The Autumn Courtyard

Autumn in the Korean mountain valleys has a stillness all its own. Ripe orange persimmons hang heavy over mud-and-stone walls, red chili peppers dry on round wicker mats in the sun, and the curved dark roofs of the village match the line of the mountains behind them. The front carries our warm orange "SANCTUARY" lettering beneath a tile-roofed homestead and a branch of ripening fruit. The back opens into an illustrated village scene with stone wells, terraced gardens, and distant ridges. It carries the feeling of early morning tea in a wooden courtyard, far from traffic and screens.