Letters to the Editor

March 15, 2021

Dear Editor,

My family and I went on a skiing trip to Camelback Mountain in the Poconos on the weekend of March 6-7. We were lucky we could go skiing, despite the virus, but the opportunity to go skiing brightened us up. There were still some do’s and don’ts. That meant no going to the bathroom at the ski mountain, no eating at the restaurants, no, no, no…But fortunately, skiing wasn’t a no-no.

The car ride there was hard and clumsy and panic-about moment-full because of some chaotic turns and bumps, but at last, after what felt like a million hours, we arrived at the place. Its nice coziness made us comfortable right away, so we knew we could trust the place. The unexpected added things, like the piano, bunk beds, and barn-like bathrooms, made us know that this would be a nice and fun visit. And since the next day we’d be skiing, just before bed we took a 6-minute ride in the minivan-like car to the Loft, which is the real name (though funny) of the ski/snowboard rental place. After that, we drove home, our skis, poles, and boots smooshed against each other in the trunk.

That night, we (especially I) couldn’t fall asleep from excitement. The next morning, when they took a long time, I felt like telling and practically dressing my family to go out, though instead I sat neatly at the table. Unfortunately, what I did not know is that we had to wear masks. I was still super-excited. I rushed my family to go onto the slopes. We ate bagels, sausages, and some fruit for breakfast, then slooowly made our ways into our snowsuits and clothing. I was the first one done by, like, twenty minutes. By then I was getting hot, and started sweating.

Slowly, the rest of my family hobbled out the front door, carefully avoided getting hurt on the one tall step, then slowly tap-danced in our snow boots onto the road. Making our way to our minivan-like car, we hobbled into our skis, went down the hard hill, then went down an easy green slope called Sun Bowl, then managed to keep going past the bottom of the Sun Bowl chairlift to a more complicated, high-speed chairlift called the Stevenson Express. The line was long, but we managed to go onto the chair. You use a restraint bar, and then the chairlift takes you to the top of the mountain, where you lift the restraint bar, then ski or snowboard down the mountain. Stevenson Express is really fast-speed, although it slows down a bit for you to get on and off, so we got to the top in less than five minutes (despite the long line, that took us twenty million centuries or so) and skied down one of our favorite slopes called the Nile Mile, which we adore. Then we went down some other greens and blues, then got cold, tired, thirsty and hungry and made our way home.

When we finally arrived at the house, I was as exhausted as the sore arms of a dog with no back legs. Eating pizza sure did cheer me up, so everything did work out ok. Then, I ate a corn muffin and boy, was it good. Though I love skiing, I turned down my chance to go skiing for the afternoon since I wanted some quiet and some rest. After doing that, my grandmother, Sonia, and I heaved ourselves to the loft bedroom (no door, just stairs) and while she left for a minute, I organized their room. Then I pleaded with Sonia to let me write some emails on her computer, which took about five minutes. I wrote a couple emails, and then took a bit of a rest. Then coming back to the computer, I saw an email from Andrea Sachs, the Editor of this newsletter and my great-aunt, had sent me, and started to open this Microsoft Word document, and wrote this. I know that if you like the article or essay I’m writing, you’ll like the rest of the newsletter my great-aunt worked so hard to put together!

Warm wishes,

Sienna Beck/New York City, NY (Age 8)