It’s amazing how much stuff can bounce around in your head.
For me, it sometimes feels endless…like the rice fields that stretch for miles on the road to Osan.
So in this post, I’m going to try to get it all out…clear out my head, so to speak.
The topics will be random. I’ll probably jump around a bit. And I’m not sure I have the pictures to match it all up.
(You see, usually, I lay out all the photos in my graphics editor…lining up the storyboard to tell the perfect tale.)
So fair warning…what follows is bound to be incoherent randomness. But I’ll try to link-up thoughts to the some of the stories I’ve already told.
[deep breath in...deep breath out]
Here we go…
Our empty woods were filled with little green Army men not to long ago. They were there for days – setting up tents, parking vehicles here & there, playing war - Maggie & I had to modify our daily walk to keep out of their way.
Did you know I live right outside Beverly Hills?…It’s true…
We’re really rich & famous…I’ve just been leading the double-life of a lonely, broke Army wife so I can go out without being harassed by popparrazi or followed by swarms of enamored fans.
But I hear there’s a piece of prime real estate that’s going to become available soon, if you’re interested.
I expect it won’t be too much longer before I start seeing more celebrities around here.
Our nice & quiet little private neighborhood will soon be teaming with traffic & limousines galore.
Which reminds me…
Who in the hell thought it would be a good idea to build this piece of American architecture right in the middle of Anjung-Ri, South Korea off the main strip?!
This monument to ignorant & arrogant opulence is built right-up & in between beautifully built, older Korean homes.
It’s an eye-sore & I wish they would tear it down.
It’s completely distracting to the elegant understatement of homes like this one.Â
I’ve tried for weeks to get a good shot of this house as we drive by. Still no luck.
But it’s mossy-green roof tiles, white-washed walls & bamboo blinds always call out to me as I try to imagine the little, old white-haired Korean couple that must live there.
Koreans love to sit outside. Hot or not.
This little man was sitting right on the edge of a busy intersection.
Ok…so a busy intersection in terms of Korean traffic.
He was sound asleep.
And this men’s club meets outside everyday & every time I think I can snap a great picture, one of them looks up & catches me.
So I inevitably duck the camera back down.
Why? I have no clue…maybe I’m afraid to get caught intruding on their privacy.
But while you can’t see it…just there on the right-hand side is a big, flat…well, table…for all intents & purposes.
And that’s what they sit on, squat on & sometimes lay on all the time.
The fact that someone’s actually sitting in a chair & I got it on film is a major score.
That’s like 10 points, right there.
After weeks of passing Christian church after Christian church, Eric decided to take a different way home one day & we found it!
The one…and I’m fairly sure only…Buddhist temple in Anjung-Ri.
It’s beautiful in it’s starkness.
It has bell chimes on every corner of the building & a megaphone over the gate that continually broadcasts the voice of an older Korean man whom I’m sure is saying something very important & profound.
And even though I’m nearly completely ignorant to the ways & beliefs of Buddhism, there’s something about the look of the Buddhas of southeast Asia that has always appealed to me.
It’s the serenity in their faces; the relaxed positions of their bodies. It’s calming to look at and they speak to me of older, more ancient times.
And I’ve been trying FOR WEEKS to get some decent shots of all the various dragonflies over here. If they’d just sit still!
There’s the big brown ones that sit way up top on electrical wires & tree branches…
…and the red ones that float near the ground, resting on the low-lying bushes.
And I’ve caught quite a few kids in the neighborhood outside, with captured dragonflies in their hands, tying strings to their tiny bodies – only to release them again, hanging onto them like kites.
Somehow, I think the little Buddhist monastery in our woods wouldn’t approve.
But don’t they have the most beautifully painted roof…or something or other…what are those things called anyway?
I know they’ve got a name.
They’re not gables…what is it?
You’ll never believe it…
I actually caught a glimpse of Mr. Hermit…and I had my camera on me!
Look! There he is!!!
He lives in what looks like an old ocean cargo container across the street.
Then last week there was this little older Korean woman – typical wide-brimmed floral Korean visor included – walking her dog through our woods.
From a distance I couldn’t make out what kind of dog it was.
All I could see was a little white & apricot-colored something. I thought it must be some kind of Spaniel.
I got Maggie to stand still long enough for me to zoom in real close & take a picture of what turned out to be…
a freakin’ orange ear & tail dyed Poodle!
I think Korean women are just now starting to come around to the whole American-influenced, toy-dogs as accessories phase / fad / ridiculousness.
But when they see Maggie…boy, it’s cut & run fast! They scoop up their little dogs (a no-no in the dog training world)Â so they won’t get eaten by the big American monster at the end of my leash.
It’s beyond frustrating.
Side Note: Picking up a little dog in front of a bigger dog only reinforces the misbelief that a little dog should be scared of a big dog & that a big dog should pay attention to what must obviously be a toy to be played with, instead of an actual dog to meet, greet & respect.
Did I ever tell you I wanted to name Maggie Piglet?
I mean, seriously…doesn’t she look like a Piglet to you?
It was going to be great. I had visions of calling out… “Here Pig-Pig-Pig. C’mon, Pig!”
But Eric wouldn’t have it…it would be too seemly for a big, strong, Army-man like him to call his dog Piglet.
So I was overruled on a man technicality.
Last weekend my big, ol’ Army man was working away…calling up his soldiers making sure they all remembered to go get their anthrax shots.
I looked up to see him in this light…and the image of this big, strong arm…wearing the wedding ring I bought…made me stop.
I thought of all the times one of my favorite bloggers, Pioneer Woman, drools over her husband, Marlboro Man’s, forearms and all I could think was…
Top this, PW!
The big, strong, virile, gentle, weathered, warm, arm of the man I love.
(And he had no idea I had taken his picture)
But tomorrow my big man is going with me on an Army-sponsored trip to Yeoju – the pottery capital of South Korea.
It’s an all-day affair that includes a boat ride & a trip to a Buddhist temple.
I’ll be sure to take lots & lots of pictures! And I may even find something I can afford as a giveaway!
Whoo hoo!
So there…while it’s not everything that’s been bouncing around in my head…it’s a good bit of it.
I know I still need to tell you about my kit…go over our next lesson plan…but I think that’s about all I can muster up for now. It’s Saturday night & it’s beginning to get late…and Maggie is being suspiciously quiet.
81°F
