Say what you like about the wage protests of fast food workers, as reported on the front page of today’s New York Times, and the fact that not a single one of the over 200,000 fast food restaurants in the U.S.A. is unionized, the big story is, of course, that today is Swiss Independence Day.

Bundnerflesisch?  Check.  Veal?  Check.  Potatoes and beets?  Check, check.  OK, fine, we’re not grilling the little sausages that are a hallmark of the occasion that marks the Confederation’s start, but who said that traditions must be followed to..the…letter?  Yes, the Swiss said that.  I know, but things do change inexorably.

Meanwhile it seems that the fast food workers are sort of and kind of and in a freestyle way trying to suss out what they might garner in terms of a wage that will at least allow many to make rent, buy food, and get to and from work.  Hey, I said back in January that this was going to be the news of 2013, and was I right?  Well, was I?

No, I was wrong.  It is Swiss Independence day and let me tell you something, no joke: I miss the mountains.  I miss the cows.  I miss the quiet, the green, the blue, and the smell of hay and the sight of abundant water.

Augustweggen, here I come!