Day 3
According to Newton’s Third Law of Motion,
“Every action has it’s equal opposite reaction.”
For example ,when bouncing in one place on solid ground, you apply force onto the ground with your legs, the ground creates an equal opposite force counteracting the pressure put onto the ground, this force from the ground now propelling you upwards. Newton’s laws of physics have gone to determine the many breakthrough’s in science, and help us answer everyday questions about speed, velocity, and several other branches involving movement and gravity.
Newton’s Third Law of Physics can also give you a sense of how much of a massive idiot you are, and your past decisions.
Example?
Nah, it’s part of the whole post.
The night before, my family decided to sleep on the ground, inside the largest room located upstairs. Since the flooring had carpet over it already, it wouldn’t be very uncomfortable, so we tucked ourselves into a bunch of blankets and slept like a bunch of potatoes in a garden bed. It surely wasn’t as hot as the night before in the little room off the hall; since the heater fortunately was off. So the next morning, I woke up alone in a pile full of blanket, pillows, and sheets.I woke up a little later into the morning, remembering that it was our last day in Lake Tahoe, and that we had to pack everything up and out of the house before 2:00 pm,
However, as I was brushing my teeth, I remembered that Surya, Sanjay, Babu peryiappa, and my dad, weren’t in the house; because they decided to go on a long hike early into the morning. Babu peryiappa asked all of us just the day before if we wanted to come too. Sanjay seemed cool with it, Himani was determined to go(but later said that she probably wouldn’t when the time came),
I gave peryiappa a flat out no for an answer. I didn’t say that to be rude, but I was just being honest, I mean I hate waking up early in the morning, especially if it’s before seven o’clock. Yeah, I know, a person my age should break out of that habit; but c’mon, you gotta agree with me that sleep is like the ambrosia and nectar of everyday.
Anyway, I was just tampering to see just how we were going to get all of our stuff packed and out of the house, as well as clean up every room and leave everything just as it was when we came. And we had to do it in a span of a couple hours. Now I’m not saying that complete chaos ensued. But I think it’s safe to say that our action(not pre-packing the night before)got a brutal equal opposite reaction(running around all over the place, shoving clothes into bags, frantically grabbing throw blankets and pillows and putting them in their respective bedrooms, or stowed away in the closets they were originally inside for storage. And consistently checking the time to make sure we didn’t overrun it.)
It sounded easy enough at first. But obviously that wasn’t the case.
There were bags and luggage everywhere by the time we started to get a move on. I was running around all over the place, helping to stow away luggage in the trunks of cars and grabbing whatever object which person needed in their hands right that instant. I also had to make sure my sister didn’t decide to go on a little hike outside herself, or somehow manage to lose her balance on the stairs; so I tried to keep her in check as well. But, compared to the rest of the house, she’s tiny. So while I was carrying piles of pillows, I couldn’t see anything in front of me altogether while the puny little munchkin decided to trot around the house like a pixie.
At around 1:00, we finally got everything outside and into the trunks of the three cars. We still had an hour before we actually had to leave, so there wasn’t much rush after that. My dad wanted to take a big group picture of all of us together in front of the house. All was well and everyone started picking where they wanted to sit for the drive. Himani, Surya and I were kinda the leftovers and ended up in my dad’s car.
Everyone sat down and waited for all the cars to start, everything was going smoothly and nothing was wrong, so my dad started the engine and;
The car didn’t start.
Himani looked at each other in silent alarm, my dad told us to stay inside as he and Surya both got out of the car to see what happened. Opening the hood of the car and inspecting it, my dad told Himani to grab a little black and yellow(nananananananana Batman)case, which held a jump starter. My dad says he always keeps it on hand just in case something happens with the car. So I assumed that the car would be okay in no time. But minutes passed and the car didn’t seem to want to go back on the road.
Jump starting 101, dad, I think I’ll give you a C+
A+ for Effort
D- for actually being able to fix the car by jump starting it.
Finally, Sekar peryiappa came through with a cable or something that he had on hand, since my dad’s Plan A didn’t work. See? The brosketeers got each other’s back(s).
After that minor setback(even though it was anything but minor)we were back on schedule and ready to get back on the road. I didn’t exactly know where we were going, but we definitely were driving, so that was a start.
As I looked about, I noticed that we were going on a winding road that lead to a number of large houses, most likely owned as vacation housing or retirement homes. It was fun to look at the different architectural elements of each house, they were all extremely unique, no two properties alike. We were driving up the side of a mountain of sorts, our view know obscured by spindly treetops, and it was unitary to see houses held up by wooden posts, then a foundation or platform that attaches the house to the solid ground on the land. We stopped the car once we reached a small parking lot that overlooked the woods and the snowy mountains in the distance.
