The Sunset Trade

Issue 3, January, 1999

Chebeague Island School - Mr. Bogh's Class 3rd-6th Grades

Email Address: Len_Bogh@msad51.org

  This issue of the Sunset Trade is featuring winter stories written by Mr. Bogh and his class of 3rd through 6th graders. The photograpers and design team for this issue are:

Most of the photographs can be seen much larger by opening the image.


A Winter's Poem
by Christi B

The winter is full of ice and snow
I see a flake wherever I go
we skate around and fall down too
we have so much fun whatever we
happen to do
The winter's ice is very smooth
I have some skates that really make me cruise
The ice is bright in the winter light
I think I could skate from morning til night...

 The Fun Day
by Josh D


Two years ago I was sledding at the Hillcrest Hotel. It was icy like metal. John, Zach and George were there. We made a chain of sleds. It was cloudy and we went down the hill. As we went down the hill I let go of the rope. Then I steered the wheel out of the way of a jump. John hit the jump and hit the back of my sled, and I flipped onto my sled. Then we crashed and we tried it again. It went better.

Chebeague Inn (aka Hillcrest Hotel)


 

 My Snowman
by Denis Johnson

My snowman was bigger than me. He was wearing a long red scarf around his neck and a little blue hat on his head. His eyes and mouth were made out of small black rocks. His nose was a carrot from my house. His arms were made out of branches from a tree in my back yard.

I stepped back and looked at my snowman and thought that I did a great job making it. Then I realized how cold I was. My mittens were soaked through, and my boots were full of snow.

Back in the house I changed into dry clothes. The hot cocoa warmed me up while I was looking out the window. That was the best snowman I ever made.

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An Ice Storm Memory
by Jimmy S.

Here I am brushing my teeth
My sister in her bed is sound asleep
My mom reads a book, Arianna in her arms
I crawl into bed and my body warms
I lay under my covers eyes open wide
I'm glad that tonight I'm not stuck outside
I can hear my sister pattering about
I look at my clock; it just went out!
The wind is howling and I don't know why
But my dog is growling with a look in her eye
Another dog barking outside?
Sure am glad I'm still inside
I can here my sister pattering about
I looked at my clock, it was still out.


The Big Wipeout
by George B.

It was sunny out. The hill was steep and the snow was sticky and we went very fast on the steeper side of the hill. My cousin Adam took a big wipeout. I was sledding with him and Conrad, who also just wiped out.

I started half way down the hill. I pushed down on the sled with my feet and I wiped out. Later, we had cocoa and made a snow fort at my house.

 Flips
by Lida M.

One day on Big Scare Hill, in the deep cold and crunchy snow, I went sledding. I went down Big Scare Hill and saw a big rock puffed out of the snow. It was a big gray rock. I tried to turn the sled but I hit that big scary rock and did flips in the air. I landed after a snow bank and I was still going. I hit another rock, flipped and landed face first in the snow. I was ony three. My dad came running after me. I was not crying. We walked back to the car and went home , and had some hot cocoa.


OUCH!!!!
by Katie P.

When I was three, my boot lace got caught in the door at Joan and Dick Phipps' house. I fell and hit my arm on the ice and broke my arm. Dad almost stepped on me.

Mommy could tell the way I was crying that something was wrong. Mom called the rescue. They said I had a broken arm. They gave me a choice to go in the car or on the rescue. I chose the car.

They put my arm in a cast which was on a long time. When it was time to get it off it smelled, and my arm underneath did, too. The whole car smelled! It made me not feel very good!

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Ice Day
by Mia T.

Once Christi and I went to Sanford's Pond. We saw Vika, Denis, Dasha, Zach, and Arianna. We made up a trick. I fell on the ice, when we were doing the trick that we made up. You would have someone hold someone's skate. They would pull you backwards. As we were doing our trick, I fell and cut my chin and Christi fell and cut her lip. We went in the warming house. We had some hot dogs and hot cocoa. We got bandaids from Sanford. Then we went home and Christi slept over. We watched "Home Alone 3". The next morning , we called Vika, Denis and Dasha to see if they wanted to go skating and we met them at Sanford's. Then Christi and I tried to do the trick again and it worked so we showed my mom. Then we went home.

 

 My Other Car
by Mr. Bogh

I have a bumper sticker on my vehicle that reads "My Other Car Is A Pair Of Boots". I found it in a shop the other day, and while I'm not usually one for bumper stickers, this one caught my eye. I suppose it's because, in my heart of hearts, I generally like walking some place better than driving there. It's a more interactive experience, the kind that puts you in tune with your environment and demands a little bit more of your body and mind. And while I like to walk during all the seasons, there's a special attraction I have to throwing on the boots and heading out in the height of winter.

