This tree was among others, as I looked east from the top of the 10-mile hill, a few days ago when there were fewer clouds.
[daily log: walking, 5km; retailing, 8hr]
Month: January 2023
Caveat: Poem #2373 “Psychology”
ㅁ They said that the present is the best place to be. Try to exist in the moment, they said.
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Tree #1465 “Burned out”
This tree was behind the burned-out woodshed of the neighbors house that burned down in August, 2019.
[daily log: walking, 3.5km; dogwalking, 3km]
Caveat: 찰 거머리 정
I found this aphorism in my book of Korean aphorisms.
찰 거머리 정
chal geo.meo.ri jeong
sticky leech passion
A sticky leech’s passion
There’s not much grammar going on here. It’s just a noun phrase. It refers to the excessively clingy lover – I suppose that’s what the parallel usage is in English: clingy. The word 정 [jeong] is complex and even problematic, but here I think passion is acceptable translation. I blogged about 정 here, many years ago.
Caveat: Poem #2372 “Historiology”
ㅁ They said the past is done. It's all immutable, and there's no point in dwelling there, they said.
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Tree #1464 “San Juan Bautista”
This tree was near a little notch in the trees at the top of the 10-mile hill. Down in the notch you can see in the distance the flank of San Juan Bautista island.
The island was named by Spanish explorers, and when the Russians and then the British and Americans came through, they were using the Spanish-made sea charts, so a lot of the Spanish names stuck in southeasternmost Alaska. You can tell who among the locals is a xenophobe because they will use the English translations of the names, though the Spanish versions are on the official charts. Thus “Saint John”, not “San Juan”, and “Saint Ignace”, not “San Ignacio”. Etc.
[daily log: walking, 3km; dogwalking, 3km]
Caveat: Poem #2371 “Futurology”
ㅁ They said the future comes regardless of desires. Intentions make no difference, they said.
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Tree #1463 “A pink mountain”
This tree had a pink mountain behind it.
[daily log: walking, 4km; dogwalking, 3km]
Caveat: Poem #2370 “Sixty-ninth stanza”
ㅁ Kiamon walked down the path in the wood, looking for signs of the past, if she could, hoping to find some small, relevant clue. No simple answers appeared. What to do?
– a quatrain in dactylic tetrameter. The continuing saga of Kiamon, a fictional being.
Caveat: Tree #1462 “Looking up”
This tree was close to our house, as seen looking up from the dock.
[daily log: walking, 4.5km; dogwalking, 3km]
Caveat: MundoMar
[This is a cross-post from my other blog]
My low-effort geofiction bragpost for the week is a theme park called MundoMar in the country of Ardesfera.
I’m not as good at what’s called detailed or micro-mapping, but I thought this was a good effort. It’s a maritime-themed theme park, maybe somewhat modeled on Sea World – though I haven’t visited Sea World in about 50 years.
The surroundings to the theme park are not as well mapped, and the farther afield you go, the more embarrassed I am by the work. Much of this mapping is from my first year on the opengeofiction site (2014), when I was still learning how to use the tools and figuring out what was possible in the realm of “slippy map geofiction”.
Here is a screenshot of the spot:
The area shown is here on the map server: https://opengeofiction.net/#map=17/-24.47490/124.33675&layers=B
Caveat: Poem #2369 “No comment”
ㅁ Silence. Talking is hard, always getting asked, "what?" 'Cause he forgets his hearing aids. "Nothing."
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Tree #1461 “Patien(ts/ce)”
This tree existed.
You can see the treehouse in there. It’s still structurally sound, though it suffers a leaky roof, which I need to fix sometime when things dry out and I feel a sufficient motivation.
It’s been weirdly warm the last few days. Highs in the low 50’s. Though still quite drizzly-rainy. More typical of July, here, than January.
Along with our weekly Thursday shopping trip, today, I went to the dentist. I hate the dentist. Not personally. I hate the experience.
My jaw hurts. In fact it’s hard for me, post-cancer, to keep my mouth widely open. Too many cut tendons or missing nerves in my mouth and jaw for things to work quite correctly. So that’s a layer of unpleasantness for dentist visits that maybe sets it apart.
