For the most part, I enjoy the quiet time Maggie & I have together on our afternoon walks.

But sometimes, I get lonely - and I wish there was someone I could share it with.

Like today.

So for a moment, would you pretend you’re half-way around the world with me and go for a walk with us?

But first we have to stop & say hello to Little One & give her a dog treat. You can give one to Maggie.

We’ll turn left out of the gate up here…oh look! Mr. Hermit has finally cleared out all the scrub brush in his fields.

I’ve  never seen the man before, but he lives here.

So once we’re past the complex, we’ll run into the rice paddies. Man, look how big they’re getting!

I wonder when they’ll harvest the rice…for that matter, I wonder what part of the plant is actually the rice.

Up ahead is the crossway to the causeway. There’s a little old man & his wife that live there.

They’ve got a yippy dog that always barks at us…but we never actually see it.

They’re constantly tending their garden. Hey look, they must’ve just recently picked all their red peppers.

All the farmers lay their crops out on these big long sheets in the middle of the street to let them dry out.

I’m surprised the birds don’t go after them…but then again, those peppers are super hot.

So that’s probably why they don’t go after the peppers, but that doesn’t explain all the other crops.

But let’s keep going…if we turn right up ahead we’ll be able to cut through the fields.

That’s new – they must be fertilizing the fields.

But I don’t see the farmer.

You know, I’m not sure if these fields belong to the Lumber Barons or not.

But that’s their house – the one on the right.

Hear that?…There’s a helicopter heading this way. You hear them a lot because we’re not that far from base.

Looks like an Apache, but it’s not – it’s a Blackhawk.

Sometimes you’ll see Chinooks out here, too.

But you see the slums over there?…Look just behind them to the left.

That’s the buddist monastery in our neighborhood that I keep meaning to post about.

They recently repainted it.

But I don’t see any of the slum dogs today.

They’re usually out there barking up a storm at me & Maggie.

But let’s keep going. People use this single-car-width causeway as a road to get to their houses.

Some are nice enough to slow down so Maggie & I can try to squeeze as far to the side as possible, but others…they just don’t care & will blaze right past us.

I’m constantly worried one day they’ll hit me or her. So I stand on the inside, keeping Maggie as far away as possible.

I can get to a doctor a lot quicker than we can get her to a vet. The closest one’s in Osan & I’m not even sure they take emergencies.

Hey…do you remember those sunflowers I shot earlier this summer?

They’ve cut them all down now to dry out the heads for the seeds.

This is what they looked like just last week.

Ok, so up ahead are the Lumber Barons. That’s not their name, obviously. But that’s what I call them.

I still don’t know a lick of Korean. But it looks like Mrs. Lumber Baron is out there again today.

I really want to take a picture of her to show everyone, but I don’t know how exactly to go about doing it.

I know I should probably ask her, but let me see if I can just leave the camera on hanging around my neck & take a shot without looking so she won’t notice.

Oh yeah…be sure to smile & bow when we walk past.

Well, that was total crap! Fudge.

Maybe everyone will be able to tell she’s sifting through the dried sunflower seeds if I tell them that’s what she’s doing.

Oh hold up, she’s talking to me.

“Sunflower seeds….yes?….”

[Hmm...I wonder what she's saying?]

“Oh, thank you! Thank you!….Yes, yes…sunflower seeds. Thank you very much!”

Here…do you want some?

Gosh my nails are getting long. I really need to cut them.

I think the Lumber Barons grow all their own food. See…

there’s peaches over there against their shed…

They’ll be picking those soon.

And they’ve got some kind of squash or pumpkin growing along the bank over there…

But just behind their house is where the Army tactical training area is.

We’ll do the loop around there & then head back to the house.

I know…man, it gets muggy fast. They call it Changma Season. But I left the air on in the house, so at least it’ll be cool when we get back.

[Hmm...this post has become much longer than I expected. Stay tuned & tomorrow we'll finish up our walk.]

You can keep walking with us here.