The Arrow of Light

 I found a few pictures from when i crossed the bridge for the arrow of light almost three years ago. I cant believe ho small I was back then! 

 This is a poncho that my dad gave me when i turned 8 years old. Today, there are a lot more patches than there are shown in this picture. I might be able to get a picture of it so that I may blog it on my next post.

Lots of people from Croton and from my family came to view this. My school's assistant principal, the town mayor, the priest from our church, and the scout master that would be in the troop i was crossing over to.

Thomas Edison

I went to my grandfather's house for winter break today. We went to go see Thomas Edison's laboratory and library. When we went to go see the library, I thought it was absolutely amazing! I was told that he usually spent his nights at his library as apposed to his home. It showed that there was a bed for him in the corner of the room.

The strange thing about it was that they displayed different paintings and pictures all over the place. But, where else could they put them, but hanging off the railings?

After the library we went down to his work shops. I could recognize a type writer that he made, but I didn't think It would be shaped like so:

There were also a lot of things that I couldn't even recognize. But I think that this one was some type of message writer:

But that wasn't all that he physically constructed. There were lots of things that he powered with his motors and belts.

Last, we went down to his chemistry lab. It showed all of the toxic chemicals that he used in his experiments. When the place was turned into a tourist attraction, they apparently cleaned off all of the ash that was on the walls. But to show us the comparison of how it looks today to how it looked back then, they left a square of dirt and dust on the wall.

It reminded me of how people often got sick in coalmines. I asked our tour guide if he ever got sick, but he said that he did not spend much of his time in the lab. Therefore, he did not get sick at all.
Taking this trip taught me a lot about how he changed society and the technology that we have today.

Tough Kid

I went to a kids race at Croton Point Park today. I had to swim 200 meters, bike 5 miles, and run another mile. By the end of that, i was completely out of energy! Even after the packet of hammer gel I swallowed and a cliff bar i ate. This really is for tough kids! They also had to write a number on my arm so they could know who I was.

Virginia and New York

Last week, I went down to Virginia to see my grandparents. We went down to the Montgomery state fair and we had a blast! There were a lot of rides there and even a climbing wall! Then my aunt, uncle and cousins came over for a visit. After we left, I went up to Staten Island to visit my aunt. We saw The Amazing Spider Man on the first night so I could enter an idea for a you tube video in a contest. The next day, we went to Coney Island where I went to an amusement park with some of the most terrifying rides! After that, I worked on fixing her TV for almost two hours! But we were able to do it. Then, we went home after being away for almost an entire week!    

Camping trips

It's been only a week since I got back from camp and now I'm going on another camping trip!
As if two weeks wasn't already enough! Not only that, but I have to hike all the way up to the top of Mount Marcy! It's the tallest mountain in New York and It's a 15-mile hike to the top and back!     

Temporarily Stranded

Last night, my family and I went down to the Hudson Bay with some friends for our annual Fourth of July Kayaking Trip to see the fireworks. When we went back, the tide was way too high and we couldn't go under the bridge. So we paddled down to a trail that I helped make, and left our boats there. Then we called a friend so he could drive us back home. This morning, we went back down to the trail (in our own car) and brought the boats we left all the way back home. It all took a while but we made it.   

Swim meets in freezing water

I am actually starting to get used to waking up at 6:30 in the morning every day to swim in some freezing water! I've been doing it for about 2 weeks now and the water is starting to feel a little warmer. I'm surprised I haven't reacted to the chlorine yet. It might be because I usually dry myself off immediately after i get out of the water. Any way, my first swim meet is this weekend and I really need to work on my speed. I could be slowing down every day because I started wearing swim trunks instead of racing suits. Or I could just be a little slow.