Written and Illustrated by Kim Sung Ra

The summer, which all things stop in deep green for at least three months, has come. Three months are still long to stay still to avoid the hotness. In this deep season, I visit a country house owned by my grandmother with a beautiful roof in orange color in a small town near the beach. My grandmother has lived here nearly for 60 years as a female diver, and her kind friends also live here, too.

When I go out to the quiet beach, step on the warm sand, and put my feet in the ocean in the early summer, the grandmother comes to me while smiling with an orange basket full of sea chestnuts. She can go home after the four-hour diving work and three-hour labor job to peel out the skin of sea chestnuts. However, this season of sea chestnut fishing in June is quite welcoming for everyone. The mixed rice with sea chestnuts also tastes like the deep summer ocean which makes us refreshed in the tiring evening.

For a question whether she feels scared of the ocean, she answers she is not afraid of anything. In her brave answer, the cute and determined confession that she cannot stop diving is hidden because she feels excited when coming up with anchovies, conches, and sea chestnuts as well as the sound of female divers’ exhale.

There is no one watching her, but she puts on make-up, carries her basket and equipment, and rides a scooter heading to the ocean. I wake up late and have some warm soup at a restaurant owned by grandmother Soon-Ok, who quitted diving last year. Whether they keep diving or not, they never take a rest through the year. When the wind is soft, they dive into the ocean, and when the wind is strong, they take a break.

On the day when they all take a break due to the strong wind, I learn how to ride a scooter and drive along the summer beach. I almost cry when they send me off. I feel so grateful for their love just like Rudolph of the summer. They are not hesitant to show their love. Their kindness and the beautiful town near the ocean make me feel happy just like the summer vacation.

The writer, Kim, Seong-La, specifically presents the daily life of a small town near the ocean with her unique cozy and light colors and abundant cuts. The Jeju dialects are strange but quite funny. A cozy neighborhood nearby the ocean, the streets, rapidly changing weather, and ordinary life of people make readers sympathized with their own life, too. You may hope to visit this sort of village near the ocean as a vacation spot during the hot summer.