We have a small hill-park directly across from my school, and in fact my desk looks directly out the window at it. It's nice to watch it change as it cycles though the seasons: at the moment, of course, it is lush and green with the warmth of summer. There are benches and exercise equipment, and it's a fairly quiet spot to spend a little bit of time. There are several nice pavilions (which I often use for meditation in the morning) and one half-cave. It's only half a meter high and filled with broken rocks and garbage: it is blocked off after about seven or eight meters. The park's name is Jjong-bong Park, and it is a green island in an ocean of look-alike apartment buildings.
So, I was sitting on a bench eating lunch yesterday. My wife made me some egg-salad sandwiches (with tomatoes!) , and I was taking a break from the tyranny of grading tests. I was eating and reading ("The Martians", by Kim Stanley Robinson) when I heard a ruffling in the bushes a few meters in front of me. I expected black squirrels: there are several that live in the park. What did I see instead? Rats!
Two big, beautiful, black rats chasing each other along the fence. I know what you're thinking. Who could get excited about rats? ("Only Dale..." Hey! I heard that!)
I'm from rural Michigan, and grew up with lots of animals around me all the time. We had horses, ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys, and other creatures besides. I used to have a scar on my elbow from where the goat attacked me. I probably have a hoof-shaped scar on my head from where my horse, Boulder, kicked me (I hear you thinking: so that's what happened!). In America, animals are a fact of life.
South Korea often appears curiously sterile to me. For the most part, wild animals other than birds and chipmunks are removed from the lives of the normal city-dwelling citizen. If they do see something like a little roe deer, it's not just unusual, it's downright strange. I tell my students I grew up with horses and deer, and they think I'm rich; they have no idea of life in an animal-filled environment.
So, yes. I'm happy to see rats. Any animal life is better than no animal life at all.
Dale, Old buddy! Old pal! Though you often complain about the reliability of your memory, I suspect it's more the lack of interest in certain memories, more than any fault in the memory circuits themselves, that leaves your recollections lacking in a lot of instances. For example, you seem to recall very clearly that your horse Boulder kicked you in the head, but I'm betting you have no recollection at all that I was present when you got kicked, and I'm doubly sure you don't remember how it happened. I do. *smile* Inquire via comment if you'd like a refresher on the particulars... at least as _I_ recall them.
ReplyDelete