Item
Skating Under A Sunless Sunset
Title (Dublin Core)
Skating Under A Sunless Sunset
Disclaimer (Dublin Core)
DISCLAIMER: This item may have been submitted in response to a school assignment. See Linked Data.
Description (Dublin Core)
September 9th, 2020. The first day in years where I wake up and I am terrified by what I see: the world outside my window is drenched in orange light. I blink multiple times and bolt up, making sure I am not dreaming and that I am in complete control of my faculties. I sit in my room, stunned, for a few moments, then go about my day as usual. I peek my head outside for a moment, and smell nothing in the air. None of the smoke that had been plaguing our noses for the past few days was permitted among the copper splendor. My whole morning, I am terrified of what this could potentially mean: that the fire was close. That we could be in danger. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth for the morning.
After class, I go about my normal after-school activities, gaming on my computer and playing on the guitar. At about 6 in the evening, I decide to myself “screw it.” I pick up my board, put my earbuds in, and get out of the house. The orange is dimmer, but still terrifyingly beautiful to look at. I skate around, listening to my favorite music as I observe the neighborhood around me, the same shapes with different meanings now. I dare not to pull out my phone to ruin this moment, knowing a photograph or video from it will ruin the moment for me. I stop along Mangos Drive and just sit on the curb, board behind my feet, and I stare up, hearing only my music and the occasional car passing by. A true calm, I was in, one I hadn’t been in in a long time.
And so I sat there, knowing where the sun sets, but seeing no sun. I knew when it did set, but not through sight. Through feeling. The lukewarm day turned colder, the orange dimmed to a vibrant brown, and I felt phenomenal. I skated back home, not caring to check how long I’d been gone, knowing it was well worth it however much time I spent out there. I snapped out of it, and continued with the things I had been doing before, playing games and the guitar. Not once, that whole day, did I smell or taste smoke. And I am grateful for it.
After class, I go about my normal after-school activities, gaming on my computer and playing on the guitar. At about 6 in the evening, I decide to myself “screw it.” I pick up my board, put my earbuds in, and get out of the house. The orange is dimmer, but still terrifyingly beautiful to look at. I skate around, listening to my favorite music as I observe the neighborhood around me, the same shapes with different meanings now. I dare not to pull out my phone to ruin this moment, knowing a photograph or video from it will ruin the moment for me. I stop along Mangos Drive and just sit on the curb, board behind my feet, and I stare up, hearing only my music and the occasional car passing by. A true calm, I was in, one I hadn’t been in in a long time.
And so I sat there, knowing where the sun sets, but seeing no sun. I knew when it did set, but not through sight. Through feeling. The lukewarm day turned colder, the orange dimmed to a vibrant brown, and I felt phenomenal. I skated back home, not caring to check how long I’d been gone, knowing it was well worth it however much time I spent out there. I snapped out of it, and continued with the things I had been doing before, playing games and the guitar. Not once, that whole day, did I smell or taste smoke. And I am grateful for it.
Date (Dublin Core)
September 9, 2020
Creator (Dublin Core)
Tony Yantikov
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
AmericanStudies
Partner (Dublin Core)
California High School
San Ramon Valley Unified School District
Type (Dublin Core)
Sensory memory; it is my own memory.
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Education--K12
English
Sports
English
Music
English
Technology
English
Cities & Suburbs
English
Neighborhoods
English
Home & Family Life
English
Emotion
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
fire
California
skateboard
sunset
video game
beautiful
sky
peaceful
Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)
California High School
American Studies
San Ramon Valley Unified School District
orange sky
San Francisco Bay Area
sensory history
Collection (Dublin Core)
San Francisco Bay Area
Linked Data (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
10/27/2020
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
10/30/2020
10/16/2023
11/12/2023
Date Created (Dublin Core)
09/09/2020
This item was submitted on October 27, 2020 by Tony Yantikov using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive
Click here to view the collected data.