Tag: season

Fall

LetsGetSendyy6767Leave a comment

Fall weather comes at just the right time. The heat of summer begins to dwindle as the bitter and crisp air approaches. The colder mornings are always a giveaway that fall is near. There is no better feeling than putting on a hoodie in the fall.

The changing colors of the leaves and the darkening skies bring a cozy and homey feeling to life.

Rain and cloudy weather are a welcome respite after spending 3 months in the summer heat. Having the time to now relax and enjoy a night in is fall’s refreshment.

I have always enjoyed all things fall brings. My birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and other exciting seasonal activities all take place during this time of year. Some of my favorite childhood memories are from the fall, like visiting the pumpkin patches or watching fall movies with my friends and family.

Fall is an embrace that is often short-lived, overshadowed by the excitement of the holidays and all they bring.

Why People Are Loving Fall | Cheryl's Cookies

P.C. Google

Tis the Season

hwan6031Leave a comment

If anyone asks me of favorite holiday of the year, I would reply “Christmas” without hesitation.  There are several reasons why I like Christmas. First of all, I get to see my parents for solid amount of time. However, I just like the unique vibe of Christmas. I like the special smell of Christmas that triggers my nostalgia. Also Christmas carols that are played everywhere on the street.  Good foods are always available during Christmas, and then you get to enjoy the new year celebration. My favorite part of the new year celebration is Fireworks for sure.  It is mesmerizing to watch bursts of fireworks in the night sky, making me think about new year resolution that I will never do.

PC: Patch.com

Concentric Circles

icaruswithwarmwings1 Comment
Image via OxfordLearnersDictionary.com

Like two concentric circles

I feel the dawns and risings

Falling into time

Orbiting and cycling like rings of some grand design

Winds blow me where the water runs in time

To keep my eyes above the ribbons parched and frozen

Like an ocean master’s finger hold

Her careless calloused caress

It screams of devotion

Of a calm

Of a sailor’s test

Her arms are ragged and fearless

Her toes are soaked and furled

She holds it all together

Like god holds our world

She chews upon ideas

Like a mouthful of wonder

Like cheeks full of zeal

And I am left on the deck like a blubberless seal

Wondering where along my path will I learn such sacred songs

I feel like I can hear them

Like leaves

The lessons

thrust to the ground from their canopy homes 

and dragged

Like billions of fingernails on a world sized chalkboard

my thoughts on time.

faithfulomnivoreLeave a comment

I prefer not to measure time in minutes.

Maybe that’s because it scares me,
time does.

But, it’s comforting to think
that the same wet grass I
walked across today
will soon turn brittle and dry.

“The Persistence of Memory” via allthatsinteresting.com

It’s comforting to think
that, with the help of the rain,
the fields will fill up with wheat,
which will later be cut down
and turned into hundreds of bales of hay,
all lining the bottom of the hillsides
in a grid of little golden rectangles.

Then, in time, they will be shipped off
to somewhere far away from here
and the cows will return to eating
the new grass, gently swishing
their tails as they chew.

It’s comforting to think that
the world will continue to spin
and the sun will set tomorrow
and the next day,
just as it is meant to.

And I hope,
that in time,
I will see, and do, and live
just as I am meant to.

Cherry Blossom Season

1998sakuraLeave a comment

It is that time of the year when it starts to get warmer. The spring breeze is so nice and warm that you just want to take a nap. The flowers are blooming and the birds start to chirp. This is when I know my birthday is coming up.

Photo Credit: eskipaper.com

I have a Japanese middle name, “Sakura,” meaning cherry blossom. This name is common in Japan among people who are born in the spring. The day I was born, my grandma in Japan said that since the cherry blossoms were in bloom she would name me Sakura.

Spring is my favorite season. Although it is the season of my birthday, the reason I like spring most is because of the perfect weather. It’s hot enough to go to the pool and also if you drive a couple of hours to the mountains you can go skiing. I love to ski and I love to surf, so this season is perfect for me.

Dead Toenails and My Lovely Roommate!

yrreskrap1 Comment

Today, two of my toenails fell off after my final season of track here at Ojai Valley School.

My roommate and I were talking about this to our coach (thebrownguy) and we were discussing how it is almost a badge of honor to have toenails that fall off. It shows our character and dedication in running, that despite the pain that comes with running, we give it our all.

My roommate’s toenail fell off a few days ago.

Now, let me tell you, this girl can run.

She was a new student this year and came to take advantage of the track team at our school. Her previous school did not have track as a sport. Now, for a girl who had no prior official track team training, she did fantastic.

My roommate broke several personal records, brought home multiple first place medals, broke a meet record, and even took the title of Condor League MVP this season. But this is not the crowning point in her high school track career. She ran at the CIF preliminary meet, placed second in her heat, and qualified for finals.

She is one of the most dedicated people I know. And dedication is not something you can fake. When I look at her run, its inspiring. The way she pushes herself to the hardest during practice and the way she takes such tender care of her feet afterwards is just fantastic. There is nobody I know that is as dedicated as her. And all of that dedication stems from her pure love for the sport. She loves running. And that is what makes her good.

Now, my roommate can be hard on herself sometimes but I hope when she reads this, she realizes how great she actually is.

She will only get better as she gets older. College is going to be fantastic for you. I just can’t wait to see how well you do, even in your first year in college. I know you will go on to do such great things!

