Broken One

One should be proud of being an Acinonyx jubatus, the fastest cat in the creature world. Little Joe, however, never considered himself as one within the cheetah family. This is due to his crooked left back leg which he had gotten from an accident at youth.

Growing up in the savannah, where the only way to get food is to literally catch up to it, Little Joe had always been a little bit behind from his peers. Nevertheless, he tried his best to not stain the cheetah’s name. Every time his group rest, he would full sprint down the vast land, controlling his speed, trying to not notice the pains in his leg.

One practice, Little Joe felt very confident, trying to best his highest speed at 60 miles per hour. First, he put his chin to touch the tall grass. Eye grazed forward, looking for a destination. Front legs held firmly onto to hard ground, his back legs folded downward, preparing to pounce. Adjusting the weight between his crooked leg and his right leg, he prowled forward toward his destination. Head paralleled to the ground, his back gave off a curve as he tried to increase his speed. “Faster, faster, faster!”

Not sure if it was the sun’s fault, or the warm dust flying past him, his eyes started to become blurry, head boiling up, tongue tasted the soil as he skidded across the ground. As he tried to spin his body upright, his muscle wouldn’t move. He had become completely numb.

His siblings, resting about half-a-mile away, luckily notice and come sprinting to where he is. When they reached the destination, one nimble on his ear, the other tried moving his legs, seeing if he’s alive or not. Seeing that he wouldn’t move, they push him into a nearby shade, and lay down next to his body.

Little Joe, as exhausted as he is, tried as hard as to stand up, yet couldn’t. He knew that he had always been a shame to the cheetah family. Yet, he wanted to be a cheetah. His mind buried in deep darkness, with glimpses of light at the other end. Little Joe got down to his sprinting position, gave out a sigh, and pounce toward the light as fast as he can. He could sense the wind gliding across his whiskers as his tail waving back and forth. Feeling very light, he felt his feet above the ground, as if they’re flying. Then, a smoke with an image of another cheetah, greeting him on the other side.

Day 8 - Bellbrook Canoe

On day 8 of the "To The Woods" STEMersion, we take a trip to Bellbrook to get some canoeing experience in the "Little Miami River."

On the bus moving up river

Ready to bring the canoes to the water

Off we go!

Canoeing is, on some aspect, very relaxing. Since there isn't as much force involve in making the canoe moves because we're going down river. I notice a lot of creatures during the long canoe trip like water snakes, butterflies, lots of bugs, geese, and even mosquitoes.

Sometimes, we stopped paddling for a few minutes and focus on our ear. I would hear many familiar sounds like bird chirping, leaves moving. However, there were calming sound like the river flowing, rocks hitting the bottom of the canoe.

Overall, it was a very nice trip. I felt a lot calming after it.

At school, I wrote a poem about the experience on the river.

Making the calmest environment

Would take but a few things.

Pack in gallons of soil

And fill up the middle with water.

Throw in thousands of rocks

And put in hundreds of trees,

Mixed with many chirping sounds

Plus various butterflies.

Add in little breezes

Along with a white covering on top.

Push in a rowboat

With you laying down on it.

Now take a deep breath,

Close your eyes, kickback, and enjoy.

Day 7 - Vignette

On day 7 of the "To The Wood" STEMersion, we learned about writing a vignette. This is a brief literal stretch of a picture using the five senses. Vignette can be in many forms like poem, narrative.

First, we wrote a practice vignette on this image.

Autumn, season of fall,

River flows from a distinct creek.

Fish, swimming along,

Awaiting to be hunted by a hungry bear.

Surrounding by evergreens sprouts,

Showing off glimpses of sunlight.

The reflection of red, yellow, and green,

Invaded by the brown, soft surface.

Filled, heading back into the wood,

Face smirking with a bright smile.

Laying down, head against the warm floor,

The long sleep is about to begin.

Then, we choose an image of a creature we had taken of during our STEMersion.

Walking bravely down the cold,

Wet grass in a morning of a bright summer.

Reflection of the spotted,

Black and white fur like a knight in shining amour.

Skinny little black neck bending down,

Large beak preparing to engulf the little flower.

In the green grass, its head drown,

Deeping in the sea of grass with full power.



Next, we watched, and read chapter 9 of,  "Never Cry Wolf." This is based on a true story of a biologist name Farley Mowat when he studied wolf behavior in the Canadian tundra. This is so that he could proves that wolf had done no harm to the caribou herbs in the tundra, and that wolf is no danger for us to harm them. 

This story taught me that animals are just like us, having their own family, caring for their young. On some aspect, they're even wiser than us in term of being natural survival.