Oct 20, 2016
The Riverfront Park is a great
asset(1)that we enjoy in our community. It opened about the same
year that I came to live here. It’s focus, as you can tell by the
name, is the Columbia river. This wide and deep body of water
starts in Canada, at the base of the Rocky Mountains. It travels
about 1,200 miles, through to Washington State and Oregon and then
it flows into the Pacific Ocean. So, Wenatchee is actually one of
the many towns that it flows through. It is very pleasant to walk
or bike next to the river, especially during the Autumn. Often in
the morning, there is a slight mist rising from the surface of the
water before the day heats up. The leaves on the deciduous trees
have changed to yellow, orange, red, pink, or brown. You could say
that it’s a perfect spot for photography. And that is probably why
I received a phone call two weeks ago from the High School
Photography teacher, asking if I could accompany a group of
students to the Riverfront Park. Their field trip(2) was planned to
encourage their photography of textures and colors. There are a few
wooden buildings, benches, and winding(3) pathways in the park, as
well as all the natural surroundings that you can take pictures of.
I was there for the safety of the students, but as they were all
mature and well behaved, I didn’t have much to do. I took some
photos myself, and also observed what they were doing. Many of them
got down on the ground to find the perfect angle of tree roots or a
bench. There was also a lot of reflection on the water that was
very bright and danced up the tree trunks, so the students took
videos and pictures of that. They seemed to know exactly what to
do. The teacher really only facilitated by adjusting camera
settings every now and then. And I felt a bit like a spare part,
but it was such a perfect day that I was glad to be in the park
taking photos. This link shows a few more photos I took that
day.
1. An ‘asset’ means a positive
resource, a benefit, blessing, or beauty.
a. A helpful citizen is an asset to
a community.
b. She has a million dollars in
assets.
c. His greatest asset was his sharp
mind.
2. ‘Field trip’ is another way of
saying an outing that is organized by the school.
a. I will volunteer on the school
field trip to the chocolate factory.
b. Museums are the perfect place for
a field trip.
3. ‘Winding’ and ‘winding’. Ok 2
verbs that are spelled the same but pronounced differently. The
most familiar is ‘to wind/ winding’ like the Beatles’ song ‘The
Long and Winding Road’. It means to move in a snake-like manner,
and also to tighten the main spring of a clock or watch so it
functions. A very common British phrasal verb is ‘to wind up’
followed by another verb, meaning ‘to end up’ or ‘to irritate
someone’. The meanings are quite different from each
other.
The other verb ‘to wind’ simply
means to physically cause someone to temporarily stop breathing by
either kicking or punching them below the ribs. Let’s see examples
of all of these:
a. I forgot to wind my clock, so my
alarm didn’t go off in the morning.
b.That path winds through the forest
and out to a main road.
c. It is so easy to wind him up; he
gets angry so fast that it’s funny!
d. While we were practicing our Karate moves, I accidentally kicked my partner in the stomach and winded him!