And so back to the topic of toenails. Now that we have established them to be badges of honor, you deserve to have all of your toenails fall off.

I love you thehungryrunnergirl!

Lacrosse

rangerthecat1 Comment

Out of my 4 years at the Ojai Valley School, I have played lacrosse for 3. At first, it wasn’t my favorite thing to do, but it has grown on me and I have truly began to love it.

I’m not an extremely athletic person, and when I first played lacrosse, it was hard for me to keep up with some of the drills and especially hard for me to play a game without becoming exhausted. But I started to love the game and build my skills. It became so much fun for me, and when it ended, I was already looking ahead and couldn’t wait for next year’s season.

The next year, unfortunately, we didn’t have enough girls to make a team. It was really upsetting at first, but we still practiced as a team and scrimmaged against each other, which gave me an opportunity to improve my skills a lot, along with some of my other team mates. I thought it would be a great way to really prepare myself for this year’s season.

But of course, as it always seems to happen, another issue arose, and after weeks of practices, followed by a small complication in numbers, we were unable to have a lacrosse team again this year. It really puts me off to know we physically had the number of girls that we needed, and that we had already scheduled all of our games with other schools.

I was extremely excited the first day of practice, knowing it was my senior year and that the team could really make this year a good one for the ladies lacrosse. We had a bunch of new players along with some returning, experienced players that would really be able to lead the team. As captain, I was determined to teach the girls to love the game like I once learned to. By the 2nd week, a lot of them were improving a great amount and I could tell that they were really enjoying themselves out there on the field.

There’s nothing that we can do to revive our team now. All of our games have been cancelled, and since it has, we have broken up as a team and filtered into other sports commitments. It really disappoints me to know that we could have had a really solid team and been tough competition if we had practiced hard and kept the team together. But unfortunately, it looks like I’m going to have to finish out my senior year on weak note, all of my effort for lacrosse being wasted away. That’s just life, I guess, but I really do wish there was something I could do to change this reality.

So long, lacrosse. It’s been a blast while it’s lasted.

Season of Love

kirbyfullyloaded1 Comment

My entry for the 2012 Ojai Valley School Love Poetry Contest:

Love has its seasons 

Ever shifting, ever reeling seasons

The fierce flames of summer,

Perish in bleak midwinter

The struggling buds of spring,

Wither and droop in autumn

 

Like summer, love is hot

Burning, consuming,

Outshining all other emotions

It warms and electrifies,

Turning laughter to joy

 

But like winter, it can turn bitter

Love is like snow

Beautiful, exquisite,

But brings frostbite to flesh

Freezing and failing,

When harsh winter winds blow

 

Even so, love is like spring

Despite bitter winter, it grows again and again,

Blossoming, fruitful,

It comes anew, fresh and inspired

Innocent in its soft whimsical hope

 

And like autumn, it wilts

Turning those vivid hot colors,

To dying gray and sallow brown

The limp, shriveled feelings,

Crumble and skitter away

 

My love for you, has seen all these seasons

It flamed bright in summer

It departed in snow

It waxed strong in spring

Wasted away in the fall

 

But through each of its seasons,

My affection grew wiser,

I know now I’ll never,

Forget or forsake you

 

Your curling dark hair,

And deep, laughing eyes

That easy-calm smile,

And your dusky bronze skin

 

Through spring and through winter

I only wish that you knew, 

Through the summer and fall

All seasons, I love you.


Goodbye, Volleyball

rangerthecatLeave a comment

Have you ever had a day in your life that you wish you could do over?

Today was one of these days. Nothing tragic happened, thankfully, nothing life-changing either. But, today was my very last high school volleyball game; my last loss in a high school volleyball game, to be exact.

We lost, and although I wish we had won, that’s not the biggest disappointment.

I just really wish the varsity team had something to show for all of our effort.

We were not the team I know that we could have been. If I could have changed something, it would have been our attitudes, our willingness to try even though we know we might fail.

I will not deny, though, that this season has had its great moments. We have all grown as individuals on and off the court and we have grown together as a team. Even against the toughest public high school varsity teams, we kept fighting until the end. We might have had a losing season, but it was still an amazing one.

There are no words to describe how much I will miss playing volleyball and what an amazing time I have had with the other 7 girls this season. I am so proud of us 🙂

Transfer Time

therightliberalLeave a comment

As it is January the EPL transfer season is open. Most deals are either completed right at the begining or in teh final hours. This years has not seen many big name transfers in or out of the EPL, mostly inpart due to the economy.

Patrice Evra

Sir Alex Ferguson decided against any big transfers. The players supported him in this choice with Rio Ferdinand saying, “I look around the changing room and I’m happy with the players we’ve got”. This lack of trading comes as no surprise as Man U are top of the league and have a fairly deep roster.

A story that has not received very much attention up to this point is the intrest in 17-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He currently plays for Southhampton but is interested in training with Arsenal. This is very similar to the path that Theo Walcott took, going from Southhampton to Arsenal at a young age.

From the scouting reports, Chamberlin has quite a bit of talent and potential. Arsenal is a very good team for developing youth and Chamberlin would be well suited to go there. Arsenal has a tendency to do a great job developing young players and then selling them. They look to break that cycle, keeping players like Samir Nasri.