Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Pros and Cons of Christmas in North Platte



By: Jasmine Simpson
When people visit here for the holidays, the residents of North Platte hear same comments every year. First, visitors remark on the beautiful deer walking everywhere and then they comment on the wonderful snowy weather. Little do they know, however, just how aggravating the winter holiday can really be in a town like this. Here are some pros and cons to every Christmas season in North Platte:

Pros:
v  There is lovely Christmas music playing in every public building and residence.
v  Wal-Mart provides one with the perfect back-up plan.
v  There is a wide variety of places selling hot chocolate.
v  When it snows, everything looks like a winter wonderland.
v  The deer love to come out around the holidays.
v  One can usually hope for a white Christmas morning.


 
Cons:
v  People quickly get depressed hearing ‘The Christmas Shoes’ repeatedly playing across town.
v  It seems like everybody remembers Christmas when its two days in advance.
v  The only place selling a decent cup of hot chocolate is McDonald’s.
v  Underneath every layer of snow comes a deadly sheet of ice.
v  One always has to be extra cautious of deer bolting into traffic and getting hit.
v  Snow on Christmas day can never be predicted here. Never.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Without Thinking

By Jasmine Simpson
A dull ache to fabled thoughts
Over and over they repeat
Slow, steady, soft
Like a beating heart
Slipping away to drown out the world
The departed cannot return
Bare, absent, gone
Like forgotten dreams
From whence they came we will not know
To wherever they travel we will not see
It is not a world for us
Ruin, decay, chaos
Like a cold nightmare
In brighter worlds we will remain
Though these thoughts abandon
In the wake of generations our light will come
We have a way in the glory of day