Withered Roses and One-eyed Ladies

Happy Birthday to Katie!!
Well, I don't really have much to say, but I had a couple of strange moments this weekend that I thought I might jot down.
Strangely, I have finally run out of hot water. I paid for $200 worth of oil in October, and I thought that it would have run out so much faster than this, but it didn't. This isn't so bad at all because the weather this week should be in the fifties, and overtime will help to pay for it. This is great. I remember hearing about Meg and Mike's heating bill in Duluth; I think it was over three hundred dollars for one month. I can't believe that I have made it through the winter on only two hundred.
The second thing is a bit stranger: I have seen a couple of rats lately on the streets in my neighborhood. This doesn't seem to be a huge deal--sure, I don't like them, but they are running away from me as quickly as I realize that they are rodents. Well, I have become much more cautious of these strange, gaping holes in the sidewalks that lead to the nether regions of Busan. I have always been fairly cautious of them for fear that I would lose a toe or a shoe in them, but now I am becoming much more aware of the creatures that live in these holes in the ground.
Well, so I was out walking to the store on Saturday, walking carefully after having seen a rat. I was watching my feet and the road more than the stores and the landscape, like I usually do, otherwise I would have missed this withered rose on the steps of a closed shop on the way back to my apartment. The rose was red, it didn't have a tie or a wrapping, but it was thin, and the petals were curled up.
I love these quiet moments when I can imagine who left this single rose on the steps of a closed store.
This reminds me of a woman I used to greet every morning on the way to school. She seemed quite old, with wrinkly skin and only a couple of teeth. She had a piece of medical tape over one eye, so I began to think of her as the one-eyed lady--I realize this isn't very flattering, but I don't know her name. She did seem old, but she would hobble out and offer me her hand and sometimes a piece of candy--don't tell Mom and Dad that I have taken candy from a stranger.
I saw her every morning for a month. Then I didn't see her for a couple of weeks. I saw her once or twice the week after that. Her store is gone now, and some people are redoing it. It seems to be next to one of the new subway stops, so maybe she sold her store and moved to Hawaii. Maybe she is living somewhere on red cushions.