It is a good morning.
- sky
= It is a morning made pleasant by a clear sky.
- sunlight
= It is a spring morning with soft sunlight, a clear sky, and a pleasant mood.
- touch
= When I got out of the car, soft sunlight greeted me instead of the sharp sunlight I had felt inside the car. Closing the door and looking up, I saw a clear sky. Merely changing the kind of warmth that touched my skin made it a pleasant spring morning.
- life
= I drank morning coffee and forced myself to find a little leisure. It felt newly strange that even that kind of leisure could make my mood better. I blew on the hot coffee and drank it, then a little later put the empty espresso cup in the sink, shouldered my bag, and went down to the underground parking lot. The coldness of the morning concrete was the same as always. They said it would not rain today, but aside from the brief glimpse of the outside through the window gap in front of the elevator, there was no hint of whether the day would be cloudy, rainy, or anything else. The app said “clear,” so I accepted it. Since I always keep umbrellas in both the car and my bag, perhaps I care even less.
The moment I started the car and came out of the parking lot exit, sunlight flashed through the windshield. It was not even summer yet, but the parts touched by sunlight felt hot. The temperature of the air felt so different that I thought of childhood bathhouses, moving back and forth between the cold bath and the sauna.
The sun was not yet high in the sky, nor was it rising. As I changed direction, sunlight sometimes poured into my eyes through the rear window and rearview mirror. I changed the angle of my seat and tilted my head slightly to the side while slowly making my way through the congested road.
Eventually, once I entered the Capital Region Ring Expressway from Jayu-ro and the traffic loosened, I forgot the sunlight. But the parts of my arms and face that had kept touching sunlight while traffic was slow still felt warm. It was much better than midsummer, but perhaps because of the coolness of the concrete I had felt that morning, it seemed unexpected.
I parked in the company lot and turned off the engine. The commute ends here. Now I have to go up to work. When I opened the door and got out, the smell of flowers and the dry, sand-mixed air particular to spring greeted me. The sunlight was not as sharp as expected but gentle. I looked up at the sky. A blue sky with a few clouds. It was a pleasant sight. They say food that looks good tastes good too. The sky too was not merely good to look at; it was so bright that I wanted to lie spread-eagled on the lawn and admire it.
Just before beginning today’s work, the sky feels like a pleasant gift.
- TMI
= I usually commute by subway. There was a time when I commuted by car. The reasons were clear then too: I had my own space, I did not need to mind other people’s eyes, I did not have to move hurriedly to match subway times, the car was nearby so I did not need to walk as much as when taking the subway, and sudden weather changes like rain mattered less. These days, however, I prefer the subway. Fuel costs are one reason, but more than that, from departure to arrival I can turn off my attention and close my eyes. Weather is not much of a problem because I always carry a folding umbrella in my bag. The reason is far from the usual arguments about environmental pollution or Earth’s resources that appear whenever people say to ride a bicycle, walk, or take public transportation instead of driving. In the morning I have no room to care about the Earth. It is a measure for conserving as much of my physical resources as possible so I can go to work and get through the day.
Of course, when I had to take a subway heading toward Seoul in the morning, that was impossible. On Line 1, merely standing still drained me, so driving or taking the subway felt similar. Back then I took the subway literally because of fuel costs. Now that the Seohae Line exists, if I board at Sosa Station, I can sit from Bucheon Stadium at the earliest, and at worst from Gimpo Airport. Even when I stand, it is not packed like bean sprouts. At last the time has come when driving to work is much more tiring.
Today I drove to work after a long time because I had things to bring. One bad thing about commuting by subway is that on days like this, when I have to drive and pick up luggage, I become tense. My body remembers the route, but it had been a long time, so the leisure I had found while brewing and drinking a cup of coffee before leaving disappeared entirely. The sunlight was too strong, and from inside the car I imagined the outside would feel like midsummer. Once one comes down to an underground parking lot, the idea of weather or temperature disappears, and one imagines weather different from what one would feel walking outside.
From the underground parking lot to the company parking lot, I was looking outside from “indoors.” Because I was tense, and because I felt no need, I did not open the window. Only when I arrived and opened the car door to get out did I realize how good the weather was. The sunlight was pointed, but not as sharp as midsummer, and the air was warm by exactly the right amount. Closing the car door and looking up, the sky stretched wide and blue. To think I have to go to work in weather like this.
At least the sky I tasted before starting work felt like a wreath celebrating a safe arrival. Perhaps it was because of the scent of flowers mixed into the spring air.
Original Korean article: 덧셈