Himani and I got out and stretched while my mom came out with Thulasi from Sekar peryiappa’s car. But in the two minutes that we took our eyes off my dad, he had managed to clamber down the descending slope of the forest and sat himself on boulder. I held back the urge to scream at the man, but instead stood and watched as my mom followed with Thulasi clutching her tightly, as small children do. I gave my parents the, Ohmygodyouguysarecrazywhattheheckdo youthinkyouaredoing, look. It looked pretty steep so I didn’t go down there because I’m clumsy and stupid enough not to catch my own balance.
I kinda just chilled and listened to bits an pieces of what the adults seemed to be planning for the rest of the day, which seemed to be circulating around the fact that some of them wanted to see snow.
In June.
In Cali-freaking-fornia.
But you know, you do you I guess.
So, my dear audience, lets embark on a marvelous journey together, as we traverse the crevices of this land form to witness some full(and quite wily)patches, of what seem to be Mother nature’s styrofoam.
Aka snow.
♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ )ᕗ
So the pursuit was on, to find an area we could all go to so we can enjoy some snow. Sanjay and Himani were a tad bit pissed off, seeing as most of the snow would have melted, since it’s summer. Plus, Sanjay had just finished his freshmen year of college in Massachusetts so I’m pretty he was just done with the idea of involving ourselves with snow. I had experienced snow only once before, and that was one of our day trips in Yosemite a couple years back. So I wasn’t as hyped up to see snow as much as some of our party was. But sitting in the car and just chilling with Himani was enough to hold me over I guess.
We decided to pick up lunch from Subway and than go eat at a beach that was a couple minutes away. Sanjay, Surya, and Sekar peryiappa(sorry if I missed anyone), went in to order, while everyone else just hung out in peryiappa’s car. However, Babu peryiappa and his family had driven off somewhere, most likely to continue searching for snow, or a separate trail or lookout point.So the three broskateers were missing one bro for the time being. So they were temporarily reduced to the two amicable amigos.
My sister started to cry, wanting to get our of the car too, so it took the entire lot of us to attempt to calm her down, and convince her that staying inside the car was just as entertaining as being outside, I personally wouldn’t agree; but I digress. Thulasi’s crying takes on a whole other level of toddler tantrums though. And it’s terrifying.
First it’s a little whimper, then her lips quiver a little before conforming into a pout; her bottom lip jutting out with a respectable amount of purpose behind it. Than it’s a little sob, that quickly turns into a all out Shakespearen soap opera. Her eyes gloss over with her tears, and if she’s feeling really emotional, those tears fall. And when those little tears wet her eyelashes, escaping their ensnarement and travel down the expanse of rounded coffee coloured skin identical to mine and my brother’s; and that little drop makes it’s way down, curving the expanse of her chin, before dropping onto her lap. You know you’re in trouble when that happens. But it’s too late, her face scrunches up and she sings a constant symphony of
“. . . ammaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH”
There you have it folks. My sister,
The rice cooker who had two gallons of helium.
In situations like this, I can relate on another level to side characters in random anime. You know the ones that are the first to notice that there is a monster terrorizing there city/town/house/demonic underworld, and while the main protagonists fight bravely and risk there lives to save every else, every one else just
runs away.
And sure, in retrospect it’s kinda dumb, but that’s honestly the feeling I get every time my sister does a one women
Once the three men came back with bags containing our sandwiches, we set off once again! To the beach!
Again!
\ (•◡•) /
We arrived at the beach, at around 2:00 in the afternoon and set up in an area that seemed mostly empty, with a picnic table to boot. So it was the perfect spot to break in and have lunch and just chill before we leave. All the food we had brought was set onto the picnic table and open, so everything was easily accessible. Sure it was mostly just a lot of chips but we made do.
I grabbed a sandwich and dug into the box of chip bags and pulled a random one out, since I didn’t really have a preference. I sat down at the picnic table for a while before deciding to sit next to my sister on a picnic blanket, tarp, thing that my mom brought. The sand felt a little rough, but it was still fun to dig my fingers into the grains and plow around while I ate. Which probably wasn’t sanitary for the most part, but I haven’t turned into half human-half crab hybrid yet so I think we’re good.
Babu peryiappa and his family arrived about twenty minutes later, peryiappa plopped himself down on a log and started eating a sandwich, while talking with my dad and Sekar peryiappa. Just as I was about to open my mouth to say something however, my mom pointed towards the nearby tree with a quite alarming spout of “Look over there!” to which we all turned to look at the spindly tree, only to find a little chipmunk staring back at us like “Why am I here.” Then it skittered off, like small woodland animals usually do, only to come back and try to terrorize Saran; who was literally just minding his own business at the picnic table.
