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On the ground
The skies are grey, and the traffic is loud; on the other side of the wall. Cp. Falling Water is in the middle of Uijongbu.
Along with the traffic the smell of food comes over the wall. The trees are green. A mimosa is still in bloom, the orange/pink tufts of it's flowers in counter-point to the dark green of a nearby pine, dark-barked and rough.
The buildings have probably been here since the before the armistice. I'm serious, the buildings are Quonset huts, which have been covered in spray-foam insulation.
It's an odd island, a small cluster of Americans, with the walls holding Korea at bay. Like a monastery we are in the country but not of it. We have no mess hall, but we have a kitchen. Food, however we have to get from outside. The easiest place is the commisary at Cp Red Cloud. It isn't that we won't eat the local cuisine, but we trust the raw food we can get there.
The nature of our work is such that I've no need for my uniforms, and in the most stereotypical of MI habits, rank is not mentioned (though not completely ignored, the Chief is the boss, but other than that, I have to do my own dishes; in a line unit that would be left to the enlisted troops, here it's rotated).
There are dragonflies, mating on the wing, and dipping their tails in puddles. No birds to be seen, but the chirps, rasps and buzzes of insects (the trilling rattle of cicadas comes and goes, in deafening clamor, enough to suppress the omnipresent sounds of traffic).
The air is moist, and warm. It isn't oppressive, rather it's lush, redolent of plants, pregnant with the promise of harvest.
Much better than the bitter cold of my last trip.
Along with the traffic the smell of food comes over the wall. The trees are green. A mimosa is still in bloom, the orange/pink tufts of it's flowers in counter-point to the dark green of a nearby pine, dark-barked and rough.
The buildings have probably been here since the before the armistice. I'm serious, the buildings are Quonset huts, which have been covered in spray-foam insulation.
It's an odd island, a small cluster of Americans, with the walls holding Korea at bay. Like a monastery we are in the country but not of it. We have no mess hall, but we have a kitchen. Food, however we have to get from outside. The easiest place is the commisary at Cp Red Cloud. It isn't that we won't eat the local cuisine, but we trust the raw food we can get there.
The nature of our work is such that I've no need for my uniforms, and in the most stereotypical of MI habits, rank is not mentioned (though not completely ignored, the Chief is the boss, but other than that, I have to do my own dishes; in a line unit that would be left to the enlisted troops, here it's rotated).
There are dragonflies, mating on the wing, and dipping their tails in puddles. No birds to be seen, but the chirps, rasps and buzzes of insects (the trilling rattle of cicadas comes and goes, in deafening clamor, enough to suppress the omnipresent sounds of traffic).
The air is moist, and warm. It isn't oppressive, rather it's lush, redolent of plants, pregnant with the promise of harvest.
Much better than the bitter cold of my last trip.
no subject
Dragonflies
When we were in France earlier this summer, we were continually fascinated with the bugs. We bought a bug book, which helped a bit in identifying some of the bugs and gave us yet more practice with our French, but some of the bugs we couldn't identify until we got home and could look them up on the Web. The best dragonflies were Calopteryx xanthostoma, with vivid cobalt bodies and a large, single, elegant black spot on each wing.
(I have no LiveJournal. This account exists just so I can comment without being as irritated by the interface as was previously the case.)
Re: Dragonflies
I don' think, barring them landing on me, or falling dead at my feet, that I'll be better able to identify them.
As for the LJ, your having one, even as a marker, is enough to make responding to you easier. This is the reason (the email bounce)
TK
no subject
I love dragonflys, I always feel like they are magical.
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P.S. I guess I'll tell you so you may remember to look for it when you get back and/or find time. I posted basically my life story in my journal in three separate parts. You might want to read them sometime because it is pretty much a tell all entry and can really give you a much better idea of who I am. *hugs*
East Asian insect life
(Anonymous) 2004-08-23 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)Geoff - http://geoffarnold.com
Re: East Asian insect life
Once something exists which can fill a niche, nothing can afford to start from scratch.
I look for interesting moths.
TK