Photoshopped Time Square
In January 2009, at a ski trip to Sugarloaf, ME, Beckie McGill, a great friend to all, crashed into the woods while we were all taking some runs on our downhill skis. She hit a tree at a high speed and hit her head extremely hard, making it impossible for her survive the crash. It was a day I will never forget for the rest of my life. The event changed my perspective on life, and skiing specifically, making me realize just how dangerous alpine skiing can be.
This past summer, my friend Choma and I went to Westerly, RI, to stay with the McGills at their beach house to visit and spend time with them, and to enjoy the nice summer sun. We stayed there for a few days and had a fabulous time. The McGills are great people, and awesome cooks! Choma and I went swimming, kayaking, tanning, boogie boarding, skin boarding, and surfing. We weren’t very successful surfing because the waves were extremely small and it was our first time, but we enjoyed it. The next time we try to surf, we are definitely getting up on the surfboard and riding some waves!
One night, (and also the next morning before we left to head back to Choma’s) we went kayaking right off the shore. The water was freezing, especially when we went at night, and it was just about to get really dark. We had just finished dinner and decided it would be a good idea to go out into the ocean and try to kayak. It proved to be difficult. We made it okay, but the waves nearly flipped us over and we got really wet. The McGills were afraid we would go to far out, but I think in the end we did okay and the only problem was we weren’t coordinated enough so we weren’t going anywhere and it was getting dark fast. We were glad to have gone out on the kayak at least for that minimal amount of time because we had a blast and the moments while we were offshore were some of the funniest moments of all-time. Another night, we also tried to go swimming under the full moon, but, essentially, we chicked out. We only went up to our knees and swam a few strokes in that depth, but that was it. The fact that we couldn’t see what was in the water freaked us out.
While we were at the McGill’s beach house, we met many close friends of theirs, including a girl who used to go to school with Beckie, back home. She was very nice and we had a lot of fun on the beach making an enormous sand castle and writing messages in the sand. One time, Choma and I went for a run on the beach and after about a mile, we decided to continue, but walking. And we walked a long way, too. All the way to the state beach, where just outside there are stores and restaurants because it is the center of the little town. We were refreshed by getting ice cream and one time we bought a chocolate dipped frozen banana that was covered with peanuts and it was delicious.
It was very peaceful to hang out at the beach all day and work on our tans, while listening to the calming sound of the ocean waves. It was nice to be able to leave the world behind us for those few days, and not worry about anything: no school and no work, and instead being around super nice people in a super nice place. I’m so glad that Choma and I were able to visit the McGills in Rhode Island and I want to thank you so much for letting us stay! And, Beckie, I wanted to say that I love you and miss you so much and I think about you a lot, you will always be in my heart.
After leaving Westerly, we went to Choma’s for the night, and the next day went to NYC for the day. We walked around a lot, visited Time Square and fun stores like the Hershey’s store and bought smoothies at Jamba Juice, which, by the way were delicious! We also went into Henri Bendel and got makeup put on and just plain looked around and also saw a yoga master busting some moves in the streets, putting on a show. We had a bunch of fun that day, too, but the day was one of the hottest of the year, and we sweated a ton, just walking a block. The picture below is in Time Square and in Digital Media Class, in an assignment using Photoshop, I made some changes by making certain parts cool colors!
