Happy Halloween

King of the Forest

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep

Force be with me, it will.

Poetry in my Backyard, Part II

The Road Less Traveled.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet, knowing how way leads onto way

I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence

Two roads diverged in a wood

And I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference.

Poetry in my Backyard

One of my favorite places to go in my neighborhood is the mountain behind my home. When I hike up there, two poems by Robert Frost come to mind. The first one:

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening.

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Persimmons

A few months ago, my good friend sent me a package of Sure-Jell fruit pectin; a thoughtful and wise surprise. I've never made jam or jelly before and so I smiled and put it in my cupboard knowing that I had a "food" adventure ahead and that this pectin would come in handy because I had no idea where or how to find pectin here.
Last week, Jim said, "I don't like persimmons, but I think they might make a good jam". I couldn't help but think that this was my chance to try out the Sure-Jell on a very popular fruit in Korea. I googled persimmon jam, added a bit of cinnamon to the recipe and it worked! It has a nice, sweet, taste of Autumn.

Seoul's Best

While living in Chicago, I spent many happy moments with my children at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Next to the public library, it was one of my favorite outings. The other day I was reading a book called, Seoul's Best 100 and it listed the Seoul Grand Park Zoo as a Seoul "must see", stating that it is "one of the world's ten largest zoos." With the long Chuseok holiday weekend in view I made it a point to visit this "best 100". The zoo turned out to be not only large, but very lovely. That wasn't all, it included unique things to do like feed the kangaroos, the deer, the giraffes and the seals, watch the dolphin and seal show, and ride a sky lift over the zoo. I was in heaven, along with my six children. Well done, Seoul. I give this zoo five stars!

Lotte World Magic

Oh, to be three again!

Anna's Cowboy Campfire

It has been a tradition in our family to have a "cowboy campfire" birthday party for our children when they turn eight years old. As Anna's eighth birthday approached, I knew that this tradition loomed ominously in the background and I didn't quite know how I was going to manage it in Korea. I tried to convince Anna that a birthday party down the street at the local ceramic shop would be nice. I thought that this option would surely win over her artistic heart. But no, she insisted on having a "cowboy campfire". When we sat down to decide on a date, which can be a complicated process in a family of eight, it came down to having the party over Chuseok weekend. Chuseok is a major Korean harvest holiday similiar to Thanksgiving. I told Anna that she may have only two people show up to her party. She said she didn't care. I sent off the invitations quietly relieved by the thoughts of two little eight year old guests coming to the party. The next challenge was the "campfire". By no small miracle, we were able to borrow a fire pit from some expats that live in a gated community near my home. I was so happy to have this taken care of that the thoughts of firewood were left until the afternoon of the day of the party. I called my Korean friend and asked her where I could buy firewood. She hesitated. "Hmmm, I don't know", she said. I asked her to tell me how to say firewood. She hesitated again. I began to feel a little nervous. Then she said, "I have some old chairs that I am going to throw away. Do you want them?" I laughed. No way. Koreans don't build bonfires? Jim said, "Get the chairs. I think they'll work".

So, in the end, we were able to pull off the campfire, broken down chairs and all. And thank goodness, because we had 24 guests that were just dying to sit around the campfire and sing to the guitar music of my dear friend.