The Farm
In the summer, the creek bubbles and the leaves are in bloom. In the winter that same creek is frozen and everything around it is blank and barren. The memories for me in this part of the world are unforgettable, even though some are happier than others. I can still remember a particular dreadful event on the farm like it was yesterday. I was walking through the house on a hot summer day. I dare not go outside because I knew I'd die of heat exhaustion. In the house alone were my sister and I. My mother had run into town to do some errands, and my dad was out on the farm doing some chores. The phone rang and I casually picked it up.
It was my dad. “Adam,” he said, sort of anxiously, “I need you to come down the lane and give me a hand.” My sister was listening in on the conversation as usual, and my Dad dared not to give me any specifics because he knew of this. As I apathetically told him yes, I went on to the porch, grabbed some shoes and wondered what on earth he could possibly need help with.
I stepped outside and the burning sun immediately attacked me. I had no doubt that if my Dad needed a hand with some hard work it would be dreadful. Just two weeks earlier he needed me to help him put some barbed wire on some fence posts. It was an awful job, and may have been the worst two hours of my life. I had helped my Dad on the farm throughout my childhood, and I knew by the particularly terrible jobs I had to help him with before, that I should always fear when he asked for help.
I hopped into my steaming hot truck and started back down the lane. As I drove down further back, I remembered the terrifying tornado that had struck our house, and had ripped an entire line of trees out of the ...
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...m high school here. I had also spent times playing make-believe with my brother during my elementary years. I had even gone as far as attempting to raft down the little flooded creek. What a great place, how could I ever forget it?
We dug a hole right under some old, dried up looking trees. We threw her down about three feet and buried her. The one animal that had been important throughout my entire childhood was now gone. The one place that was important my whole childhood, I was about to leave. The trees, the grass, the creek and the lane, so important, yet it was time to leave them.
As I had left Patch, I had left the farm. I haven’t been on the farm behind my house for the two years since Patch’s death. I guess it was time for me to grow up. I miss my dog, and I miss being young. But life goes in circles, and it’s always time to start anew.
Poverty is a huge problem facing Russia. In a country with such long traditions of statistical manipulation and hostility to the inquiries of the state, it is not easy to pin down the true extent of poverty in Russia. But there is little doubt that the picture is looking increasingly bleak. United Nations figures suggest that the purchasing power of average income in the USSR in 1987 was about $6,000 or 32 per cent of the level of the US (Andrew, "POVERTY: Bleak future for the poor"). By 1996, it was just $4,531 in adjusted terms, or 17 per cent of the US level (Andrew, "POVERTY: Bleak future for the poor"). Since the collapse of the Sovie...
I wasn’t even outside but I could feel the warm glow the sun was projecting all across the campsite. It seemed as if the first three days were gloomy and dreary, but when the sun on the fourth day arose, it washed away the heartache I had felt. I headed out of the trailer and went straight to the river. I walked to the edge, where my feet barely touched the icy water, and I felt a sense of tranquility emanate from the river. I felt as if the whole place had transformed and was back to being the place I loved the most. That day, when we went out on the boat, I went wakeboarding for the first time without my grandma. While I was up on the board and cutting through the wake of the boat, it didn’t feel like the boat was the one pulling and guiding me, it felt like the river was pushing and leading me. It was always nice to receive the reassurance from my grandma after wakeboarding, but this time I received it from my surroundings. The trees that were already three times the size of me, seemed to stand even taller as I glided past them on the river. The sun encouraged me with its brightness and warmth, and the River revitalized me with its powerful currents. The next three days passed by with ease, I no longer needed to reminisce of what my trips used to be like. Instead, I could be present in the moment, surrounded by the beautiful natural
The arrival of winter was well on its way. Colorful leaves had turned to brown and fallen from the branches of the trees. The sky opened to a new brightness with the disappearance of the leaves. As John drove down the country road he was much more aware of all his surroundings. He grew up in this small town and knew he would live there forever. He knew every landmark in this area. This place is where he grew up and experienced many adventures. The new journey of his life was exciting, but then he also had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach of something not right.
The relationship between Russia and the rest of Europe has been extremely precarious throughout its existence. From looking to Europe for guidance to outright opposing the interests of Europe, the stance towards Europe has varied greatly. In the post-Cold War era, Russia’s policies have been formed in an attempt to reclaim control over their former sphere of influence, often clashing with European interests in regards to economic, energy, and security matters facing the world.
Russia, a vast country with a wealth of natural resources, a well, educated population, and diverse industrial base, continues to experience, formidable difficulties in moving from its old centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. President Yeltsin's government has made substantial strides in converting to a market economy since launching its economic reform program in January 1992 by freeing nearly all prices, slashing defense spending, eliminating the old centralized distribution system, completing an ambitious voucher privatization program, establishing private financial institutions, and decentralizing trade. Russia, however, has made little progress in a number of key areas that are needed to provide a solid foundation for the transition to a market economy.
Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of area and the world’s ninth most populous nation with 143 million people. Due to its large area the country is situated in 4 different climate zones and has vast natural resources. Russia also has a unique geographic position with the 14 border countries, bounded by 3 out of 4 world oceans, facilitating the build of international and domestic supply chains. Russia is one of the most technologically advanced economies in the world with a very big and well-educated work force and one of the largest consumer markets. The Russian economy is commodity-driven and is the world’s largest producer of oil (12%), natural gas (18%) and nickel (20%).
It was finally fall break. I was visiting my grandma for a few days. Well past dinnertime, I pulled up to the white stately home in northern rural Iowa. I parked my car, unloaded my bag and pillow, and crunched through the leaves to the front porch. The porch was just how I had seen it last; to the right, a small iron table and chairs, along with an old antique brass pole lamp, and on the left, a flowered glider that I have spent many a summer afternoon on, swaying back and forth, just thinking.
United States during 1940 and 1941 evoke Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is often regarded by many American’s as a ‘surprise’ attack that was gratuitous, while historical documents from principal figures on both the Japanese side and the side of the U.S, but there has been evidence and research to the contrary. Pearl Harbor is one of the most memorable events in World War II from U.S perspective. While one may debate as to whether or not the U.S would have still entered WWII (though the argument strongly leans to the former,) the attack on Pearl Harbor served as symbol of sacrifice for the American people and help contribute to the patriotism that help them win the war. The scope of this investigation will focus on U.S–Japanese relations between 1937-1941, but will make us of evidence as far back as 1919 to justify analytical interpretations as well as other perspectives. Methods used in this investigation are an examination of a public address (fireside chat) given by Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 9th, 1941, and and an Inventory of Conflict and Environment Case study (The Way to Pearl Harbor: US vs Japan) by Yuichi Arima and conducted through the American University. These two particular methods are evaluated for their origin, purpose, value and limitations. A propaganda film cited is only used for its quotes and/or facts that were then checked through multiple sources.
I stood at the end of the driveway with a bag of clothes and my little sisters by my side. My dad pulled up, we got in the truck, and we drove about 10 minutes until we got to his shop. This would seem like a normal day, but things were different this time. We weren 't at the shop to ride the four wheelers around or to play basketball in the garage or to mess with the pinball machines. There was a gloomy feel about everything around us. Even though I didn’t say anything, I knew things were changing.
I cried as we locked up the house for the last time. I felt like we had just spackled, primed, and painted over my childhood. I felt as if my identity had been erased, and like the character in the song, I had lost myself. There was no longer any physical evidence that I had ever lived in, much less grew up in, the house.
Standing on the balcony, I gazed at the darkened and starry sky above. Silence surrounded me as I took a glimpse at the deserted park before me. Memories bombarded my mind. As a young girl, the park was my favourite place to go. One cold winter’s night just like tonight as I looked upon the dark sky, I had decided to go for a walk. Wrapped up in my elegant scarlet red winter coat with gleaming black buttons descending down the front keeping away the winter chill. Wearing thick leggings as black as coal, leather boots lined with fur which kept my feet cozy.
Even with Russia’s vast amount of land only, a small percentage can produce crops, as the rainfall is inconsistent and the northern tundra are not able to support growth. None the less fishing industry, livestock, and grain have been a staple for feeding the Russian people. Due to this family close, and extended have banded together to take care of each other on a larger scale. Another issue Russia faces is the rise of insurgency and could potentially destabilize the region, by Islamist. There is also the unrest and intervention in the Ukraine. Civil consideration
Sitting in the back seat between two towering piles of clothes and snacks we drive up the abandoned streets of Adell. I see vast open fields of corn and dense wooded forest filled with life, along with the occasional, towering grain house. We pull into a dry, dusty, driveway of rock and thriving, overgrown weeds. We come up to an aged log cabin with a massive crab apple tree with its sharp thorns like claws. The ancient weeping willow provides, with is huge sagging arms, shade from the intense rays of the sun. Near the back of the house there is a rotten, wobbly dock slowly rotting in the dark blue, cool water. Near that we store our old rusted canoes, to which the desperate frogs hop for shelter. When I venture out to the water I feel the thick gooey mud squish through my toes and the fish mindlessly try to escape but instead swim into my legs. On the lively river banks I see great blue herring and there attempt to catch a fish for their dinner. They gracefully fly with their beautiful wings arching in the sun to silvery points.
...resence of my parents upstairs, despite the brain scrambling heat of the sauna, I suddenly felt homesick, and realized I yearned to be in my basement. The pitted feeling in my stomach grew stronger as I realized it is not the basement of my childhood that I miss, it is the basement of my fraternity house where Kegs littered the floors like toys and pledges were hazed like the violent was games my youth. I found another cycle came to a close, and I found myself separated from what I had once known. The basement used to be my sanctuary, the place I could dream in. Standing just outside a basement no longer mine while still profusely sweating from the sauna, a crisp late August breeze gently cooled my body. I deeply inhaled the last moments of summer knowing full well that fleeting changes that often accompany seasonal transition were no longer of any concern to me.
We then turned off the driveway, making sure to roll down our windows, so we can breathe the fresh mountain air, at least until the next time we come back, and once again start the bumpy road home.