Day 7.054: Ashes ashes, I nearly fell down

If yesterday's sunrise was the Mardi Gras, maybe today's was the Ash Wednesday of sunrises.  I was out at 5am to fit in a two hour run before work.  What I wasn't expecting was some fairly convincing snowfall.  There was a coating on the roads when I left, by an hour and a quarter later with the sun just coming up there was a good layer on the sandy beach (and the off-shore rocks):

and, by the time I was finishing there was a good layer (maybe a little less than an inch) - more than enough to hide a frozen puddle that nearly caused my comeuppance as I stepped off the sidewalk to cross the road.

Incidentally, in the UK it goes "A-tishoo, a-tishoo, we all fall down", in the US, "Ashes, ashes, we all fall down" which is much more ominous sounding.  However, the US first line "Ring-a-round the rosie" is much more jolly-sounding than the admittedly rather strange "Ring-a-ring o' roses".  At least we can all agree on the middle line!

Day 7.025: Exchange!

Another episode from the my-brain-doesn't-work-when-I'm-running-or-does-it desk.

I ran past this place and read the sign:

I thought, "That's an odd turn of phrase."  I was just beginning to think, "I suppose that is actually what happens," when I realised that it didn't say that, it said:

which is less interesting.

It was only as I was writing this, that I realised my brain had just done what it was told:

Day 7.019: Wobbly bridges are his speciality

(Oh I so nearly wrote specialty!)*

Congratulations to Albaniana, Dad and Deborah for their correct and nearly complete answers!





* It's getting increasingly hard to pretend that British English is my natural form of written language at this stage, since almost all my other writing and all my spell-checkers are in US English now. What is becoming of me?!

Day 7.009: Sproing-ed

We had quite a busy day - but not one that leaves a lot to write about. I ran 13 miles, we went to church, we went to the store to buy some sproings.

Hang on a minute - to buy what?

Well, that this the name that Exile #2 used to describe the springy things that stop door handles making holes in walls. We were missing a few of them and we're trying to chip away at these odd jobs (rather than the walls) around the house while we wait for someone to fall in love with it.

So, E5N1 and I went for an outing and bought some sproings.

And also one of these for the door that opens against a closet door - preventing the use of a sproing.  It stops the door opening too wide by limiting the travel at the hinge.

We don't have a fun and pithy name for this useful item - do you?

Day 6.334: Happy hour, Euro slide & the skeletons

After my walk along the beach on Saturday, I walked back along the street. It was very much out-of-season seaside town. Only one food place was open - it was doing pretty good business, but it was a bit early for me - also, it wasn't the unique British pub.

And the rides (from various continents presumably) were definitely closed to business.

But they were quite photogenic.

Day 6.327: E5N1's alter magna (tegulas)

Somehow almost all the things E5N1 makes remind me of him - and often at his cheekiest!

Day 6.312: Spwing!

It's like a swing, but it spins!

From a happy hour-or-so I spent with Exile #4 and E5N1 at the park on Saturday.

Day 6.307: I'd, er, been wondering...

...what these birds are:

As I might have mentioned, I'm pretty sure I know what the top right one is (common enough!) The top left might be a sharp-shinned hawk. It was tussling with the squirrels in a Portland park.  Bottom left might be buffleheads (or maybe that's me). but the other one is a complete mystery at this point.

Day 6.288: Fancy dress rehearsal

In the UK, "costume" is replaced by "fancy-dress" in phrases such as "costume party" and "don't forget to come in costume!", thus setting up the title pun!

It was both the elementary and middle school Halloween parties this evening. I photographed King Julien and the Empty Child on the doorstep before taking the latter and one of her friends to their middle school event (drop-off only) and then continued on to catch up with the former and Exile #2 at the other party. Exile #4 was at a post-school pre-party play-date (try saying that three times fast!), so I caught up with Artemis later in the evening.

All this is basically a dry-run for Thursday of course, when we will venture out to scare the neighbours out of their candy - or just say how nice it is to see each other (especially the kids) and then...please help yourself!

Day 6.230: A riddle

My first is in grain but not in winnow.
My second is in the wind but not in the throw.
My third and my fourth are in seed but not chaff.
My fifth is in silly more times than in laugh.
My sixth can be magic and also by-gum.
And here is my picture - my riddle is done.

Did you know because I didn't until our visit on Saturday?

Day 6.220: Canadian/light

We had to break camp and move a couple of hundred yards to another pitch this morning (the penalty for making plans at the last-minute!). During the process we met the parents of the friends that Exile #4 and E5N1 had made and chatted with them for a while. My ear has got sufficiently tuned into a NE US accent now that I heard the things that the locals hear and imitate in Canadian accents in the conversation with these Ontario natives. I'd never really got what that was all aboot before!

After the new campsite was sorted, we had a round of the site's own mini golf and then headed out to Nauset Beach - mostly to see the lighthouse, but we managed some more sandcastle and wave-fleeing fun too. 

Today's random phone photos: going  down the lighthouse stairs and looking unhappy while the burgers were cooking (they were actually quite cheerful - if a little tired). 

Day 6.193: Christmas melon giant owl in the desert..?

Sometimes the only question is, "Why?"  Sometimes I wonder if it's best not to know.

