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Post #120

October 26, 2021

Hi there!

Dennis Adams here. In my “HQ”, Dreaming Wide Awake!!

The number “120”, itself, has no special significance. It’s simply the 120th post I have written since 2014, when I started this site. But this post is not a typical post like I normally would write.

In this post, I want to give you some general information about the first 119 posts, which you may not know, and some tips which might make it easier for you to find certain posts, in case you ever want to go back and re-read any of them.

So it’s kind of a “reference post” to help you navigate through the site. And I decided to name it that way because it’s an even number and perhaps, easy to remember, if you want to refer to it again and again.

Health and Wellness

Seattle Heat Wave: Beatin’ the Heat

July 12, 2021

Summers in Seattle are always Super but the last two weeks (6/20-7/3), we had an atypical heat wave come through.

We often do have a couple of hot days, but usually not until August.

I don’t have A/C so the temperature inside my house was unbearable and I had to take “evasive measures” to get out of it.

Health and Wellness, Music, Photography, Travel/Adventure

“Happy Birthday, Andy”

May 28, 2021

Celebrating Andy’s 74th birthday over a fabulous Korean feast.

“The Mirror of Friendship”

A friend holds the mirror of self-esteem.

You can see at a glance someone you admire.

But the beauty of that reflection, to me, it seems,

is the glow of concern from the friendship fire.

……..Dennis Adams (Summer, 1977)

About the poem

When I was about 27 years old (1977), I was at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) studying basic Korean, in Monterey, California. It was an intensive, one-year long course.

During that time one of my Korean instructors introduced me to her niece and asked if I would sing with her for some cultural event they held at DLI for each new class that came through. We studied the culture, customs and arts, as well as the language.

Her name was Cho, Gun Hui but Americans have a hard time remembering Gun-Hui so she adopted the name of Connie (it was the closest-sounding American name to Gun Hui) which she thought would be easier to remember.

I already had lived in Korea for one year and I liked Korean music and had learned several Korean songs, so I was happy she asked me to sing with her niece.

She was a beautiful Korean girl. She sang really well (much better than I) and we became friends. We practiced the songs that we were going to perform for the cultural event, and in so doing, got to know each other fairly well.

I was inspired to write a short poem (the one above) about friendship and I gave a copy to her.

She liked the poem. So she went to a frame shop to have them etch the poem onto a mirror and frame it, and then she gave it to me as a going away gift (I was almost finished with the one-year Korean language program by then).

I was moved by the thoughtfulness of her gift and her friendship.

But, after that summer, we were destined to go our separate ways, and we never did have contact again. But I have good memories of her and the short time I spent with her.

I told my son, Tim, about the poem, and the story behind it…………

No! Wait a minute…..

I told my son, Tim, about the poem, and the story behind it…….

No! Sorry! Just one more minute.

I told my son, Tim, about the poem, and the story behind it…….

Oh my gosh! Sorry!………..

I told my son, Tim, about the poem, and the story behind it……..

TIM:

“Hmm…The Mirror of Friendship“, he murmured, while contemplating the story.

Then he continued, “Dad, that’s such a clever way of saying the only friend you have is yourself!” 😂😂

ME:

I don’t know why I even try…..😳😩

Anyway……

My favorite line in that poem is “…the glow of concern from the friendship fire.“

When you are really good friends with someone there is always a genuine caring and concern emanating from both sides.

Culture, Music, Travel/Adventure

Heart Of Gold

February 28, 2021

My “chin gu” (friend) , Dong Chul Lee, in Korea around 1977-1978.

A couple of weekends ago, we had the perfect snow storm here in Seattle and I wrote about it in my previous post, called “The Perfect Storm”.

In that post, I mentioned that on the first two days of that four-day snowy weekend, I listened to a playlist I made of songs by Lizz Wright, that I call “Freshly Fallen Snow”.

The last two days of the snowy wonderland weekend, I listened to another playlist I made of songs by Lizz, which I call “Seconds of Pleasure (Sighsmic Activity)”.

On that playlist, Lizz does a cover of “Old Man”, a song written and sung by Neil Young, written as a tribute to a caretaker of a parcel of land, who presented the land to Neil Young, which Neil eventually purchased, and lives on.

Neil Young was one of the most influential songwriters and guitarists during the 60’s and 70’s and he’s still active to this day.

When I heard Lizz sing “Old Man”, on the playlist that weekend, it suddenly reminded me of my friend, Dong Chul, and I wanted to tell his story.

Health and Wellness, Music

The Perfect Storm

February 24, 2021

A couple of weekends ago (February 13-14), we had the perfect snow storm here in Seattle.

I call it perfect because it started snowing on Friday afternoon, AFTER I got home from work, and it continued to snow day and night on Saturday and Sunday, until it became 12 inches deep, making it impossible for me to drive to work on Monday.

Then, since Tuesday is one of my regular days off, it turned into a four-day weekend for me (Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday).

The timing of its arrival was just poyfect!!