The view of the village of Seefeld, Austria from the mountain above. I wanted to swirl around and sing the song from Sound of Music but Dave said I would embarrass him.

We were riding the cog trail up the mountain in Seefeld, Austria, where the Olympics were once held, with another member of our tour group whom we’d just met—a slight man wearing lavendar-tinted glasses.  When we mentioned that we’d lived in New Orleans for many years he perked up, and replied that he’d just been to Southern Decadence.

“But I brought all the wrong outfits,” he confided to us. “I brought all my twinky outfits and I should have brought more bearish stuff.”

As always happens in the first conversation we have with a new acquaintance, a set of filters and presumptions begin to fall in place. The conversation turned to travel.

“My little electric heater from the dollar store and I have been all over the world,” he noted. “I get chilly easily.”

Presumptions begin to firm up.

I asked what his favorite places have been during his travels.

“The border of Burma and Thailand,” was his instant reply. “I hiked for eight days there and barely saw another human being. Later I found out there were rebel clashes along the border.”

Stereotype shattered.

Shortly thereafter our travel mate continued on up into the mountains where he hiked for several hours from one peak to the next. We enjoyed the view and a latte seated comfortably under an umbrella at the mid-mountain restaurant.

I’m so grateful every time I have an experience like this.  Each is a reminder that although making a certain number of presumptions is necessary to carry on in life, they should always be questioned.

The mountainside café had an exhibit of vintage ski gear. These little skis reminded Dave of the pair he had as a child when his dad was stationed near here.

There must have been a thousand flower boxes in the fairytale village of Seefeld.

And at least some of those flower boxes have to be tended the old-fashioned way.