Sunday, August 21- Final Day

I woke up late. Yang came to pick me up soon after I woke. He told me to pack now instead of later because we were closer to the airport. I couldn't find all the sauces I bought, and my debit card, the computer was still uploading files, the place was a little untidy and I forgot my gumdo sword. I was not focused on preparing to leave. Many parts of me wanted to stay.

Bur the Gumdo sword was something I couldn't leave behind. I remember the moment I realized I forgot it.

We were driving.

"Oh no I forgot my gumdo sword."

Yang looked at me with shock.

I smiled then, "Ahhhh."

He laughed.

. Yang drove me to his families grave for po-cho. It's a Buddist tradition to clean the family grave before the harvest.

:"I will call my friend and ask him to try," Yang said. In other words, he was going ask his friend to pick it up.

The attention of my mind drifted to other issues while the gumdo sword rested in my mind.

Yang explained to me the day before that tradition of harvesting is a perfect explanation of organic farming. 

"It's perfect," he said.

So we arrived with family members sitting near the grave. A square of rocks walled in two grassy hills. Yang and another each had motorized weed cutters. 6 others, myself included had sickles. 

"My family didn't machine to cut. They used sickles. And they didn't have car. They walked," he told me later.

Some talking happened between the family members while stood waiting and others sat relaxed. 

Then they started to work. So I joined.them.

Some cousin of Yang started talking to me.

"Hey what's your name."

"Greg."

I asked him his name.

He told me.

He asked me basic English questions about my age and what I did.

We continued doing what we were doing which was weeding.

We worked around the stone wall and went into the inside.

Eventually the area around was cut down to size. The mound of plants that covered the grave stone were cut down.

Yang and his brother stood around the grave stone.

"It's 200 years old. My family has been doing this cutting for 200 years."

The dog was ripping the loose grass from the hill of the grave site

The family yelled the dog to get down.

Their was laughter all around as the dog tackled the grass.

"He is getting karma from this," Yang said, smilingly.

-------

We finisehd. The family and I returned to talking.

Yang turned to me.

"We will go get the gumdo sword."


"I need to get the sword."

"Yes the sword is necessary."

We drove home.

We arrived at the house.

"Get the sword. Quickly."

We got the gumdo sword.

We drove to the airport.

We stopped at the terminal.

"Here we can go here."

 We got out. I took out my bags.

He faced me.

I hugged him.

"I'll see you soon."

"I'll wait for you."

"Bye."

And then I left.


I got home around 6. The house had been transformed by my wife for meditation. I talked to my wife. After sometime passed, I had a promise to keep so I did an hour of meditation  followed by gumdo.

I felt how transformed my life had become.
.

The work continues.

-------------