My second day of freedom with the summer breeze:
It’s late afternoon and
families are out to enjoy the first proper bask in the sunshine in days. Little
children are running around, delighted with the bustling summer sounds. The anxious
mothers never let them get out of their sight, but even they seem breezy and
buoyant for once.
Having hung around 영동
3-4교 last time, I go off in the direction of 영동
2교.
Trees, flowers, and the
sparkling waters envelop me; the sounds of cicadas ring in my ears. It seems as
though life is bursting with sweet juice with each step I take. It feels almost
like a culinary experience – of nature’s blissful wonders.
I see many earthworms again,
and this time, many are moving around near the puddles. I wondered last time
why such a big number of them had emerged at once, so I researched a little. According
to some worm experts such as Cindy Hale, the annelids do not surface from
the underground to avoid drowning. In fact, they take advantage of the
temporary wet surfaces to move safely to new places. Maintaining their skin
moistness is crucial: they breathe through their skin, and it must stay wet to
have a constant intake of oxygen. That is why they move around after rain in
high humidity, so that they will not suffocate while out of the soil.
I see sticker orange lilies - splashes
of apricots and carrots - among the greens. Suddenly, a small black cat swishes
past the bushes. I am reminded of a particular characteristic of some lilies:
Toxic to cats, causing renal failure. I make a mental note to find out whether
the ones I see are such lilies.
Looking closely at the
pavement, the dirt and concrete, I find many dead insects. They all seem dried
up, shriveled and shrunk. A particular body of one that has a close resemblance
to a cockroach remains only as its exoskeleton. How intricate, how perfect and
how fragile its outer “covering” is!
Dragonflies flutter past, and
I feel like a child again when I see lady bugs, the little gems that I adored –
and still do - so much.
Oh look! The particular shade
of tangerine and the shape of the leaves make me think I could be looking at
pumpkin leaves and flowers…and I’m right! (proved by matching my picture with
ones on Google Images) Pumpkins have both female and male flowers on the same
plant and so are classified as monoecious. The female ones can be distinguished
by the little ovary at the base of the petals. They are usually very close to
the vine and stems – usually a few inches. I marvel at such delicate shades of yellowy
peach; apparently, they can only be open for periods as short as a day, having
short life spans.
The level of water of the
stream has lowered a little, but not enough to expose the stepping stones and
the small concert stage in the middle of the stream.
As I walk past the Hibiscus syriacus, the national flower of Korea, I notice the
uniqueness of the lights in the shape of sunflowers. They’re solar-powered, and
I see many of them lining the edges of the stream. Specifically, they are
Hybrid Solar Power LED lights: A solar power system and a hybrid system are
connected to the grid, but the latter includes a battery bank. Most hybrid
systems have a back-up generator, to supply power at all times. These
sunflowers, too, are on even on rainy and foggy days, when not much sunlight
can be converted into electricity. These 30W LED lamps have replaced the
previous 100W metal lamps, increasing their efficiency. The energy consumption
of these lamps is only 12 percent of that of the previous ones, also reducing carbon dioxide emissions. An additional feature: the lamps are dimmed to
15W at very late night hours, when few pass the area.
As I walk past the Hibiscus syriacus, the national flower of Korea, I notice the
uniqueness of the lights in the shape of sunflowers. They’re solar-powered, and
I see many of them lining the edges of the stream. Specifically, they are
Hybrid Solar Power LED lights: A solar power system and a hybrid system are
connected to the grid, but the latter includes a battery bank. Most hybrid
systems have a back-up generator, to supply power at all times. These
sunflowers, too, are on even on rainy and foggy days, when not much sunlight
can be converted into electricity. These 30W LED lamps have replaced the
previous 100W metal lamps, increasing their efficiency. The energy consumption
of these lamps is only 12 percent of that of the previous ones, also reducing carbon dioxide emissions. An additional feature: the lamps are dimmed to
15W at very late night hours, when few pass the area. 
I am sure to come back again at
dark; the sunflower lamps gleam in lavender light at night, they say. And where else can you ever find sunflowers in aubergine?
http://www.greenpowerco.com.au/solar-power-hybrid-systems/
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