly stick around.

Then the rain – and should I say luckily? – put things back into perspective. Once more it dawned on me that the weather follows the laws of physics rather than the whims of humanity or, more generally, that the universe is not (supposed to be) fair.

If not always uplifting, I find that thought somewhat reassuring. Our youngest son does not. He still believes that the universe should be fair (towards him, that is) and strongly laments his fate whenever this is not the case (from his point of view). But I digress...

A less philosophical consequence is the high risk of avalanches. And maybe that’s why I choose cross-country skiing over ski touring. With all those thoughts about the universe and fairness in my mind, I would be incapable of a proper risk assessment. So I better stick to the safe plane, where I can follow my musings – until my brain goes into survival mode from sheer exhaustion...

Best regards,
Dr. Markus Iseli, Publishing Director