Powder
By Jake

The fun begins,
snow falling down on the trail,
the cold air hitting my face,
the snow so soft and smooth,
powdered snow in front of me,
the white and untracked path,
the trees covered with a white blanket,
the trail empty but full of powder.

The Old Man and the Sea Essay

The Old Man and the Sea Essay

Today in our society there are many situations that someone has to deal with or make a decision about that is important for them. Sometimes making an important decision or in a situation the person struggles against someone or something. While the Old Man is trying to pull in and catch the Marlin he faces many obstacles that he has to go against. Often in literature, a character struggles against powerful forces or obstacles that have a significant effect on that character. In the Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is lonely and struggles during the time he is trying to catch and bring in the marlin, his left hand cramps up while trying to pull in the fish, the sharks get most of the marlin when it is tied up against the skiff, and not being able to have the marlin in the end for everything he did to get the fish.

Santiago struggles with the obstacle of his hand cramping up while trying to fight against the fish. The fish is so strong it is making a line burn on his hands. "He took hold of the line so that it did nor fit into any of the flesh line cuts and shifted his weight so that he could put his left hand into the sea on the other side of the skiff (84-85)." Santiago deals with this obstacle by putting his hands in the salt water to try to get rid of the pain from the marlin. It didn’t do much. He was happy and he kept the line in his hands. He put the line back in his hands but not in the line cuts from the marlin’s strength. Even though his hands were cut up, Santiago was determined to catch the fish so he kept on holding on the line. Even though his hand was cramped and cut up he held on the line because didn’t want to lose the marlin.

One of Santiago’s biggest obstacle and challenge was fighting off the aggressive sharks to save the marlin from being eaten. When he caught the marlin it was too big to put in the skiff so Santiago tied it up against the side. The marlin had been bleeding from the sharp harpoon and a shark got the scent and tracked it. He was confident he could fight them off. "He hit it without hope but with resolution and complete malignancy (102). It started to bite and tear the marlin’s flesh. "They must have taken a quarter of him and of the best meat," he said aloud (110). Santiago stayed calm and tried to fight them off. More sharks came and in a pack to get some of the marlin. The old man tried to stop the sharks from taking the fish but every time the old man tried to stop the sharks from tearing the flesh he would be too late and they would’ve already taking a bite. Santiago was worried that his marlin was going to be eaten. This was a hard obstacle for Santiago because he worked so hard to bring in and catch the marlin and all his work was for nothing because the fish was getting eaten by the sharks.

Another obstacle for Santiago was that he was not able to have the marlin in the end for everything he did to get the fish and to show everyone. He is sad that he didn't get the marlin. He did so much work to get the marlin and catch him and then he had to fight off all the sharks that were trying to get the marlin and in the end he was upset and didn’t get to have the whole marlin. When he got into the town he was very tired. "He started to climb again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder" (121). He went to his shack to sleep. Santiago deals with this obstacle and he is so tired. He was disappointed and did so much work and he doesn’t get to have the whole marlin in the end.

Often in literature, a character struggles against powerful forces or obstacles that have a significant effect on that character. The old man has many obstacles that he has to face and many decisions he has to make while out at sea. He is proud that he caught the marlin. Santiago struggles during the time he is trying to catch and bring in the marlin, his left hand cramps up while trying to pull in the fish, the sharks get most of the marlin when it is tied up against the skiff, and not being able to have the marlin in the end for everything he did to get the fish. Santiago struggles against the marlin and trying to catch it and bring it in and trying to fight against the sharks trying to eat the marlin’s flesh on the side of the skiff.

