This tree is near my treehouse project.
I saw a raven on a truck in the parking lot after work this afternoon.
I was very tired from work today. Not sure exactly why – I felt the weight of responsibility or something.
[daily log: walking, 2km; retailing, 8hr]
Month: September 2020
Caveat: Poem #1508 “Daily percepts”
ㅁ I saw stones resting against the earth. I saw the trees for what they were. I saw a bear by the road. I saw the slanting sun. I saw fleeting thoughts. I saw the sea. I saw clouds. I saw. Slept.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Tree #607
This tree is by the water a mile west of here.
[daily log: walking, 2km; retailing, 8hr]
Caveat: Poem #1507 “Poems + Trees = Age”
ㅁ I add up my age counting my poems and trees introspectively
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #606
I captured this tree’s image because of the fall-hint below and in front of it.
With hardly a summer worth mentioning, fall is upon us.
I spent the day cooking. I made my slightly well-regarded Chilean-style chupe de pescado (fish chowder). I’m not sure what my uncle Alan thought of it, but Arthur has said he likes it a lot.
And for some unfathomable reason, I made a chocolate cake.
Earlier, Alan and I walked out to around 6.5 mile. He’s a much more intensive walker than Arthur is. I should follow his example.
[daily log: walking, 7.5km]
Caveat: Poem #1506 “Things heard before dawn”
ㅁ it's not quite light yet but a truck tastes the potholes and samples the road
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #605 “Shipping container with alders”
I would also classify this tree picture under the rubric “Alaskan Gothic.”
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Fishing Report #(n+15)
With Alan here, Arthur was motivated to go fishing again, despite continued reports of poor catching.
We left fairly early: away from the dock by 7:30.
The day was clear and the wind was light.
First we went to Port Caldera and tried for halibut. We caught a big ugly orange rock fish, which we decided to keep, though in Arthur’s book it doesn’t count. Then, much to all of our surprise, quite quickly we caught a good-sized halibut. Here’s Alan holding the halibut – it was maybe 30-35 pounds.
After that, we were unable to repeat that luck, so by 9:30 we started trolling for salmon. It was a desultory trolling. We went from Caldera to Port Estrella. A few small black bass, but no salmon at all.
At Port Estrella we tried for halibut again, but there was nothing. We crossed over to San Juan, and trolled from the southeast corner to Black Beach. No salmon there, either. We saw some people camping on the shore there: tents, dogs, a fire going – everything. That was interesting to me. Arthur thought maybe they were hunting deer. The east side of San Juan is native land, so I guess they hopefully had permission to be there. But who knows?
The whole trip, the large motor was behaving oddly. This was not the hiccupping problem we’ve had all summer. It wasn’t something that kicked in when the engine was hot. Instead, right from the start, at high RPMs there would be these irregular surges and pauses – RPM up 100, down 100, up 100. I managed to google the problem on my phone, and everything I could find and read said it was a fuel supply problem, which is also the likely cause of the hiccupping issue. I guess the fuel supply issue is getting worse. Anyway, it didn’t prevent us from using the boat – we could just go more slowly to avoid it, and even with it happening, it didn’t really handicap our ability to get around. It’s just disturbing. Arthur’s stated intention, though, is to get the boat in for service and out of the water before Alan leaves, so it will hopefully get looked at soon.
With Arthur and Alan both on the boat, despite their quite different personalities, they still both remind me of my grandfather (their father Dwight) a lot. It was “stereo Dwight” in some ways. Arthur’s personality is more like Dwight’s, but Alan has more of his mannerisms and his way of talking, if that makes sense. So between them, it feels uncanny sometimes.
Year-to-date totals.
- Coho: 22
- Halibut: 6
- Lingcod: 1
Caveat: Poem #1505 “The Alaskan tomato”
ㅁ up in the greenhouse desultory tomatoes make some small effort
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #604
In the morning I went on an unexpectedly long walk with my uncle Alan who is visiting here. We went all the way to 11.2 mile on the road.
I saw this tree in front of Sunnahae and said, “I think this would be a good tree but the power pole is in the way. Alan said, “Make it part of the picture.”
Here is Alan discovering that he has cellphone reception down there, because it’s across from the town’s 4G tower.
Then in the afternoon I ended up going in to work for 4 hours. I had to learn more about framing – specifically, we were trying to cut a oversize piece of glass for a custom frame. The glass cutting gadget only goes up to 48 inches. The frame we needed to do was 50 inches wide. It was difficult – we had to cut the glass “by hand” with a straightedge and long rule. I broke one piece.
[daily log: walking, 8km; retailing, 4hr]
Caveat: Poem #1504 “The bear’s bother”
ㅁ The bear's daily walk was interrupted by cars along six-mile hill
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #603
This tree is down by the water.
Art and I drove to Hollis this evening to collect Alan, Arthur’s brother (another uncle).
