Picnic

Our tiny little church, the Sacheon Branch, had a picnic in Namhae yesterday.  Namhae is a lovely nearby island where our Branch President, Lee Jin Man, and his family live.  Both husband and wife are artists, and run an art school for children on the island.  They also raise chickens, turkeys and a pretty impressive garden.  Delightful people, with hearts to match.  

President Lee Jin Man finds art in everything.  

He immediately started playing with the seaweed on rocks and calling it hair! 

Look at this seaweed covered rock he turned into a face.

He and Sister Eum, his wife, scoured the area for interesting things to bring home, 

like this awesome piece of driftwood.

Sherry Anderson's the best American-style cook around; 

and Sis. Eum's the Korean-style cook in our little congregation.  

(I'm the least domestic--just bring snacks and draw on stuff like eggs.)  

The guy in the background there is Andre, from the Ukraine.  He works with Kenny Anderson at KAI and just broke his arm in a biking accident.  Our Branch President's hand, however, was injured permanently decades ago and he always keeps it wrapped; 

just incase you're wondering what's the deal with all the bandages...

During and after a potluck picnic under the pavilion, with more food than we could possibly eat,

we took some photos, of course.  Closest to the camera are Lee Jin Man's 2 oldest kids and Kim Soo Ni, a talent pianist and teacher of the same.  Although I can't really "talk" to her, she's been a favorite since I first met her.  He Bom, the one making a peace sign, plays beautifully too.

Kim Soo Ni's son, the guy on the right holding one of the eggs I drew a face on, 

recently returned from a full-time mission is Seoul and 

speaks better English than any  Korean I've met.  

So, like it or not, he gets to do most of the interpreting in our American/Korean congregation.

  Then I thought we were all just going for a walk.  This is Sherry Anderson, Kim Soo Ni and me. 

Hate to admit it, but I kept thinking, "I've got to get out of here."
Sherry and I are flying out on Tuesday morning and it was supposed to be a fairly lay-back Saturday
to pack and unwind before the crazy, brief trip to the US.  Sherry will be home in Dallas for a month, 

but she had already packed and travels alot--she's got it down to a science.
Still, I shouldn't have fretted that a 3 hour activity turned into 5,
because we found tiny crabs under all those rocks!!!

Now, the Koreans knew they'd be there 

and gathered them up to steam, sauce and serve after church today...

NO, I've not tried them yet.  

They were adorable and I can't eat something I fall in love with.  

It took a lot of tries to get a couple of decent photos of these fast moving, harmless little things.  

They're too small to hurt you with their claws, but they super fast and difficult to get on film.

See that little guy in there?  As soon as a rock was lifted they'd scatter, 

swiftly scuttling off to hide under another rock.  Here's another photo of the underside. 

Those claws look scary, but they useless for defense, inflicting no pain.

Another find was a gorgeous, perfect starfish.  

I put it back in the water after making it model for a half dozen photos.  

Hoping it survives my heartless fascination with its beauty!

 Oh, do you see that orange bag being carried around by Kim Soo Ni?

Guess what's going in it?  Yep, baby crabs for dinner!  Everyone of our Korean

friends were hunting and gathering those itsy-bitsy crabs...

except maybe Lee Tam Che.  He found a huge centipede and brought it back to show us 

with chopsticks, so who knows what he was playing with when I took this photo.

Anyway, the company was delightful, the scenery peaceful, and 

I don't think I've ever seen such tiny crabs, or a real starfish up close before.

The day was perfect!