Strait Is The Gate*

I'll bet anything that door hasn't been opened in quite some time.

*Thank you, André Gide

Pas De Deux

 

Azalea Season

I continue to be slightly under the weather, and I've also stayed awake all night for several days in a row, sleeping during the day, so lately my outdoor activity has been drastically curtailed.  But today I felt a little better than I've felt in days, so I went out and took a light walk around the neighborhood.

I'd thought the azalea season would have been mostly over while I've been self-confined, so imagine my surprise and delight (nay, shock and awe!) when just three blocks from my door I turned a corner and beheld this sight!

Haven't Posted One Of These In A Long Time

Verbal synchronicity!

Just now I was checking out the blurbs on my YouTube recommendations and simultaneously listening to a video about a movie.  Just as my eyes alighted on the words "...blah blah ever made", I heard the narrator in the video say "...blah blah ever made".

(By the way, the movie review was of Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky and the video recommendation was about The Ambassadors, the painting by Holbein the Younger.  I guess they both deserve the hyperbolic description in their respective ways).

Errant Pareidolia

No idea what this used to be part of, but now it sure looks like a face groaning "Ughhh...".  Maybe it was struck by that rock (that Goliath-style rectangular "bruise" high up on its head does look rather suspicious).

Related post:  Monster Eyes In The Sidewalk

When Mars Still Had Canals (Mod Photo VI)

[Caveat:  The image of a canal-ridden Mars used here is not taken from any authentic source, whether drawn by Schiaparelli (the first astronomer to detect the canals of Mars) or by others after him;  it's just a random old texture I had in a 'storage folder';  when I started fiddling with it I was actually going for something completely different, but then the image took an unexpected turn of its own, as often happens]

The Sun Of Tartarus

This image is an old one.  So old in fact, that I was very surprised to find I had never posted it here.  But I checked three times to make certain and the results were negative, so here it is, belatedly.

Another Dream Image

Chess? Checkers?

Or some other game that I've never heard of?

 

Jeez Louise

Exploring old rundown buildings as I like to do, coming upon a likely candidate with an ominous shadowy staircase, starting to climb down -- then suddenly realizing I'm being watched, have been under watch from the moment I took the first step inside.  By an upside-down cartoon character.  With huge round staring eyes.

Almost had a heart attack.

The Term "Real Life" Is Usually Reserved For Hard-Hitting News Documentaries...

But just sometimes, Real Life can also mean something humorous.

I'm pressing on the upward way

 New heights I'm gaining every day...

I'm not formally religious, but I am friendly disposed toward a few select religions, Christianity being one of them.  When I saw these two iconic objects fortuitously juxtaposed in the golden light of the setting sun, it was the best visual pun on a hymn ever. 

Errant Shoes

I was on my way out when I came upon this pair of runners in the lobby.

It was late afternoon and the lights hadn't come on yet, hence the bad lighting despite my effort to lighten the images.  Anyway, a couple of hours later I came back;  now the lights were on (still not great though) and the shoes were still there in their corner, but in the meantime someone had taken the trouble to straighten them out neatly.

Another Semi-Lucid Dream

Early this morning I was in bed in a sort of partly-asleep, partly-awake twilight state.  I was aware that I was lying in bed, but at the same time I was "dreaming" that I had this heart pendant in my hand.

It was small, the size of a locket, and made of silver, and I was pressing it with the index and middle fingers of my right hand onto my chest, right over my heart (a heart over my heart -- the dream really wanted to make sure I got the point).  Then I had an urge to turn over on my left side, but I didn't want to, because I was aware that the sudden movement would cause the dream object to vanish.  I tried to resist the urge to move, but after a little while I just couldn't hold out any longer and turned over, and sure enough, the pendant vanished.  Feeling miffed, I lay back again, hoping it would reappear, but alas, it didn't.

And I don't know why the top of the heart didn't meet the top bar;  was it a message about some inadequacy of my heart, either the literal organ or my figurative "heart"?  Is it about a lack of love in my life.., or did it just mean that my heart is not completely filled with love (but I well knew that already)?

(Hm-mm, and now that I look at it, it also looks like the heart is locked in a small cell...)

Then I was floating high above the Earth, high enough that the space around me was dark and I was afforded a grand view of the Korean peninsula and Jeju Island below, sort of like this,

except the sea was white with dark spots, as if it were frozen, or made of solidified mist.  I started to worry about falling back and possibly burning up in the atmosphere, but I thought maybe I wasn't far enough out for that to be a major concern.

EDIT 1:  And as for the heart pendant being small, at first I thought it was Scrooge who had a small heart, but then I looked it up and realized it was actually the Grinch who had a heart that was too small (small by two sizes).

EDIT 2:  But there's also this:  the heart pendant may have been small and "not fulfilling" (or perhaps "not fulfill-ed"), still it was made of silver.  Small and flawed, but still precious.

Related post:  Scrooge-Like

Wet Bottom

Hechi, the Seoul mascot, cooling his hot buns in the waters of CheongGyeCheon Stream.

Mod Photo V

A Rare Sight

Magpies.  They are very common in Korea, much more common than their fellow corvids the crows, possibly because the two genera occupy overlapping niches and often compete for resources, and for whatever reason, magpies have largely outcompeted crows in Korea.

And like crows, magpies are known to be highly intelligent and territorial.  They will aggressively defend their home turfs.

Which is why it's unusual to see a single tree with two magpie nests, let alone three.  Maybe they were built by multiple generations of birds.

Errant Kitty

 

Hello Kitty, that is.

Cherry Blossoms

Tuesday afternoon I visited Ansan (the Seoul district, not the city in Geonggi Province) to check out the famous cherry blossom trail (안산 벚꽃길) there.  It's been my usual practice for the past few years to go to Jamsil for the cherry blossom season, but this year I wanted to see something different -- something that's not quite so polished and urbanized, so I did a search for well-known sightseeing spots in Seoul, and Ansan seemed the likeliest to provide a more nature-friendly environment, as the cherry blossom walk there is combined with an herb garden on a hillside.  I was not disappointed.

Bonus:  As I came down from the hill, I realized it was all right above the Hongje Waterfalls.

And I don't know how I could have missed it the last time I was there (maybe it wasn't there then), but there were huge mirrors installed directly opposite the falls, so one could enjoy double the view.

And the way back was brightened by the cheery sight of forsythias growing in profusion by the road.  All in all, a very enjoyable day!