The House in the Meadow

Chapter 7 Mixed Bag of Blessings part 1

The summer days stretched so long now that sunset happened after showers and bedtime. At first, the older cousins tried to be strict about following the old schedule, but soon they gave up. They all ended up staying up later and sleeping in during the morning.

The family sat on the porch most evenings and watched the swallows swooping after insects. The birds' silhouettes were dark against the twilight sky. Daewon and Marco found where they were building their nests under the eaves of the old shed. Every day the cousins would check on it from a respectful distance.

Hojung found a book on native bird species and identifying wild edible plants in the owner's bookshelf. They shared an old pair of binoculars. Hojung called bird watching "science class." When they saw a bird that they didn't know, they'd flip through the book and try to identify it.

Feeldog found the money to get them each a journal so they could draw the birds they'd identified. Soon, they could tell the difference between swallows and martins, sparrows and wrens, as well as other species. The journal expanded from birds to plants, and types of clouds. Hojung would lay a blanket out, and they would lay down looking up, studying the clouds, or silently observing the world around them. This peace never lasted. It wasn't in their nature to be quiet or still for long.

Except for Hojung, he enjoyed cloud watching.

The problem was that the older kids could not help the younger ones identify insects. Jun or Chan would catch a bug and run to a cousin, Marco usually, to find out what it was but he couldn't tell him.

"They're learning a lot," Hojung said happily one day at dinner.

"We need more books though." Daewon sighed, "Books on insects and trees; the things we don't know or already have books on."

Hansol offered his opinion, "This doesn't feel like school. There aren't any tests. What if they fall behind?" Not being successful in school was something his mother used to worry about all the time.

Marco surprised everyone by asking, "But what about other things like history?"

"We need more books." Euijin and Feeldog said in unison.

On his own, Feeldog offered, "There's a used bookstore close to the city market. It's filled with more books than you can count. You can't even see through the windows because the books block them. I bet that store has books on insects."

"Who wants to go with Feeldog to the bookstore?" Euijin asked.

"Wait. Why am I going?" Feeldog wondered aloud.

"Because you know where the store is." Euijin replied and tried again, "who wants to go find books?"

Nearly everyone raised their hands, except for Marco.

"Marco, you have to come. You know more about nature than the rest of us." Feeldog ordered.

Daewon volunteered, "I'll take Kijoong to the playground then."

Chan perked up. "I want to go to the playground."

Everything settled, they finished eating.

City market day, they performed in the morning, then when the heat was the most intense, Daewon took the two youngest to play while the rest followed Feeldog to a dark, narrow street lined with all kinds of interesting shops. There was a shop that sold dishes and everything you'd need for cooking. There was a florist with a window full of plants and pretty glass vases. Next was a stationery store. The one after that was the bookstore.

A small metal shelf on wheels stood out-front. Its shelves were filled with yellow-paged books that had lost their dust covers. Full bookshelves indeed half covered the windows. Inside, a wizened, mostly bald, elderly gentleman sat in a comfortable chair behind a wood desk reading a newspaper. An old metal fan sat on the desk blowing air in his direction. He grunted a hello as a greeting and continued reading.