Korean Arches
~
2004.04.03 14:44 KST (EST + 13 hrs): Seoul, Republic of Korea
Having reached the mid-point of this Korean tenure and given that I think about things too much, I have alloted much headspace of late, to the idea of symmetry and the concept of centrality. Here, as anywhere, the parallel beauty of something's centre is as perfect as, say, how a bridge or a crux is not only relevant for its stellar insolubility but even more so for the pure simplicity of its symmetry. Otherwise said: Le milieu est simplement le centre. Allegorically, peering from a bridge is knowing simultaneously that the past is behind and its reflection lies ahead. Waiting.
Six months in and, as refreshing as an orange unpeeled, my seesaw's left is now rising to surpass the right.
April's spring, like music, is also one of nature's bridges. Here, naked and greyed forestscapes attempt to conceal clouds of sunken violet azaleas while streets are alit with forsythia's curious and creeping bright yellow-golden bells. Elsewhere, puffs of creamy white and diluted lavender electrify crabapple trees, while yellowing magnolia blossoms tower majestically like silken white roses sprung from wooden fingertips. As necessary as it is beautiful, this floral rite of passage -- combined with rising mercury -- complements the sun as it delays its daily, westward dip. And as days grow longer and nights warmer, I stare front first with a knowing squint from the centre of this sixth month's bridge.
Somehow, what was once a surreal jump across the Pacific has emerged to be a cornucopia of reflexion, excess and perspective. And despite not being as apocalyptic as it sometimes seems, my time spent in Korea has nonetheless been generously accentuated with hurdles and hedges; and even though questioning their overall benefit is a rhetorical debate, it is not one to be taken lightly. Musing it over, I realize that it has been -- and continues to be -- more than I'd foreseen. Nonetheless, embracing each day like a cannibal would a calf, I pile each memento atop the last, hoping that the sum of its parts might well be transported back to the world I knew before. And perhaps, with luck, as a thunder cloud is electricity's bridge to lightning, I too will be wise enough to mine or accumulate some semblance of usefulness for future release.
Thus, as thermometers continue their accent towards summer, spring unravels its chaotic palette: blinding you, causing you to lyrically wonder: "Where's that confounded bridge?" Fortunately, the answer is -- as always -- right under you.
From here to there; stay well all, and enjoy the vitamin D.
S*
Fave current track(s): "Dry The Rain" - The Beta Band, "Prince Caspian" - Phish
Current read(s) in progress: "The Economist" magazine, "Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow" - Aldous Huxley
2004.04.03 14:44 KST (EST + 13 hrs): Seoul, Republic of Korea
Having reached the mid-point of this Korean tenure and given that I think about things too much, I have alloted much headspace of late, to the idea of symmetry and the concept of centrality. Here, as anywhere, the parallel beauty of something's centre is as perfect as, say, how a bridge or a crux is not only relevant for its stellar insolubility but even more so for the pure simplicity of its symmetry. Otherwise said: Le milieu est simplement le centre. Allegorically, peering from a bridge is knowing simultaneously that the past is behind and its reflection lies ahead. Waiting.
Six months in and, as refreshing as an orange unpeeled, my seesaw's left is now rising to surpass the right.
April's spring, like music, is also one of nature's bridges. Here, naked and greyed forestscapes attempt to conceal clouds of sunken violet azaleas while streets are alit with forsythia's curious and creeping bright yellow-golden bells. Elsewhere, puffs of creamy white and diluted lavender electrify crabapple trees, while yellowing magnolia blossoms tower majestically like silken white roses sprung from wooden fingertips. As necessary as it is beautiful, this floral rite of passage -- combined with rising mercury -- complements the sun as it delays its daily, westward dip. And as days grow longer and nights warmer, I stare front first with a knowing squint from the centre of this sixth month's bridge.
Somehow, what was once a surreal jump across the Pacific has emerged to be a cornucopia of reflexion, excess and perspective. And despite not being as apocalyptic as it sometimes seems, my time spent in Korea has nonetheless been generously accentuated with hurdles and hedges; and even though questioning their overall benefit is a rhetorical debate, it is not one to be taken lightly. Musing it over, I realize that it has been -- and continues to be -- more than I'd foreseen. Nonetheless, embracing each day like a cannibal would a calf, I pile each memento atop the last, hoping that the sum of its parts might well be transported back to the world I knew before. And perhaps, with luck, as a thunder cloud is electricity's bridge to lightning, I too will be wise enough to mine or accumulate some semblance of usefulness for future release.
Thus, as thermometers continue their accent towards summer, spring unravels its chaotic palette: blinding you, causing you to lyrically wonder: "Where's that confounded bridge?" Fortunately, the answer is -- as always -- right under you.
From here to there; stay well all, and enjoy the vitamin D.
S*
Fave current track(s): "Dry The Rain" - The Beta Band, "Prince Caspian" - Phish
Current read(s) in progress: "The Economist" magazine, "Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow" - Aldous Huxley
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