an evening walk on New Year's Day

My first 9K walk of 2026—out to the Tan-Han confluence and back—revealed that there's been a good bit of progress with construction along the Tan Creek. But in this first photo, I noticed I was being watched over by my old friend Jupiter, whom I'd normally see in the very early mornings (4:30 or 5:00 a.m.) during my long walks across the country. I guess that, once Jupiter comes out, it hangs around a long time before disappearing in the dawning sky.

"star" = Jupiter in the evening sky

I was surprised to see that all of the fencing had been taken down in the area of the Tancheon 2nd Bridge (Tancheon 2-gyo/탄천2교). But the bare dirt and exposed pebbles flanking the paved area showed that there's still way more landscaping to be done. I wonder what this area will eventually be turned into. (Realistically, though, there's no eventually: this area, like everywhere else, will always be undergoing some sort of change. Cities are forever in process, never completed. Which is why there's always ambient dust everywhere. The construction never ends.) Also of note: the off-ramp that they've been working on for the past several years is still not done. But it looks at least 90% finished, so I suspect it'll be completed this year.

wow—all paved over, no fences anymore

As I walked and approached the river, I looked east toward the Lotte World Tower.

7:54 p.m. Jupiter looks down on the Lotte World Tower

It was below freezing outside. My fingers were freezing even inside my gloves, but luckily, they were haptic-screen-compatible gloves, i.e., I could manipulate my cell phone's controls without having to take the gloves off. Here's a pic up the creek and toward the confluence:

There's still work to be done as you see by the bare earth.