Alaska+me=NOT HAPPY!

Would I rather live in a cold climate like Alaska, or a hot climate like Florida?

Well, this is a no-brainer! I would MUCH rather live in Florida! No offense to the people who live in Alaska, but living in a place where it's lucky to reach 50 degrees in the summertime is NOT my cup of tea!

Alaska is full of natural splendor of course, much of it unspoiled, since there are less than a million people living there.
There's a lot of wide open space, but, I would much rather be getting a tan than freezing my buns off when it's 3 degrees outside! Alaska seems cold, barren, and even forbidding to me. Harsh winter climate for most of the year followed by a short summer, well... it's just not my thing.

Florida has beautiful beaches, Oh! And Disney World! Who doesn't want to go to Disney World?!
Anyway, it's probably warmer in Florida in winter than it is in Alaska in summer!
Of course, you have to deal with sunburn, (ouch!) hurricanes, (yikes!) and being hot and sweaty. (ehh...)
I'd rather be warm than cold any day, wouldn't you?

Freedom Symbol

I stand on the boat that will take me too see her.
She is the Statue of Liberty-
the guardian of New York Harbor,

New York City has already disappeared
in a misty cover of grayish-white clouds-
Oh look! I see her, Lady Liberty,
silently watching the world go around
from her high perch on the pedestal.

I step off of the boat, and see booths,
booths selling postcards and souvenirs with her face on them.
The Statue of Liberty,
one of the symbols of the United States.
I see tourists, like myself,
walking nonchalantly around her,
Some are sitting down,
or taking pictures.
I look up and I can see Lady Liberty's torch.
The torch that she has held for decades,
her treasure that she will not part with for eternity,
I look higher,
and see birds soaring lazily
around her head and crown.

As I step back onto the boat,
I look around,
and realize just how much America
has changed in the past one-hundred and fifty years-
What would this spot have looked like
Lady Liberty made her voyage across the sea?
Oh well, no more time for contemplating now,
it's time to leave...

As I take one more look at the Statue of Liberty,
I think that even Lady Liberty has changed herself,
on the outside,
her gleaming coat of copper has faded
from shiny-as-a-new-penny bronze,
to a bright sea green,
but through this, she has remained herself,
always watching-
I take a last look ,
and see her fading into the distance.
The world's symbol of peace and freedom.
Bobbing and sputtering across the choppy waves,
the boat that I am standing on carries me away.

-Parker Ginn

I wrote this poem quite a few months ago, November of 2006, I believe.
Olivia and I were in writing class, and our writing teacher asked us to write a poem about, well, anything.
I chose to write about a place we had gone on our vacation.

Summertime

School will be out in a couple of days,
We can spend our summer in so many different ways.
Going to the pool swimming our hearts out,
or watching TV, rotting our brains out!
There are so many things that we could do,
like watching the the movie, High School Musical 2!
In July, when it's swelteringly hot,
we'll celebrate Claire's b-day, we all love her a lot!
Now it's time to go outside and work in the yard,
Whoo, I'm getting warm, this work is so hard!
Now it's August, vacation's almost done,
well, it's back to school, we've had tons of fun!