I spent part of the day working with Arthur, who became obsessed with working on this path reengineering project for the pathway that runs directly alongside the south side of the house and kitchen-shed. He wants to put a “gutter” along the ground level against the edge of the concrete pad, and then put down paving stones instead of gravel. The fact of his obsession was really my fault – I’d planted the idea in his mind because I wanted to take on a project for myself that felt relevant to him, meaning something he’d expressed a desire to see done, as opposed to one of my own whims. My idea with planting it in his mind was that I’d work on it for him, but once he decided to work on it, he couldn’t let it go. So I was in the assistant role.
Here is a tree from my archive-o’-trees – a picture taken in November, 2014. I know exactly where this is: it’s along my daily walking commute to work in Ilsan, Korea. I can even say with certainty that I’m going toward work, because of the decorative art on those small retaining walls. I made this 3-kilometer walk, each direction, six days a week for 5 years, 2013-2018, and had made the same walk from an earlier, similarly-located apartment in 2007-2009 also. I know the path better than any other path on planet earth.
[daily log: walking, 1km]