Personally, I like hanging out with little animals. a lot of them are practically harmless as long as you don’t become a vexation to them. And trying to domesticate them is just as bad so I try not to let my love for animals make the situation itself naive to the fact that animals are also small and fragile, like babies. So just leave them alone, they weren’t born to just be meddled with by crazy humans who are infatuated with anything that can breathe and it’s also super cute(I admit being guilty for representing this stereotype myself, yeah I know, I’m a hypocrite).
By the time we had all finished eating, I was too busy trying to chase down the two younger boys, making sure they didn’t go in too deep in the water. But multiple walks in and out of the sand made it clear that they were fine, and didn’t really care for my presence meandering around them like a shark(pun not intended). Though eventually, we all decided to leave, our final destination being Olympic Valley, where it(supposedly)had snow.
(._.) ( l: ) ( .-. ) ( :l ) (._.) w h y
In our three and a half days at Lake Tahoe, I have never heard once about Olympic Valley. But then again, I had never heard of any of the different places in Lake Tahoe, so, I don’t really have anything to say about that, surprisingly. But as we drove into the valley, I noticed a large sign with circular versions of flags from different countries. And a large symbol with five different coloured circles, intertwined. And I recognized it right away, it being the sign of the Olympics. It turns out that Lake Tahoe had held the 1960 winter Olympics right there. Which was pretty cool too, ha get it? Cool?
I’m not much for sports, but I do like watching those national swimming relays, or figure skating. But other than that, I’m not a very athletic person myself. So I would really be fawning over sports teams and such. But it’s a thought.
At long last we had all parked in a practically empty lot, which seemed to be a parking lot for an area that was supposed to be used for skiing on the mountains. So I was a little skeptical as to whether or not we were even allowed to be up here with barely anyone there. And, there was snow, but not on the ground. Instead, there were patches of snow-ice rather-that were up in the mountains and hills nearby. With fourteen people, the group of fourteen including two children and one toddler, I thought we would call it a day. But it seemed that the adults had a silent agreement without consulting the rest of us, and told us to start climbing up the steep hill to the nearest patch of snow.
Himani mumbled something about wanting to hit something(I didn’t really blame her), while Surya and Sanjay walked on with disbelief, Himani and I climbed up together, it was steep, and my shoes were slipping on the small chunks of rock that decided to roll on over to where ever I was walking. And it didn’t help that the hill we were walking up was at a 145 degree angle give or take.
There was a moderately large patch of snow a couple feet ahead of us, my parents, sister, and brother already seating them selves on rocks and supporting their own weight, while I stood in a cross fired Spider-man pose, while digging my hands in the snow. But it wasn’t exactly snow. What I had just naively stuck my hand into was ice, and for all I know, I could’ve ended up with every nerve in my hand imploding if I hadn’t pulled back my hand in the passing six seconds. It was freezing, and the stupid idiot side of my brain took over and said,
“Hey, let’s make a snowball! Cause that obviously isn’t gonna be even more damaging for your physical pain tolerance, which was already low to begin with.”
The “snow” was the last of the miscellaneous stretches from the recently(unbearably cold)winter. Obviously the snow all melted in the summer, except of course for the mountain tops caked with them like hastily knit blanket, or a child with a pillow case over it’s head, and of course small carpets of snow -hidden in the forests and on the hills. Scooped up a handful of fine ice, patting to handfuls between my two palms; to make a ball. But calling it a snowball is an excessively nice way of putting. It looked oust as much like a snowball as I’m good at playing hockey without hitting somebody in the shins. Basically, not substantially good.
I threw the crumbling projectile at least a few feet ahead of me, before it hit the ground; chunks of ice rolling down the hill, or stubbornly lying on the hard surface; waiting to melt in the setting sun. I watched everyone else lazily, watching over the
As I was heading down the slope of the mountain with Himani, the boys, my dad, Thulasi, and Sekar Peryiappa, I noticed that it was a little steep going downward, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t manage. We walked down carefully and back onto the trail. Himani and I stood on the trail and turned to face the mountain when we saw my two aunts, my mom, and Saran, up on the mountain. But not on the spot we left in, but higher. Himani was just about ready to have a panic attack and went to fetch Sanjay, and I could see the horrified, and yet somewhat diverted look on his face.
After on last look, I started my way back to the parking lot when Babu periyappa, walked with me and said
“I was just talking to a security women and she said that there is a hibernating baby bear and its mother nearby.”
He sounded really calm, and had a bit of a smile on his face, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to have a quarter of your family on the same mountain in which to bears are hibernating peacefully. I grew up loving Winnie the Pooh, but I don’t think these bears would be happy if we came knocking with a honeypot as a housewarming gift. At that point I just walked to the car. I knew they would get down safely, since they weren’t close to where the bears were hibernating; but honestly, I didn’t have the mental courage to even think otherwise.
And yes, they did make it down safe and sound, without disturbing our bear friends. But, I do think the hype for snow is a bit too much for my taste.