Page 42 - 1964

SENIOR II
T H E WONDERS OF N A T U R E
As I look around at the landscape
a t m y g ra n d m o th e r’s house in G re e n ­ soft breeze, which had a hint of Sep­
wich, C onnecticut, I realize how lucky
I am to see such loveliness.
Sitting in a window on the second
floor, I look below and see a beautiful
garden, w ith flowers th a t will soon be
covered w ith snow. In front of me
lies a sloping field w ith au tu m n col­
ored apple trees scattered about. Be­
yond th a t is a p o n d , set like a jew el
am ongst the m ulti-colored trees. In
the background there are m ore trees
b o rd e rin g the skyline. B eauty is
everywhere.
All is quiet, except for the occasion­
al chirping of a bird, or barking of a
dog. All is still, except for the s tirr­
ing of the leaves in the gentle breeze
and the scurrying of small chipm unks
who have found some food.
Suddenly, I hear the loud voices
of young children who are running
down the field. Because of this noise,
the dog begins to bark, and the birds
start to chirp wildly. All the chip­
m unks scurry aw ay, a n d the spell is
broken. M ary Hum stone
SEPTEMBER
As K athy and Pam shuffled
through the pine needles and dead
leaves on the overgrow n forest trail,
they m arveled at how lucky they were
that they could enjoy the beauty of
an autum n day in the country. Both
had lived in the city before and h ad
moved to W iford, a suburban town.
School had started a week before, and
on this crisp S aturday afternoon they
had planned to walk to a secret cave
off the L ong Island Sound.
I t w asn’t long before th e S o u n d
could be glimpsed for a flashing sec­
ond through the thick trees. T he w ater
was sparkling and glittering in the
w arm m id-afternoon sun as they
viewed the whispering waves lapping
the shore from their high rocky perch
above the beach. K athy and Pam
scram bled down the cliff until they
reached the sea wall. T here they re­
m oved their shoes and socks and be­
gan to walk along the narrow paved
path while the warm ed cem ent un­
der their feet gave them a pleasant
shivery sensation. A head loomed the
massive granite form ation known u n ­
officially as P ira te ’s Cove. T h ey
clim bed to the solid rock look-out and
snuggled into two n atural seats at the
top w hich gave a breath-taking view
of the surroundings for miles. Below,
the sea glistened and a few rem aining
boats, still out of dry dock, chugged
by and left a foamy white wake in
contrast to the glossy blue of the w a­
ter. O ff to the left and far in the dis­
tance the skyscrapers of New York
co u ld lie seen silh o u etted ag ain st the
azure sky. and to the right, the shores
grew farther apart as the Sound fin­
ally became the A tlantic.
T he two girls sat there, rapturously
enjoying the loveliness of the sky, sea,
m eadow , and forest. C olored leaves
fluttered down from the trees as a
tem ber coolness, sw ept the girls and
m ade them feel goose-pim ply and
slightly chilly. T he drone of a sea
plane sounded in the sky, and the
two girls, sitting silently, were th in k ­
ing th at this was nature at her col­
orful best. A sea gull noisily flapped
his wings and looked as if he too, like
th e girls, w'as excited th a t it w as S ep­
tem ber and another autum n had be­
gun.
Alyson A dler
SEPTEMBER
As I walked on the w inding path
through the woods on a sunny after­
noon in Septem ber, the only sound
was th at of the trees swaying in the
gentle breeze and the crackling of the
leaves beneath my feet. O n the path
and the trees, oranges, vellows and
browns were blended together into one
b eautiful scene. A frag ran t smell of
smoke from the bu rn in g leaves filled
the air.
W hen I cam e to the end of the
path, there was a sm all, blue pond
covered" idly w ith leaves drifting
about. I sat on a moss covered rock
beside the pond and saw reflected in
the w ater, the glorious colors of the
sunset. T hen I looked up and w atched
the breathtaking change of colors in
the sky. T u rq u o ise, yellow, orange, an d
blue slowly ran together until purple
becam e the dom inant color. H ere and
there were m igrating ducks silhouetted
ag ain st the sky. W hen the orange sun
alm ost disappeared behind the trees,
I reluctantly turned towards home.