Day 6.188: Double helix

Here's the answer to mystery #1 from Day 6.185.

While I was running I managed to put the following observations together and get to the right answer:

• Very long sequence of colours.
• Apparently random order of stripes.
• Four colours used.
• I was in Cambridge!

Of course, the big model of DNA at the end of the decorated section of cycle path didn't hurt (but I did work it out before I saw that - really!).

It is, apparently, a part of the human genome - a single gene which has a function in repairing other mutated genes.

Day 6.169: Super fiendish

We had a very nice visit with some friends this afternoon - hopefully we'll see them again before we leave - but for today, apart from a lot of catching up, it was just like picking up where we left off for adults and kids alike - great!

During the day yesterday, both Exile #3 and Exile #4 managed to get themselves locked in the downstairs loo* here. They both managed to get out with a little coaching but it prompted my Dad to act on a long standing intention to replace the lock-and-key arrangement for a privacy lock that can be opened from the outside if necessary. This was not much of a concern for us now, since both the girls have mastered it now and, as we said at the time, E5N1 is unlikely to go to the trouble of locking it - we're lucky if he closes the door.

So after two trips to a local hardware store and a pile of tools and an hour or so of drilling, chiseling, measuring and shoving, we finally succeeded:

I'm not sure, in spite of the issues we had, that I'd call it fiendish, but my other achievement of the day was more than just fiendish:

It turned out to be quite a good antidote to the jet-lag slump!





*apologies to my US readers - I meant "half-bath" obviously ;)

Day 6.145: A famous composer called Bak

This little house behind the Yeongnamnu pavillion, I was told on a brief post-lunch visit, is preserved as it was the home of a famous composer.

"His name is Bach" is what I heard. Then I realised that they were saying 박 - which as anyone who took my little lesson knows is pronounced nearly the same and is a very common surname here - usually transliterated "Park". At least I don't have to imagine JS Bach living in this hut for part of his life - even though it's in a very beautiful spot.

We walked up the steps towards yet another small temple at the top of the hill. It's not always clear whether you are welcome at these places!

As for the bird at my window, I'll have to leave you hanging a little longer.

Day 6.141: You can read Korean too!

I've never suggested to anyone that Korean is an easy language to learn. I tried a little when I first was involved in this project and I've picked up a few words and phrases as I've gone along, but I have tried to persuade people that learning to read the script is easy. In fact Hangul was invented by a 15th century king to make reading and writing accessible to the masses.

So here is everything you need to know:

There are 24 letters which are grouped by two, three or four into syllables. Syllables always start with a consonant and have a vowel next. They may end with another consonant (or occasionally two). In general consonants at the end of syllables are not voiced so g becomes k, d becomes t and b and p become m (just a closing of the lips at the end of a sound).

Here is the alphabet:
consonants
ㄱ g; ㅋ k
ㄴ n; ㄷ d; ㅌ t ㄹ r/l
ㅁ m; ㅂ b; ㅍ p
ㅅ s; ㅈ j; ㅊ ch
ㅇ */ng; ㅎ h (* ㅇ is silent at the start of a syllable)

vowels
ㅗ o in oh!
ㅜ u in lute
ㅡ u in but* this is properly pronounced with the mouth shaped to make an ee sound
ㅏ a in ah!
ㅓ o in got - sometimes strays towards u in but, but with an open mouth.
ㅣ ee

and that's it. But wait, you say, that's only 20 - quite right, the vowels with a short stroke can gain a second to become prefixed by a 'y' sound. Also, some consonants can be doubled to make them stronger and vowels are combined in pairs, but usually just read strung together ("wah" is made like this, for example: ㅘ) the only exceptions are:
ㅐ and ㅔwhich are basically 'e' as in bed and the double stroke form that are 'yeh' 

To read, start at the top left of the syllable cluster and read left-to-right, top-to-bottom and then move on to the next cluster to the right.

Often, reading like this is all you need as many products and businesses use English names transliterated into Hangul rather than real Korean ones. Here are some examples for you to practice on:

Basics first:

Then the essentials:

And here are three from the sign in the lift at the hotel:

The last one may feature in a blog post later in the week!

See, it may take some time but: 유 칸 리드 커리은!

Day 6.130: He had a stomic egg

It's nearly phonetic...

...but it does leave me wondering what my son thinks the problem is when someone says they have one!

Day 6.120: A little shirt of words (or two)

One of these shirts was in a department store in Germany, the other in the biggest department store in the world in Korea. Both of them are written in English - after a fashion.

Day 6.115: Red finch, yellow finch, ...

(Although they are red and yellow, they are actually a house finch and a goldfinch)

As usual, once spring-proper gets underway (as opposed to the season I call 'thaw'), it progresses very rapidly. When I left for Germany two weeks ago there was precious little in the way of signs of life. When I returned, it was noticable that there were new leaf buds on the trees.

Now, there is enough new growth to attract these very colourful birds, some of the blossom trees are already going over and we've had three consecutive days of eating outside!

Day 6.109: Hare field, Haar haus and Herr Doktor

Hare, Haar, Herr - is that all I photographed with my phone in Germany?

No, but it wasn't hard to pluck this many out.