April 2012

 
The month of April reminds me a Korean song, “April Song on the Hill with Magnolia Flowers [사월의 노래],” written by Park Mok-Wol, which was very popular and much loved by myself and my friends during our adolescent years. I still sing this memorable song quietly when I’m alone. It makes me feel like a traveler left in an unknown harbor, reading old books (although not Sorrows of Young Werther, as in the song), and writing letters (electronically now) to friends.

“April Song” celebrates a new life of bright dreams as well as looking back nostalgically upon other seasons. As I have lived the most of my life (some forty-six years) years in a land far away from my hometown, my nostalgic fantasy of being a traveler is growing deeper inside my heart. I’ve found myself wondering many times what I’m doing on foreign soil.

What is life? Japan’s present emperor, Hirohito, was a young man in 1963; he asked that question of a leading political leader of the third Republic of Korea, J.P. Kim.

Kim replied, “Life is like flowing stream water.”

The young emperor-to-be was silent for a long time as he pondered the implications of that answer, and whether I like or not, life seems to be going by more quickly for me as I get older.

I’ve been thinking about what I should do during my rapid-paced retirement life, and I’ve decided to continue writing my traveling stories, not as a business, as I did in the past, but simply to enjoy telling those stories, just like my own grandfather did when he told his stories to me. I also plan to travel more as spring weather arrives around the world.

I designed a book cover around a photograph of an equator ceremony I participated in during a cruise to the South American countries of Costa Rica, Peru, and Chile. I reorganized my previous stories and added a few new chapters, but I’ll try to make it a bigger volume next year by including stories of my new adventures. I attached examples of potential book covers, and I invite your comments and suggestions.

The thirteen members of our family are organizing a family reunion in Vancouver in August and an eight-day Alaskan cruise. We figured cruising on a luxury ship would be the best way for thirteen people to share their love amid great lodging accommodations, sightseeing programs, and fantastic food at a very reasonable cost. I can’t wait to meet and play with my five grandchildren, ranging in age from two to seventeen.

April also is the time to start working on our garden plots. We are fortunate to have two lots in the community garden center, where we have four orange trees and a vegetable growing area. This is the time to transplant cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, and red peppers, which were seeded and grown by gardening store in Garden Grove Korean Town. We didn’t have our usual abundant harvest of 100% organic produce last year because of my political campaign, but we’re determined to do much better this year.

Gardening is a perfect way to sweat for my health after tiring of playing games of golf, reading books, writing letters, and eating too much food. We’re always extremely gratified to be able to produce our own genuine Korean vegetables, which generally aren’t available in local grocery stores.

장원호
April 1, 2012 at Laguna Woods, CA

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