Stone Soup contributor and 20-21 intern Anya Geist (14) interviews Stone Soup contributor Lena Aloise (11). They talk about artistic freedom, writers as composers, the online community of the Stone Soup Writing Workshop, and so much more! Watch the video to hear what Lena has to say. Read some of Lena’s writing here and here. 0:18 – How were you introduced to Stone Soup? 1:20 – What were your favorite parts about the Writing Workshop and Book Club? 2:08 – What is your favorite thing about writing? 3:53 – How long have you been writing? 5:00 – Do you have any writing advice for your peers? 6:22 – Do you think the writing you do for fun is different from the writing you do for school? 7:41 – If you could tell somebody about Stone Soup, what would you say?
Young Bloggers
Yom Kippur through the ages
When I was little, I didn’t have to go to temple on Yom Kippur. I got to go to the basement and make cool crafts. Every year, I would watch my sister and my parents walk into the big room with the colorful windows and get jealous. I would always wonder why they got to go into the cool room but I had to stay downstairs. I might not have known what actually happened during a service, but I knew it was exciting. When I turned five, I finally got to come with my family into the cool room! It was even better than I thought it would be! The ceiling was one million feet tall with huge lamps all over! Rows and rows of benches filled up the huge room, and there were tons of huge flower pots with flowers to match. Finally, I got to put on a cool dress and sit on a bench next to all of the other fancy-dress people too! I was so excited! I didn’t understand exactly what was happening or what people were saying, but I knew it was cool. The next year, I started to miss the days when I could go to the basement. I quickly learned that you’re not supposed to fidget or whisper during services, you need to follow along in the books with the backwards pages, and you have to sit and stand a lot. I had to find silent ways to keep myself busy. Using my boredom busters, I figured out that there were 217 wooden boards on the ceiling with 32 lamps hanging from them, and there were 58 flowers in each flower pot. I guess that nobody cares if a six year old doesn’t pay attention during a Yom Kippur service. A few years later, I started to understand and follow along. I flipped the pages with everybody else, tried to figure out where we were in the book, and mumbled along to what everybody else was singing. I’m not sure if I was doing a good job of hiding my boredom, but I was glad to participate. Fast forward just a bit to 2020. Six years after my first Yom Kippur service, we’re going to temple in our living room in sweatpants. No fancy dresses. No room with a tall ceiling. No stained glass windows, no big lamps, no wooden boards, and no backwards book. Just a TV, some comfy chairs, and wondering how much longer you need to stare at the screen for. What was the point of this story? I guess it’s that you should make the most of what you have, because you never know what you’ll have later. Savor your metaphorical crafts and be grateful for your boredom. What if you aren’t Jewish and haven’t gone to temple in your life? This applies to everything, not just religious services! I think we’ve all been in school and thought, “Wow, I wish I could go home and watch TV all day.” Of course, the second that we couldn’t go to school anymore, all we wanted was to go back! Nothing will ever be perfect, so try to be happy with good enough.
Travelogue: Whittier, Alaska
Brrrrr! It’s freezing out here! There is only one extremely long tunnel to get in or out. Look! There is only one tall building in this whole place! Where are the rest? Welcome to the tall but small, wild and wonderous Whittier, Alaska. The community under one roof! Last year, my family and I went on a vacation to Alaska. We traveled there to a little town called Whittier–a very unique community. What is a community? It is a group of people who live and work together with rules and laws to help keep them safe. A community is a place they call home. It typically has essential places and services that the people need to go about their daily lives, like a school, hospital, places of worship, grocery store, police and fire station, etc. It may also have fun places to visit like parks, playgrounds, museums, aquariums etc. What makes Whittier, Alaska very unique? The tunnel in and out Whittier is located 60 miles southeast of Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. It is to the west of Prince William Sound; a sound is a narrow sea or ocean inlet between two bodies of land. It is nestled in between majestic mountains on one end and forests on the other. The only roadway to and from Whittier is a one-way tunnel that is two and a half miles long and shared by cars and trains. It is the longest tunnel in North America and the first ever that can withstand -40 degrees Fahrenheit and winds that are 150 miles per hour! The tunnel is open only during the day and closed at night. Every half hour, the tunnel opens one way and closes the other. You can also get to the town by sea as well as a scenic ride on Alaska Railroad. The climate Whittier, Alaska is in the arctic tundra biome. It is located north of the world’s northernmost coniferous forests. This biome has long cold winters and short cool summers. It is very windy here. The average temperature in summer is 60 degrees Fahrenheit and in winter is 25 Fahrenheit. It has permafrost grounds which means that the ground is permanently covered in a thin layer of ice. The flora are adapted to grow in these condition by being pine-cone shaped and having small spiny leaves to prevent loss of water. You may think Whittier is too cold for animals but there are so many out there! There are black and brown bears, salmon, sea lions, sea otters, humpback and killer whales and bald eagle. The Begich Towers The population of Whittier is just over 200 people. All of them live in a 14 story building called Begich Towers that was built during World War II. It was originally an army barracks built for hurt or ill people in the war. It was designed in 1953 by Anton Anderson and was completed in 1957. There is a church, school, grocery store, police station, a health clinic, and a laundromat within the building. This way, when the weather gets too cold, the residents can go weeks at a time without ever having to leave! The community is very close-knit. The Chugach people form the Native American Indian community. There are also other communities that live here. Kids can just walk up to their teachers’ apartments to get help with their homework and finish it at their teacher’s kitchen table! People can knock on their police chief’s door at any time. Kids can take an underground tunnel to their indoor playground when it is very cold outside! The wonderful sights to see Whittier has breath-taking sights to see! We went on a glacier cruise in Prince William Sound where we saw massive glaciers that towered over us. The glaciers are blue because they are so densely packed with ice that they absorb all the colors in light and reflect only the blue. You can also go kayaking, boating and back- country camping here. Whittier, Alaska is an adventurous place and fun to visit! Fact Sources https://www.whittieralaska.gov/ Welcome to Whittier, Alaska; NPR, Jan 18, 2015.
