Fall is here, or so it seems. Two days ago we had the air conditioning running for most of the day, but today Rebs had had a sweatshirt on for about half the day. Seasons in Korea are like that. And the funny thing to me is that the Koreans know exactly when it is. I remember having a conversation with our climbing gym owner a few years ago. We were making plans to go climbing a week or so later. He checked his calendar and then shook his head, saying, "No. Monsoon season." We asked him when it started and he told us in about a week. Sure enough, a week later it was pouring down buckets. Then we had about 2 weeks of normal conditions, though a bit humid. And then typhoon season came for 2 more weeks. Apparently the weather here is just as predictable as the driving-- meaning that initially it seems like total chaos. But after you've been driving in the country, you know exactly what's going to happen without the warning of a turn signal (an Asian sign of weakness).
Rebs is elated. She was just wishing Fall to be here, and now it is. We have the next month lined up with climbing, camping, seeing old friends who are leaving the country. It is definitely the time to be outside. I was reminded recently that we ought to seek peace and joy in our lives. This weather makes it easy to do just that.
It also happens to be apple and eggplant season right now. We eat our vegetables seasonally over here, picking them up cheap and fresh at the daily farmer's market in downtown Gyeongsan. You can get 3-5 eggplants for about $1, and i got about 15 apples for $3. It's great incentive for creativity and experimentation with new recipes. Rebs recently mastered her first attempt at baba ghanoush (aka eggplant hummus), while I currently have a crock pot of what will hopefully turn out to be some delicious apple butter. i make a point to save many of our glass bottles for this sort of occasion.
A big thing going on back home is that my brother-in-law, Cass Harris, is trying to record and produce his first album via Kickstarter. I love this guy a lot and think he is a very talented musician and has something special to share with the world. His songs are soulful, not your run-of-the-mill anything. I highly recommend going and checking out what he's doing.