I survived. And for once, Art had to be patient and wait around for me, rather than the usual other way around.
[daily log: walking, 3km;]
Caveat: Poem #2368 “Inaction”
ㅁ Thinking is just something that happens in a brain when some action seems uncalled-for: deep thought.
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Tree #1460 “A wintery haze”
This tree is a guest tree from my past. I took this picture in January, 2016, as I walked home from an appointment at the National Cancer Center, through Jeongbalsan Park.
[daily log: walking, 5km; retailing 8hr]
Caveat: Poem #2367 “Alternatives”
ㅁ I forgot my lunch. It stayed waiting in the fridge. So I bought crackers.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Tree #1459 “As mist will do”
This tree was shrouded in some mist.
[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 8hr]
Caveat: Poem #2366 “Down on the shore”
ㅁ The night consumed the day's concerns, and dreams piled up like stones, that tumbled down on ocean shores, collecting there like bones.
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Tree #1458 “A blur”
This tree saw its view blurred by heavy rain.
The rain was so heavy that the leak-catching bucket in my treehouse overflowed, even though I’d emptied it yesterday.
There was a small flood in my treehouse.
[daily log: walking, 2km;]
Caveat: Poem #2365 “January”
ㅁ The winter came and dropped some snow, and ice formed on the road. But then the season took a break: a month of rain bestowed.
– a quatrain in ballad meter.
Caveat: Tree #1457 “Near the forest”
This tree was near a forest.
[daily log: walking, 4km; dogwalking, 3.5km]
Caveat: Poem #2364 “Just add water”
ㅁ Drip, drip: steady drizzle... water accumulates, saturates the cold rainforest, and flows.
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Tree #1456 “A snowline”
This tree saw some fresh snow, looking out across the water from 9-mile toward 5-mile.
[daily log: walking, 4km; dogwalking, 3km]
Caveat: Poem #2363 “The weather report”
ㅁ The wind pushed angrily at the sea, making citadels of water. The rain replaced low volume with a mad demeanor. The stream rushed along, water-filled. The gray clouds endured all.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Tree #1455 “A gesture of faith”
This tree raises its arms to heaven.
[daily log: walking, 2km;]
Caveat: Quelepa
[This is a cross-post from my other blog.]
For this week’s low-effort bragpost, I’m sharing my pre-modern ceremonial capital, Quelepa. The plan that I had, long ago, was to create this circa 1400’s city, in the style of maybe a Mayan or Aztec city, and then overlay a modern city over it, using a historical mapping process. But I never got around to it, so the city is still there, in a kind of anachronistic reservation within the otherwise modern country of Ardesfera. That explains the bit of railroad seen in the lower left of the screenshot.
I was especially pleased with the city because it conformed to the already-drawn contours (topo) for the region. I also did some minor work on a conlang for the culture involved, which I used to name all the various temples included.
Here is a link to the zoomable map: https://opengeofiction.net/#map=16/-21.7931/121.6496&layers=V
Caveat: Poem #2362 “A supervisory role”
ㅁ Raven drafted circles, despite the falling rain, ensuring order in the world through flight.
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Tree #1454 “High hopes”
This tree expected more rain.
[daily log: walking, 4km; dogwalking, 3.5km]
Caveat: Poem #2361 “The important things are not left out”
ㅁ We discussed how life can be, on this island: how things are planned... we don't see results, just gravel and sea.
– an englyn penfyr.
Caveat: Tree #1453 “A new spring”
This tree is a guest tree from my past. I took this picture in May, 2011, near my apartment in Ilsan (Goyang City), South Korea. I had just moved to my new neighborhood to start my new job at Karma Academy, where I stayed working for 7 years – the longest I’ve ever had one job.
[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 7hr]
Caveat: Poem #2360 “As trees will do”
ㅁ The trees dream their dreamings disdainful of meanings taking all the time in the world to grow.
– a cinquain.
Caveat: Tree #1452 “The placid, moody sea”
This tree overlooked the placid, moody sea.
[daily log: walking, 5km; retailing, 7hr]
Caveat: Poem #2359 “Beyond reproach”
ㅁ The trees remain aloof, both from judgment and doubt. Instead they ponder the sky's depth and dream.
– a cinquain.