T erry Finke grant odors drifted through the long
THE CHASE
M arion and Debbie ran through
the thicket. T h eir faces were red, and
beads of perspiration clung to them.
T hrashing through the dense tropi­
cal jungle, M arion frightened m igra­
ting m onarch butterflies. T he b u tter­
flies w ere scared in to a blizzard of
gold and black.
T he girls had no tim e to m arvel at
this sight. O n they went. Now the
ju n g le was so dense th a t they h ad to
crawl on their hands and knees. O n
and on they progressed until they
stopped. Debbie had cut her hand on
a jagged volcanic rock.
Debbie and M arion craw led to a
stream to bathe the cut. M arion spoke
to D ebbie about stopping here for the
night. “N o” was the answer. They
had to keep fighting on.
Now it was clear that they were be­
ing chased. W as it a tiger?
M arion was scared. W hich way
shrould they tu rn ? O ne could see th at
question on her face at every cross­
path. Debbie was frightened and tense.
38
As the enemy approached, Debbie
and M arion looked for a hiding spot
on the shore.
T h e enem y closed in.
D eborah M elum
THANKSGIVING
It was the second w inter in M assa­
chusetts, and rum ors were going
around th at G overnor W illiam B rad­
ford had decreed th at a day should
be set aside for feasting and prayer.
I w asn ’t th ere th e n , b u t m y m o th e r
said th at the first w inter in M assa­
chusetts was so severe th a t it had
killed nearly half the m em bers of the
colony. She said th at the follow ing
sum m er, 1621, hopes grew, and that
the harvests brought rejoicing. I came
to M assachusetts th a t fall.
Days passed, and it turned out that
the rum ors w hich were going around
tu rn e d in to tru th . I t wras p ro c la im e d
th a t D ecem ber 13, 1621, w ould be set
aside as a day of feasting and prayer.
T h a t w'as one w eek from now , a n d m y
excitem ent increased every day.
Now it was D ecem ber 12, 1621, the
d ay before T h an k sg iv in g , as it is
called. All the women gathered into
one huge kitchen preparing the tra­
ditional foods for the T hanksgiving
dinner. It included all the good foods
I could think of. T h e In d ian s bro u g h t
wild turkey and venison, or deer m eat,
as their share, and the men of the
colony b ro u g h t geese, ducks, a n d fish.
These were boiled, baked, and roasted.
Some other children and I helped by
turning roasts on spits in front of
open fires. T h e wom en served the
m eat and fish w ith jonney cake, corn
m eal bread w ith nuts, and succotash.
T he dessert was pum pkin, stewed in
m aple sap. All during the day fra­
halls and out the doors. I went
through the kitchen thousands of
times nibbling on morsels of food on
the way.
T h a t night in bed I cou ld n ’t sleep.
All I thought about was three days of
feasting, singing, and prayer. Finally
I drifted into a light sleep dream ing
ab o u t the com ing m orrow . I rose wdth
the sun the next m orning and climbed
into my best clothes. T quickly ran
outside and saw about twelve long
tables, all neatly arranged. A fter an
h our, I h e ard people b u stling about in
the kitchen. Awhile afterw ards, I was
called in to give “ thanks to G od.”
W hen this was over, we all played
games until lunch. T hen we sat down
for our Thanksgiving dinner. After
M r. Bailey, our priest, had said grace,
w e b e g a n e atin g . I ’m n o t a t all sure
of the am ount of servings I had, but
it was plenty enough. T hen for the
rest of the evening we sang and m ade
u p songs. A t th e d a y ’s end, I clim bed
into bed and thought of w hat I was
going to do in the next two days.
M arion Vandersteel