Jeonja Beach

A mess of fish nets and ropes.

Future fish jerky drying in the sun on mesh wiring.

What looks like massive concrete jacks protecting the pier from the sea.

A lighthouse at the end of the pier, don't know if it was for looks or not.

The blacks pebbles of Jeonja Beach. A really nice color of blue water in this area.

A massive horde of seagulls.

A fisherman walking the beach.

A merchant working her kiosk.

A young girl eyeing up the fish jerky.

This, this right here...

I wake around 10. Focus. Stretch it out a bit. Look out the window and put on some water. It’s overcast. Low flying clouds today. Beautiful…really. Decide I’ll make a proper breakfast with fresh eggs, garlic roasted potatoes, some raspberry preserves for the toast. A proper meal in my belly and some dark roast to wash it down with. A fine start. But I need the ingredients first. Toss on the rain jacket, the chaco’s and hit the button for the elevator. A good solid, “DING!”. And down I go. I hit shuffle on my player and ahh! A piece by Bird and Dizzy. Perfect. Standing in the doorway to the apartment complex looking at the mountains. Still a bit fuzzy from the night before, but feeling really good. It’s warming. I can smell the ozone. Suns popping through a bit, baking some of the early morning rain still glistening on the black top. I turn the corner and there it is. I’m blown away. It’s only March 7th. Back in Minneapolis the temps are still in the 20’s. But not here. Not this morning. And this tree, this absolutely beautiful tree. It’s just standing there. A thousand small white star shaped flowers. Some opening. Some large buds. And some completely unfurled. My first. My very first Cherry Blossom. Bird and Dizzy are trading licks. I smile uncontrollably and think, this, this right here, this is happiness.

Haeinsa Temple + Gayasan National Park

Dague in Daylight

Dague is situated in a huge valley walled in by some fairly large mountains. From the city center it can be hard to keep this in mind as the concrete apartment towers and endless interweaving roadways lead the eye astray. At around 4 million people is can get a bit crowded, yet offers lots of interesting shopping, eating, and people watching opportunities. Stepping off a curb can be a hazard to your health and even the alleys contain rpm happy scooter patrons.

In some of the back alleys you find the trendy urban youth's art work and the endless fashion shops that offer "no larga si-ZEE" for the likes of me, but all the English signage and marketing one could ever hope to find. Wearing the good old romanized lettering on one's shirt in Korea with no real idea of what it says is commonplace. Even my 30+ year old co-workers have shirts that say nothing of particular interest and could be as lame as a car insurance ad.

Another interesting fashion thing here is a dress style that resembles America's back in the 1950's; thick square black rimmed eyeglasses, lots of tweed and polyester-mixed with yet another style-one that echoes the less than glamorous 80's style we all seem to mock or are slowly begining to adore again with late night bashes pimped out in spandex, acid washed jeans and big hair.

Whether it's left over army surplus or tacky plaid suits, large oversized T's with enormous ruffled collars Korean's and Korean youth in particular love it and turn a decent buck selling it off in Dague's back alleys to their comrades.

First Sign of Spring

This is a small pond used to water local gardens.

The grasses at this pond side had clusters of seeds giving them a twinkling effect.

It was an exceptionally hazy day down in the valley, but made for some interesting scenery.

The first real sign that sign is on it's way.

A Cherry Blossom Tree

Laying on my back shooting this one while a flock of birds passed over head.