first 9.5K walk in a while

I hadn't gone out for a walk in a while, so today was the day to step out. We're now in the last half of April; the day was bright and sunny, and my walk went from 12:30 p.m. to 2:50 p.m., which is about a 4-kph pace. Not great, but not bad.

Spring in South Korea is always beautiful but short, and I can already tell that summer—which starts in May in Korea—is just around the corner. Today's high temp was around 26ºC, or 79ºF. While that's not extremely hot by any standard, it's a sure indication that summer, like a horror-movie monster, has already slipped its fingers through the space in the door and will soon be forcing its way in. All of this indoorsy toe-healing means I've basically missed the opportunity to walk during the waning coolness of spring, and today's session was enough to convince me that any further walks will be at night. I should do another nighttime 33K walk from Yangpyeong to Yeoju before things get too rainy.

Today's route was the typical one—9.5 or 10K out to the river and back. Lots of bikers, three or four of whom rudely strayed onto the pedestrian path (I'm not counting a father-son duo who biked onto the pedestrian path just to pull over and take a break; I don't mind that sort of thing at all). I didn't bother photographing any biker transgressions today; there seemed to be no point. But despite the heat, it was a beautiful day, and everyone I passed seemed happy. Spring has sprung! A few walkers and runners were also out, including several foreigners, one of whom was a slim, sleek white chick on rollerblades. I wanted to stop her and ask whether she'd ever rollerbladed along the Four Rivers path. In theory, she could easily do the whole thing in under a week given how fit she looked and how fast people can be on rollerblades. 20 kph for eight hours = 160 km per day. The Four Rivers trail is only 633 km. Four days if she can maintain that pace and tackle those occasional big hills.

With the sun shining so brightly, I was happy to be wearing my black, long-sleeved Under Armour shirt, which I now use instead of toshi (arm-protecting sleevelets mainly for bikers but also useful for us walkers). There was plenty of under-the-bridge shade along the way, though, so I didn't get sunburned. I was able to do the walk out and back without experiencing any angina, but by the end, my blood-sugar level was still frustratingly high at 138.

I wasn't really in a picture-taking mood, but I did snap a few shots. Enjoy the humble photo essay below.

Top of the berm that parallels the Tan Creek. Can you see the fluffy white seeds wafting in the air?

lower left: fluffy white seeds, out of focus

fluff on the ground

Anyone know which plant these seeds come from? Interesting to think in terms of parallel evolution since dandelions do roughly the same thing to spread their seeds.

Jamshil in the distance

'tis the season for the gawky birds (egret, heron, stork, whatever)

I'm surprised it let me photograph it. Most of these birds are skittish and fly away when you stop moving.

returning home—a different view of the Yangjae Creek, which flows into the Tan

I was having trouble remembering which trees got cut down. Which trees had such thick boles?

I'm still trying to understand why some arboreal cross-sections look flat while others don't.

This one in particular fascinated me. What species of tree was this?

Really looking at the curling paint for the first time.

AI tells me this is a flowering quince. Do you trust AI?

My toe is still a problem, but it's good enough for me to start doing these walks again.