You wake up and instantly you can feel something is different. There is something in the air that wasn?t there when you went to sleep. You rise from your bed like a bear from hibernation and make your way to the window. Slowly drawing back the curtain to expose the frost covered window and see the ground covered in snow?winter has come.

As winter comes a certain cycle of feelings comes over me. The first feeling is that of sadness. With winter comes snow and ice and with snow and ice lakes freeze and wakeboarding, a favorite past time of my friends and I, becomes extremely difficult. How ever that feeling ends just about as quickly as it came. Walking from that window a smile crosses my face as I remember winters past and all the shenanigans that occurred during those winters.

Now driving to school the smile is quickly replaced with fear. Fear of the ice covered roads and of the other people on the road and whither they know what they are doing and if they really should have gotten a license to drive in the first place. Along with that fear comes a small feeling of anger. A small hatred of whoever decides whither the roads are safe enough for people to go to school or not.



Now winter break has come. The largest break of the school year, with winter break comes Christmas. An entire family becoming a can of sardines shoved into a building to celebrate the birthday of a king. A king who?s birthday wasn?t even in December. Once the celebrating is over, however, and the family leaves the previously mentions shenanigans begin again.

First, come the neighborhood wide wars. Where nobody is safe, every car is a possible ambush. Clumps of trees become forts and houses and garages become safe points. Teams are formed and lines are drawn. Rules are set and it begins. Snow balls fly like bullets through the air. People are running through yards and over fences. Sneaking silently around a house I spot them. A group of enemy players is paused to check there breathe. I signal to my friends and with snowballs in hand we dash out. When they see us it?s too late we are already upon them. A flurry of snow is flung upon the poor fellows and we sprint off to safety but as I run a tree reaches out and grabs me! I struggle free barley making it home without a scratch.
Once the wars are over the true sport begins. After a 30 min drive full of sipping hot chocolate and rock music we pull over and get out of the car. An open field greets us with at least 6 inches of snow. The Snow mobile is unloaded and the rope is secured to the end. I pull out my wakeboard and check to make sure the fins have been taken off. I put on the board and signal the go. The Snowmobile shoots off pulling me along with it. Flying across the snow as if it were still water in a lake I smile knowing that I have beaten Mother Nature. We have shown her that a little snow and ice won?t stop us from having fun.