[daily log: walking, 3km]
Caveat: Poem #1503 “Make it all dust”
ㅁ A few days of sun to dry out the road's gravel and make it all dust.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #602
This tree (I’m thinking of the one on the left) is from my past: I took the picture in October, 2015. The tree foregrounds a peculiarly-shaped church a few blocks from my apartment in Ilsan, South Korea.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Poem #1502 “Retail anecdote”
ㅁ A boy announced he wanted three balloons. His mother bought them, and they left the store. I saw the three balloons adrift in air, just twenty minutes later - trucks below. The mother came back in and heaved a sigh, and smiling, said, I need three more balloons.
– a short story in blank verse (iambic pentameter) about working in a small-town gift shop.
Caveat: Tree #601
This tree is the little cedar that I attempted to transplant a little over a year ago (tree #237).
Surprisingly, it’s not dead. But it doesn’t seem to be particularly thriving, either.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km; retailing, 8hr]
Caveat: Poem #1501 “Unlike any other tree”
ㅁ The tree's character was really ordinary, unremarkable.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #600
Though numerologically significant, this tree is just a middling-quality tree at best.
[daily log: walking, 2km; retailing, 8hr]
Caveat: 거울과 닮아있는 듯해
지금 듣고있는 것.
김우성, “You Make Me Back.” The title and main English-language lyric seems to be one of those bits of nonsense English that Korean beginning-level learners of English imbue with deep significance.
가사.
저문 저 하늘에
흐트러진 내가 비쳐 보인다
어쩌면 이 어둠은
거울과 닮아있는 듯해
어지럽게 차오른 호흡들과
흔들리는 모든 세상 속에서
날 부르는 듯
붉은 석양이 떠올라 오네
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
돌아갈 곳 난 없어
기대 쉴 곳 난 없어
그저 어둠 속에 나를 묻어 버릴 때
잿빛 세상을 깨고
날 불러오는
너의 목소리
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
지친 내 발걸음이 혼자 남아
갈 곳을 잃을 때
저문 하늘의 석양처럼 날
불러줘
날 깨워줘
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
You make me back
woo woo woo woo woo yeah
Caveat: Poem #1500 “Carcereal bindery”
ㅁ Books. Once, there, long ago, I had a job. I had to make books. There were machines, workers, loud sounds, and conveyor belts. Last night I dreamed I returned there. It was being run by the police.
– a reverse nonnet.
Caveat: Tree #599
The tree towers over the human things.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km]
Caveat: Once a year whether it needs it or not
Because the sun was out, I decided I should wash the GDC. I had taken off the tarp covering it, last month, thinking there would be summer sun to bake out some of the mold and moss beginning to grow on it. But with the gray and rainy August we had, it just got greener. So with the sun out, unexpectedly, today, I decided it was time.
I drove it up to the upper parking area next to the greenhouse, and washed it with a soft scrub brush and soapy water and the hose off the well.
A stellar jay came by, apparently interested in the undertaking.
After the GDC was clean (or, um, cleaner, anyway), I decided to wash the Blueberry, too. Although to be frank, that’s a sisyphean task – one commute into town will have it well-coated in gray grime again.
Caveat: Poem #1499 “The rainforest’s song”
ㅁ Well, that's a relief. The clouds returned quite promptly. The rainforest sang.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #598
This tree got noticed by the sun.
[daily log: walking, 2km]
Caveat: Rockpit Resort Dinner Party
Arthur finally got around to wanting to host one of his patented Rockpit “Mexican Feeds”. He made his signature dishes: chiles rellenos, chicken verde, and refried beans. Jeff and Pam and Jan and Richard came over and we ate and Richard told stories, as he does.
In the picture, from left to right, you see Arthur, Pam, Jeff, Jan and Richard. I’m behind the camera.
Caveat: Poem #1498 “The planet with the unusual blue sky”
ㅁ Where has the rain gone? What's with the sun's appearance? What planet is this?
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #597
This tree has aspirations.
[daily log: walking, 1.5km]
Caveat: Poem #1497 “Carbon cycle”
ㅁ The yellowness was from the smoke of fires that lurked and burned far to the south of here.
– a couplet in blank verse (iambic pentameter).
Caveat: Tree #596
There are trees, here.
[daily log: walking, 2.5km]
Caveat: Poem #1496 “Keep a lid on things”
ㅁ "What summer? Why is that a thing?" they asked. "The sky is gray to keep things down," they said.
– a couplet in blank verse (iambic pentameter).
Caveat: Tree #595
This tree is one of the smaller trees that I am currently permitting to stick up through the temporary deck of my tree house. I kind of want to keep it, but I might end up removing it.
You might ask, “What’s up with the treehouse? You haven’t posted much about it lately…”
In fact, I stopped working on it. The treehouse project was focused on things that didn’t require my spending more money. I reached a point where I needed to invest some more money – I need lumber for the permanent deck. I don’t want to spend money on that project, right now. Maybe after I’ve worked for a while at the gift shop and saved up some money.
[daily log: walking, 1.5km]
Caveat: Poem #1495 “Reassurances”
ㅁ You know the world will balance out, they said. The rain will wash away your pain, they said.
– a couplet in blank verse (iambic pentameter).
Caveat: Tree #594
This is a huckleberry bush with some huckleberries, but it’s sufficiently tree-like that I decided to include it here.
[daily log: walking, 2km; retailing, 8hr]