Signs of spring in Sokcho.

It's strange to think that just a few weeks ago there was snow on the ground here. Though the clouds still show up several times a week, the colors are peeking through the ground and the flowering trees here. We took a long winding walk yesterday in search of the Sokcho library (which ended up having only one book in English--a book of Beatles tunes!) and ended up spotting many beautiful magnolia and cherry blossom trees around Sokcho. You don't see quite as many flowers or gardens, but many public areas have potted pansy arrangements. These buds are all over our apartment complex. Apparently, the window for flowering trees is quite short, so I'm trying to catch them before they're gone!

The Broken Ground by Wendell Berry

The opening out and out,
body yielding body:
the breaking
through which the new
comes, perching
above its shadow
on the piling up
darkened broken old
husks of itself:
bud opening to flower
opening to fruit opening
to the sweet marrow
of the seed--
taken
from what was, from
what could have been.
What is left
is what is.