Orchids

There's an fuchsia orchid growing outside my apartment building. In fact, that's the only thing growing. Well, sort of... A few days ago someone actually tied the orchid stem to a dead plant with green ribbon. It's the only bit of color in the patch of dirt by the front steps and quite possibly the only living green thing within a 1/2 mile radius. But I like it. It seems like hope to me.

Spring will be here soon. The Yellow Dust has started to blow in off the Gobi Desert in China. (They say it's the earliest that it's made its way into Korea.) Kim Jong-il has threatened to fire a missile somewhere this week. A psychopathic killer was recently arrested. The Korean won hit another low: 1507 to the U.S. dollar. And I'm hanging up my long underwear.

The world is a strange place, isn't it? The passing of seasons is strange also. I feel as if I'm holding my breath. I'm waiting for spring and the next few months. And I'm waiting for a gap of time which will move inevitably much more quickly than it ought. The speed of life is unending. The groans of the earth are audible. And so I am holding my breath and waiting in anticipation.