Caveat: Entertaining Brother Andrew

My dear brother Andrew has been so, so good to me. He’s being an excellent nursemaid, provides almost entirely positive moral support, holds my hand when the doctors are mean to me, and makes sure my fridge is full (and then keeps emptying it too).

So keeping Andrew entertained is foremost among my own tasks. Today I feel accomplished in that realm.

Andrew likes to be outside, but not in the city. He’s a forest and country type person.

So, in the morning, I dragged him onto the subway to Yeonsinnae, and then we hiked uphill until we came to Bulgwang Temple and then the entrance to Bukhansan National Park, which sits right in the heart of the northern half of Seoul, a bit the way the Santa Monica Mountains embed themselves in the heart of L.A.

He was clearly pleased when we hiked up into the woods, among the rocks. I left him there, went back downhill, and came home. He came home several hours later.

Some pictures.

The temple.

Andrew admiring craftsmanship.

Me sitting on the temple stoop.

A view of some rocks, from the trail. Andrew likes rocks.

The view looking back toward Yeonsinnae.

Andrew on the trail.

Passing the temple again on the way back down. There was a monk inside, chanting, so I stopped for a while.

The temple bell tower – but it’s missing its bell.

Then, this afternoon, I showed him the strangest movie yet, from among my bizarre and eclectic collection. I’ve been showing him a lot of my favorites, but he seemed to rather enjoy this one, especially. I reviewed the movie, Love Exposure, here.

Here are two temple panel paintings, which I’ll post for archival purposes. The first is a bit unusual – it feels like a “placeholder” as opposed to a true painting.