You know the feeling when everything’s perfect, and suddenly your heart just stops? The 1 hour 48 minute drive to Lake Ontario was just like any other. Movie playing, siblings arguing, music blasting. My family hosts our annual 4th of July party up by Cape Vincent. With the warm air filled with the scent of the grill, and the sounds of laughter and music,that weekend was turning out to be just like the rest. Or at least that’s what we thought. 1311 Failing Shores Lane was never quiet during any of the previous events, but for some reason a dead silence draped over the lot. Burgers, dogs and home fries covered every Dixie® plate. Suddenly, Chaz exclaimed to everyone to look to the heavens.We scanned the watercolor atmosphere until simultaneously,
Wisconsin Dells was better than Six Flags because my family stayed longer. We were in Wisconsin Dells for four days, but we were only at Six Flags for two days. Because we were in the Dells longer, my family was able to create more memories. Six Flags may have had more attractions inside the park itself, but I felt rushed and did not enjoy my time there as much. The length of time my family spent in Wisconsin also gave us the ability to experience the numerous attractions found outside of the park.
When most people drive downtown, they are almost always in a hurry. But, if a person actually stops and looks around, it is easily seen that Fond du Lac contains a lot of history. Every old church and store in this city has a special story connected to it. When a disaster strikes, the story can be lost; only to be found again through old newspapers. These churches meant a great deal to the citizens of Fond du Lac during the time of their existence. Couples were married, babies baptized, and generations of families gathered on Sunday mornings for worship in these churches. In the early days, catastrophic fires threatened these structures, and Fond du Lac did not have a proper fire department handle the disaster. Most often, if something caught on fire, it had to be left to burn. Then the expensive rebuilding could begin.
When thinking of a village nestled along a coastline, most people would think it would be the idyllic place to grow up or raise a family. Amongst the beaches, boats and the water affluent families live the American Dream. Often well educated with good careers, money was no object and the finer things in life were within easy reach. Beautiful homes line the canals in the village of Amityville, NY, but the DeFeo’s lived anything but that picturesque life. On the surface, all was serene, but underneath were very turbulent waters that culminated in the mass murder of six people.
One day everything changed. Radio signals vanished, wind howled like a great wolf, and the ocean had its eyes wide open ready to strike. “Perhaps an hour had gone by with the wind at it’s worst like this when a hush
The anticipation of this day had been building up for some time over that last few months, and now it was upon me at last. I didn’t feel the same excitement I had leading up to this moment, I even kind of grumbled to myself about how I wished the bus was bigger so that I would be more comfortable. We all had our assigned seats, but no one seemed to be where they were supposed to be. The anxiousness of getting to Colorado was causing a great deal of confusion, chaos, and stress. The noise of everyone carrying on and yelling could be compared to the way a screaming crowed sounds at an AC/DC concert.
I love camping and spending time outside, but this summer I had a completely new experience when I visited the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Before leaving, I had very little knowledge of the Boundary Waters. After getting advice from friends and purchasing some special equipment, I realized that camping there was going to be much more complicated than I had thought.
Flying past I recall Chief Joe waving to me as he often did. Without hesitation my reflexes turned my bicycle around and peddled fast trying to catch up to the speeding responders. As I rounded the corner I saw the flashing red lights and devastation of the two motorcycles that had crashed. Two mangled bodies lay in the hot street, appearing lifeless as responders rushed to pull them from the realms of death. The roar of another firetruck was heard in the distance racing to the scene of the devastation but pulled into the freshly mowed hay field just before the crash site.
I peered around through the rain, desperately searching for some shelter, I was drowning out here. The trouble was, I wasn’t in the best part of town, and in fact it was more than a little dodgy. I know this is my home turf but even I had to be careful. At least I seemed to be the only one out here on such an awful night. The rain was so powerfully loud I couldn’t hear should anyone try and creep up on me. I also couldn’t see very far with the rain so heavy and of course there were no street lights, they’d been broken long ago. The one place I knew I could safely enter was the church, so I dashed.
It was a beautiful summer day when it happened. I was enjoying the fresh air and the amazing view of Walden Pond. The sun was shining and a slight breeze blew across my face. I love standing still and listening to the swishing of the leaves and the soft feet of animals running through the grounds.
In reading Joyce Carol Oates’ They All Just Went Away, much of her imagery calls to mind a series of events from my childhood. When I was a small child, my family lived in St. Louis City, on Washington and off Delmar Boulevard. At that time, the area was not up and coming; it was not the attractive and developed area of recent years. We lived on the second floor of a three story apartment building, and on the first floor lived the Buckners. They were a sweet elderly couple.
They had not given in the spirit of hopelessness. Block by block it was different some blocks still looked alive and vibrant, others looked deserted. At times the weeds and over growth from lack of maintenance where so bad you couldn’t even walk on the sidewalk. All the corners were ADA compliant, but you barely navigate the sidewalk. The grass made me think about the scripture. It continues to grow and be beautiful despite the crumbling houses. There were enough vacant home, that we should not have homeless or a shortage of transition facilities for those reentering society. Some business were gone due to technology making the need for them obsolete. Seeing the churches and convince stores selling liquor and tobacco products made me think about a line from the movie Posse In the movie Posse on of the character said, “I am always led by the spirit. Throughout the community I saw the Better Family Life signs from “We Must Stop Killing Each Other ” eventually I saw a sign on the ground. I believe it was on ground as a sign of disrespect, because right next to it was a yard sign about a loan company. St. Louis is in need of peace from domestic violence as well domestic
Have you ever had a moment in time that seems like minutes or hours even though it was only a few seconds? Have you ever seen everything before you play out in slow motion, where you are aware of everything around you, yet not knowing what was going on? I have, and as I look back on it, I feel very blessed and protected. On March 21, 1987, I decided to take a little swim in our swimming pool and almost drowned.
Canada: home of the most picturesque landscapes and land of multicultural societies. Canada has everything and more. From the massive multicultural society in Toronto, housing nearly every nationality to the great mountainous terrain where the Canadian borders meet the Arctic Circle. Soon I am to travel there and get the opportunity to see these characteristics for myself. I am therefore curious as to what I will experience and learn from this journey. This assignment consist of my expectations for the journey and my view on being a foreigner in a different country. The assignment uses the future tense.
Have you ever had a moment in time that seems like minutes or hours even though it was only a few seconds? Have you ever seen everything before you play out in slow motion, where you are aware of everything around you, yet not knowing what was going on? I have, and as I look back on it, I feel very blessed and protected. On December 22, 01, I decided to take a little swim in our swimming pool and almost drowned. I still can remember it like yesterday. This incident almost cost me my life,
I remember a time in my life not too long ago when my family and I went white water rafting for the first time. We had been spending some of our summer vacation at a cabin in the Smokey Mountains, close to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The next day we would experience feelings of exhilarating excitement, with a sense of suspense and anticipation as we rafted down the Nantahala River.