4 posts tagged “nature”
There is a large garden that I pass on my way to and from school everyday. If it's a warm morning, I usually see an old woman bent over tending to it. This amazes me for a few reasons: 1) She is the only one I ever see in the garden
2) It's easily one of the biggest gardens I've ever seen and 3) She is very old. She uses an abandoned baby carriage to move harvested vegetables around. It appears that she is the only one who takes care of this sprawling mass of plants. There is a small makeshift shack along the edge that I assume she sits in when it's cold or uses as storage. I very much hope that is not where she lives. I like walking past the garden because it reminds me to take a deep breath and be grateful. I'm a bit sad that today I saw the old woman covering some of the land in plastic for the winter. I look forward to seeing the garden in full bloom again come spring.
I've always been completely creeped out by fog. Usually I'm driving through it, at night, which certainly increases the creepiness factor. I've had to get used to it though, because fog is a very common occurrence in our part of Korea. Through the night and early morning there is very often a blanket of fog on our town. This morning was the first time that fog stuck around past the time I leave for school. The fog was so thick and white that I couldn't see further than 50 feet in front of me as I walked the familiar route. But I wasn't creeped out at all. In fact, it was one of the more beautiful things I've seen. It seemed as if the trees were walking toward me, rather than me toward them. Maybe I could just stand still and the whole world would eventually pass by me.
There is a time between the end of fall and the first snow when everything is brown. I like going walking or hiking around this time because it feels like a hunt for treasure. I love to look around and notice the things that stand out against the dull brown colour of everything else. Since my part of Korea has an extended version of this season I decided to go hiking today and take some pictures. The mountain behind my apartment is a nice little hike, and aside from being quite concerned that I might fall down the precarious path, I really enjoyed being out hiking by myself.
You'll notice I took full advantage of the self-timer on my camera. Check out the results.
While snow is falling back in Canada, Korea is just reaching the peak of autumn. This season just happens to be my favourite and I try to spend a lot of time outside during the fall every year. This weekend we ventured off to one of the more famous mountains in Korea, which has a reputation for it's beautiful autumn colours. It was an overcast day, but there were still thousands of people out to see the trees and "hike" around the valley. Have I told you how much Koreans like to hike? Have I mentioned that for hiking of any variety they require the latest in sweat wicking, dual purpose, high performance hiking gear? Also, walking sticks. Who can hike without walking sticks? The point is, this place was packed, but it was still a fantastic Saturday. We walked around for about 4 hours with our new Korean friend Leon and enjoyed a day away from the city. Les photos.