Now, I'm not talking about trekking up into the mountains loaded with snowshoes, crampons, and ice axes in search of some small-scale Everest experience. As fun as those journeys can be, they usually require a small fortune in gear, some minimal cooperation from Ma Nature, and rounding up a friend or two to go who doesn't look at you like you're deranged when you suggest hiking up a mountain in 2 degree weather. By walking, I simply mean getting around town: visiting a friend, heading out for a cup of coffee, dropping stuff off at the post office.

My personal favorite is grocery shopping. From where I live, there are two classic routes to and from the grocery store. The first is a short trek through the woods in back of my house, across a lumber yard, and then down along the railroad tracks. It has a nice hobo feel to it. The second, only available in the heart of winter, is a hike along the ridgeline of snow banks that lines the street. It works best when the bank is frozen up enough to walk on top of and jagged enough to get good footing on, and typically the higher the snow the more fun it is. The biggest challenge is on the return trip, when the back pack is loaded up with grapefruit juice and frozen broccoli and graham crackers and one of those miniature whole chickens. The nice part is you have to concentrate so much on your balance that you don't get to look at the drivers of the passing cars going by who are wondering what's wrong with the idiot perched five feet up on a snowbank during a blizzard with a full back pack on.

I suppose the even nicer part than that is that as I've grown older and hopefully a little wiser, I could care less what kind of idiot I look like. I enjoy getting around in My Other Car, and I suppose that's all that matters.

 

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 Polar Bear Day
by Vika J.

The weather was really nice and the sun was shining on icy tree branches. The ground in front of the hotel was white like a clean polar bear. My friends and I had a lot of fun playing.

The icy hill was big and slippery. We were going so fast that our sleds kept flipping over. After a while we started to sled down the hotel stairs. It was much more fun sledding on the stairs than on the hill because they were really bumpy.

When we got tired of sledding we started to have a snowball fight. That was a lot of fun, too. It was more fun than sledding because we didn't have to climb back up the hill. When my friends started to throw snowballs at me they didn't go anywhere because the snow was stuck on their gloves.

After we went home the ground looked like a dirty polar bear.


 Josh Flying
by John S.

I looked up and there was Josh flying over me on his sled. He landed with a thud, half crying, half laughing, on the hard icy snow. My dad had told him to wait until he got back to the top of the hill. About two hours later we went to Josh's house and played video games and watched TV. Then I went home and sat by the fire. I was really tired.

Chebeague Inn from a distance

 My Winter Fun
by Zach D.

Oh how I love winter
the snow that it brings
the ice for skating
and all kinds of things:
skiing with my mom;
skating with my bro.
All it makes me do
is go go go.
The fire in the woodstove
warms me right up
along with hot chocolate
in my favorite blue cup.
I watch the plow trucks
go by on the street.
Outside the weather
is nothing but sleet.
Another great thing
I do in my day
is watch the bright sunset
at the edge of the bay.
All of these things- even the sun
is what makes my winter fun!!!!

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 The Need for Speed
by Tyler P.

While some people like the summer,
I'm rooting for snow.
Fifty degrees would be a bummer
So I'm packing up to go...
Skiing of course! at Sunday River,
The best in all of Maine.
So even though you may shiver
I'm hopping in the fast lane.
I'll go aboard the Super-Quad
And be careful not to drop
A hat, a ski pole, a mitten or two
Or even a Chapstick top.
I'll remember to keep my ski tips up
'Cause now I must unload.
I'll stop for a second and look around
Oh yes! It just snowed.
That nice fluffy powder that glistens and gleams,
Reflecting so perfectly those warm sun beams.
A beautiful sight, anyone would agree,
But now the time's right, GET READY TO SKI!
I'll tear down the mountain as fast as I can.
I'll get my blood working; the fun just began!
My heart is pounding and my eyes are steadfast,
On the terrain approaching: a big snow mass.
Finally, I reach the base.
Tranquility has returned, and I brush off my face.
"What a marvelous ride" , that's what I would say
As I head back to the lift. What a fantastic day.


Photograpers around the Brewer's snowman

 

Sanford's Skating Pond and Shed


Lida's Big Castle
by Britni B.

One day I was passing by Lida's house and I saw a big castle made out of snow. My mom and I stopped and I asked Lida's mom if I could play with Lida in the castle.

"Yes, you can play with Lida", Kim said.

Lida and I were play-fighting and we fell down the hill and we were buried in the snow. We shook the snow off and laughed.

After, we went inside and had hot cocoa and watched a movie. We had a really fun day.



Photographers on the Stone Wharf

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