milk, graves, great winged things

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
milk, graves, great winged things
Current mood:miscellaneous

I started to drink the milk, knowing full well that it was sitting unopened at room temperature for a day. I wouldn't have done this the day before the big exam, but I suspected I would be just fine drinking the lukewarm milk. It made me wonder about pasteurization, so I looked it up.

It turns out that this milk is UHT pasteurized, or ESL pasteurized. That's ultra-high temperature, or extended shelf-life. These little boxes, I read, can sit for months unopened at room temperature. Which again makes me wonder, because the school is particular about the expiration dates. And I doubt that everyday we get milk that's six months old. But, anyway, this process is supposed to extend shelf life and reduce the need for refrigeration. However, it has its drawbacks of course, as the heat flash really stresses or destroys the milk proteins. But I'll tell you, this particular carton of lukewarm milk, like most Korean milk I've drunk, tastes delicious and creamy.

That whole episode reminded me that I have more to tell you. So I researched about Korean graves. now I've told you some, if I recall accurately. About how the graves are around here and there on hillsides. About how we saw some hillsides on the way to Seoul which seem to be predominantly for grave use, but that you can't just easily go find a Korean "cemetery". Then I read a great little piece in what I guess is a great little book. Called Things Korean.

Google Books is awesome. It scans books quickly and makes kind of like a giant library. In this way, I can check out the book. And I will sum up a little for you, but feel free to take a look at the entry about Mudeom, a Grave's Grave.

The idea is that these Korean customs allow a gravesite to return slowly to the earth, as the memory of the person fades in the lives of the living.

As for moths and butterflies, it was said that some people like butterflies, while some people hate moths. And I tend to like both. But my view of moths shifted, from the nasty little "millers" of my youth, to beautiful Luna moths and other great winged things I've observed later in life. (Not to forget, one great insect of my youth was a hummingbird moth.).

Butterflies are great, and so easy to like, but one might also note that the little "skippers" whose larvae harmed crops are a little pesty at least, and their wings have that dust that tends to make one feel unclean. However, who cannot love these insects, upon greater investigation, for the mysteries of their metamorphosis, their gift of flight, migration and super sensory perceptions where applicable, for their contribution to pollination and the grand life-cycle, and in the case of many, for their beauty if that alone were not all?