Walking With Steve

 The second week of Februrary is always hard. Although it's been seven years since Steve has been on earth with us, it still seems unreal that he's not coming back. My heart was feeling especially heavy this morning with the anniversary tomorrow. To help alleviate the sorrowful feeling, Chuey and I decided to take our morning walk somewhere that is not the within the usual 5-mile radius of the apartment.

We haven't walked to the Jinneol Observatory for about a year, so we headed that direction, parking at Namildae Beach. 

This is Elephant Rock. You can see the trunk. To me it seems to have long eyelashes, like Snuffalofogus.

Look at this little bitty dog in front of these big rocks.

The little elephant on the top of the frame is because Elephant Rock is in the background. 

There were two sea stars on the ground. I'm guessing they were in someone's fishing net and they did not want them. They were still soft so I think they were just thrown out this morning.

One reason that the Korean language is hard to learn is because even the Korean's can't agree on the sounds of some Romanized letters. Gs and Ks sound very similar; if they say the word slowly it may sound like a G and if they say it quickly it may sound like a K and they will argue that they are making the same sound both times. A nearby town in named Goeje and it is written they way about 99% of the time. However, the school named International School of Goeje goes by the letters ISK, where the K stands for Koeje.  Here is another good example. 'Chinnol' Observatory is that way.

Just 110m away, and now 'Jinneol' Observatory is that way. It's the same observatory.

As I was thinking of my brother, I found several things on my walk that made me feel closer to him. This heart rock was one. 

Metal art that Steve made with a heart.

I was thinking how Steve would not have understood why on earth I would have wanted to move to South Korea. But I know he would have enjoyed looking at my pictures and listening to my stories.

Steve examining a Japanese elm leaf at the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden.

This lone headstone was located where the loved one could look out at the ocean. I couldn't help think that it probably belongs to someone's brother. 

Steve's headstone says brother; maybe one day a Korean will see it and think if they could read it, maybe it says 'brother.'

This fisherman also reminded me of my brother. Steve would like to see all the pictures of the crazy kinds of fresh fish caught here. 

Steve spent a lot of afternoons fishing.

Look closely in the middle and on the right side. Men are standing on those packages. I think they are those huge bags of rice that I sometimes see in the rice fields, getting ready to ship.

Whatever you want to call it, Jinneol or Chinnol, we finally made it to the observatory. The steps up are cool. 

The camellias are usually in full bloom at this time. Unfortunately they bloomed early this year, and then a frost hit, killing them. A few little buds are peeking out, though.

Chuey and I snuck up on a wood pecker. 

So yeah, the second week of February is a tough one. Time marches on, but it doesn't erase the love.

[February 8]