The spring before we arrived here, someone posted about going to see a field of poppies. It was then that I knew I had to visit a poppy field. Poppies bring me to my childhood, that special time once a year when The Wizard of Oz graced our TV screens. Those were the days when there was no recording it; if you missed it you were out of luck until next year. You had to run to the bathroom during commercial break so you didn't miss a precious second. Except for the flying monkey part. That was scary! I may have snuck to the bathroom during that part. Aaaanyway, to this day I can't say 'poppies' without saying it like the Wicked Witch of the West.
Kate had been to the field a couple years ago, and unfortunately it has been reduced by quite a bit. There were, however, still enough flowers for some pretty pictures.
A few cornflowers were sprinkled in to offset all the red.
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| Kate, Trish, Lotte, Linda |
Red poppies are associated with soldiers who have died during wartime, dating back to World War I, following a battle in Belgium in a field of poppies.
There were a lot of bees going about their work.
Bees can smell from a mile away. They have five eyes that can see 360º. What I find particularly interesting is that flowers have an electric charge that bees can hear; they then make their own charge, which other bees sense and know which flowers have already been visited and pollinated.
Next we wandered across the street to a green field swaying in the spring breeze. Lotte was telling us they used to eat these seeds as a kid; I remember chewing wheat seeds as a kid to make gum. We were trying to decide if it was wheat, barley or rye. As we were chomping on the seeds from a head that we picked, up road a gentleman on a motorbike who chastised us for picking it. Fair enough. He then told us, "부리." We repreated, "Boo-rri?" He affirmed, "부리." Again we asked, "Boo-rri?" And then it hit us. "Ohhh. Barley!"
Next we meandered through Sangnim Park.
These memorials honor past leaders, mostly military I think.
Before entering the "intractable mountains difficult of access by ordinary people," Simmani must prepare themselves inside and out so that they do not offend the mountain god. They must have a good bath, eat no meat or fish, avoid attending a funeral or meet any bereaved family member of the deceased person, not speak profane language nor sleep together with his wife. In addition, they must climb the mountains in a group in an odd number and offer food and drinks to the mountain god in a rite praying for the discovery of wild ginseng and safe return home after the hunt. Kinda reminds me of my parents hunting their morel mushrooms. 🍄 😂
Choi Chi-won built an embankment to prevent the loss of farmland and houses from flooding, creating this forest in the process. This memorial stone honors him.
It is also called 'the forest of a thousand years' because it was built over 1200 years ago during the united Silla period and is designated an Natural Monument No. 154.
They are in the process of building, or improving a lotus pond. Clearly there is still work to be done with the mossy water.
We also took a tour around the free ginseng museum. This area is well-known for its ginseng. Wild ginseng, also referred to as sansam, is claimed to have many health benefits, from fighting off cancer, helping with menopause, anti-aging, cognitive function, and a bunch of other stuff.
The potency of men and women is also claimed to be a benefit. There is a legend of a man named Byeon who lived with Ongnyeo. I am not making this up--she was said to have had such sex appeal that all the men who married her died shortly due to their 'overuse of energy to make her happy.' According to stories, Byeon 'was never satisfied until he had had 10 women in succession or ten times if with the same woman.' This special sansam was said to have many times the medicinal efficacy of regular ginseng and 'especially increase the potency of men and the capacity of women.' So there you go.
This dude was a bit put out that we were not giving him as much social distance as he preferred.
After snagging some soft serve ice cream, we ventured into Chi-Won Choi History Park. Chi-Won Choi (the guy who made Sangnim Park) was a famous scholar during the Silla Dynasty. The building on the left is History Hall, the right is Sangrim Hall, and the big center building is Goun Memorial Hall.
The park "provides a learning space to pass down the teacher's virtues, learning, and compassionate spirit to future generations."
There is a legend about Choe Chi-won hanging a golden hoe after making Sangnim Forest, which this statue honors.
This wild ginseng was collected by Simmani, which are professional wild ginseng hunters, in 2016. It was confirmed to be over 100 years old. The price of wild ginseng is very high; 100-year-old Sansam ginseng would sell for tens of millions of Won ($10,000 USD!). After hearing the story above you understand why it this root is enshrined, not because it is worth $10,000, but because of what it did for Byeon and Ongnyeo!
🎵 bow-chicka-bow-wow 🎶
This enshrined ginseng "contains golden energy and a wish of blessing to realize the dream of eternal life to all who come here."
It was a lovely afternoon with some fun friends, complete with "poppies."
[May 12]
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