The Snow Storm

It's Saturday, 5:30 a.m. and I'm lying in bed. I remember before I went to bed my parents told us that the forecast was for snow all through the night and throughout today. I'm in Ludlow, Vermont at Okemo Mountain. Lying in bed I can smell Cinnamon Buns baking, my favorite, and some bacon and eggs. My friend Alec is still sleeping. Yesterday we came up to Vermont with my family, Alec, and family friends who have two kids. Tyler, their son, is 8 years old. He runs over to me and says, "Get up! There's 12 inches of snow outside!" He was very sanguine and happy. I jump out of bed and yell to Alec. I tell him the great news and we’re all elated and run up from the bedrooms to the kitchen. The moms are making breakfast and my dad and his friend are sitting at the table talking. My sister and her friend, who is 13, are waiting for breakfast. It was prodigious and large so we could be full until lunch. We all eat fast because we want to get on the chairlifts when they open. The trails have powder snow on them and we want to get first tracks. After I finish eating the great breakfast the moms made I go and get ready for a powder day. We all put our gear on, including hand warmers and toe warmers. We don't want to have to come inside the house to warm up. "Let’s go!" I tell Alec to hurry up. We grab our skis or snowboard and walk out to the trail to put them on. I struggle to get through the snow because it's so deep. Tyler can barely walk so I help him get through the fresh snow. "Thanks." "Yea, no problem." Everyone was ready to go down a trail. As we go up the high speed chairlift the snow is falling and coming down hard. We get to the apex or the top of the mountain. The first trail we all went together and there weren’t any other tracks. The conditions were amazing. As the day went on it got better and better. At 12:00 we all met at the house for lunch. The moms went down into town to get bread and cold cuts and drinks. As we waited for them and the sandwiches to be made we went in the hot tub to warm up. The snow was still coming down as we closed up the hot tub to go and get lunch. Everyone was hungry because we stayed out since we got up. After lunch and everyone was full we got our gear on and went out to the trail. We waited for the parents because they weren’t finished cleaning the kitchen and getting their gear on. As we were waiting Tyler threw a snowball at me and then I threw one at Alec. We all yelled, “Snowball fight!” Snowballs were flying everywhere. Tyler, Alec, and I all gained up on C.C. and Taylor. We noticed that the tracks from our feet from the morning and from coming in for lunch were covered from all the snow that was still falling. The parents came out and said that they didn’t mind if all of us wanted to go together and the parents would go together. We were out for a while and the mountain was about to close because it was getting close to 4:00. C.C., Taylor, Tyler, Alec, and I were all at the top of the mountain. C.C., Taylor, and Tyler wanted to go back to the house from an easier trail but Alec and I wanted to go for a harder run that was a lot longer. As they took a trail that went to the house that was easy, Alec and I went to a trail that I knew would have a lot of powder and no tracks on it from other people. The snow was coming down harder than before and Alec said, “Maybe we should take an easier trail because of the snow coming down so hard.” “No, it’s fine; this trail will be a lot of fun.” “I don’t know if this is such a good idea.” “I don’t want to; let’s go back to the house.” I was haphazard and wasn’t planning this out. “I said it’s going to be fine stop worrying.” So Alec was compliant and agreed with me. We ended up getting to the trail longer than usual. We tried to stay phlegmatic and calm. Alec and I both knew that the snow was coming down harder than it was at the top and it was anarchy and chaos. The weather was wanton and uncontrollable. The trail had no other tracks on it. The snow was up to our knees but we were going fast enough to get through it. I was in front of Alec and I stopped. He was right behind me and he stopped. I knew this was impasse and we couldn’t avoid the snow. I said, “The lifts are closed and we have to get back to the house.” “Yea I know.” The snow was so bad that we could barely see in front of us. We had to be tenacious and strong and determined. I told Alec that I was going to take off my snowboard because I didn’t want to take any chances. He concurred and did the same. We were both lethargic and tired from the long day and trying to make are way back to the house and the snow was heavy. I knew my way around the mountain pretty well, Alec didn’t because he didn’t come up as much as I did. We started walking and got to a lift on the middle of the mountain. It was closed and no one was there. He decided to strap on our boards and be kinetic so we could stay warm and be able to make are way across the mountain to get to the house. We made our way to the high speed lift and I knew our way back to the house from there. We only had to walk a little higher and then down. We struggled to get to the house because of the snow on the ground and the snow coming down. We finally got to the trail through some trees that leaded to the house. Alec and I were happy to get to the house. We knew we were hardy and brave to get through the snow storm. The parents were worried but we told them the story. “We were worried a little” Alec and I said as we sipped our hot chocolate.
Elated, phlegmatic, impasse, kinetic, anarchy, concur, lethargic, compliant, sanguine, wanton, prodigious, apex, hardy, haphazard, and tenacious.