Best Essay Entry - Snow Day

Last fall when I took English Composition 101, I submitted an essay for possible inclusion in the Best of Student Essays for 2008-09 at the community college where I've been taking college classes for dual enrollment (I get high school and college credits for taking the classes). To my surprise, the other day I received the Best Essays book in the mail, along with a letter saying my essay had been published. The essays published will be used for examples in classes, and other such things. It is one of the two descriptive essays featured, and so that my family may read it, I am now posting it here. :)

Editor's notes: "This first-person narrative is a present-tense vignette of walking to find a fresh snowfall and going for a walk. The descriptions appeal to the senses of sight, sound, and touch. The narrator's thought upon returning to the house is effective because it implies more excursions to come, offering a "look to the future" as a recommended strategy for concluding paragraphs."

Snow Day

 

    I awaken, my feet cold under the sheets. The room is strangely quiet as I slip out of bed and look out the window. I see the world covered in a sea of white snow. I hurry to get dressed and start for the back door. Today I will walk through my snow-covered yard.

    I stop at the door, silently watching the snow fall. The tiny ice crystals drift peacefully down from the sky, covering the world in

white. The door creaks as I open it, and I carefully step onto the back porch so as not to slip and fall. I now have a full view of my backyard, a wintry paradise covered in snow. As I walk down the steps and to the sidewalk, the squeaking of the wooden steps combines with the crunch of the snow under my feet like two instruments in an orchestra, performing in the sweet silence all around me. The white, cottony powder covers the branches of the trees. As I walk down the sidewalk, I see the car resting under a thick layer of snow. The dogs run to meet me, leaving trails of paw prints in the snow. I continue to the driveway and scrape some snow off of the car window, looking inside. The powder chills my hand, so I put my hand inside my pocket to warm it. The snow begins to fall harder. I wander around the car, crunching the snow under my feet.

    I hear birds chirping, and walk to the bird feeder, where several small birds are hopping around on the ground. The snow is peppered with tiny holes where seeds have fallen from the bird feeder. The birds fly away as I approach.

    I continue walking and scoop some snow from the ground into my hand. After shaping the snow into a rough sphere, I throw it at a tree trunk. The snow scatters. I walk past the bird bath and see that the water has frozen. The snow falls even harder, making it hard to see. I close my eyes and feel myself being bombarded with tiny pieces of ice. After the snow subsides, I continue through the sea of white.

    I brush against a cedar tree, and the snow falls to the ground like powdered sugar, revealing the green needles underneath. I begin walking down the trail to the pond. The dogs jump up and follow me eagerly, prancing down the trail behind me.

    The forest is quiet. The only sounds are my breath and the snow crunching under my feet, as well as a few birds chirping in the branches above me. I see the pond beyond the next row of trees. The normally dark hole is now covered in white. The dogs run on ahead of me onto the snow-covered pond. The ice holds them up as they run to the other side. I test the ice under my feet, and the ice cracks slightly, so I decide not to risk stepping out onto the pond myself.

    I walk back up to the trail and continue, noticing the snow-covered fence. The fence leads me around a curve to the now sleeping berry bushes, down the hill and up another hill, completing a small loop leading back into the clearing of my backyard. I walk up to the garden and see the large hay-covered rectangle sprinkled with snow. I walk down to the other side of the backyard, to another trail leading into the woods. I follow the short trail down to a second pond, and it also is frozen and covered in snow.

    Feeling colder now, I decide to go back inside and eat breakfast. I walk back up the trail and see my house a few hundred feet away. As I reach the driveway, I see that the car window is covered with another thin layer of snow. I run back up the steps into the house, shaking the snow off of the porch railing. The dogs look at me sadly, and I pet them before I go inside. I'll be back later.