8 minute read

The day I became … aSnow Rider

BY ERIK ANDERSON Special to The News-Post

On the count of three, my entire body suddenly dropped, a rush of cold air blasted the hoodie off my head, and for a few brief moments, I knew the transcendence of surrendering all control of my being to God and the physics of nature. About half an hour later, I was back at home, telling my wife what I wanted her to grab from Sheetz for lunch.

When I reserved my ticket for the new Snow Riders snow tubing hill in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, I fully expected that kind of thrilling adventure.

What I did not expect was how easy it would be to enter into that experience and then quickly get back to regular life. In fact, prior to heading out that morning, I felt woefully underprepared for a day out on the slopes.

The last time I slid down a snowy hill, the trip involved days of preparation and took an entire day to execute. I bought a heavy coat, snow pants and thick gloves. My brother and I drove an hour from Frederick to get to Whitetail Resort in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, arriving really early to rent poles, skis and ski boots and then to get a quick lesson on how to use them. We nearly froze our fingers off just signing the waivers at the ticket booth.

While we had a lot of fun once we got on the slopes, we had invested so much time and money into the experience that we didn’t feel compelled to leave when we started to get tired. I remember being so achy and exhausted by the end of it, I had to spend the whole next day resting. And that was 20 years ago.

When it came to preparing for Snow Riders, I knew the experience wouldn’t be as intense, but still, I worried that my hoodie, jeans, hiking shoes and thin gloves would not offer enough protection from a day involving snow.

I was wrong. The snow was cold, obviously, but the ambient temperature was in the 40s, and actual contact with the snow was very brief. While the tubing hill is covered in snow, it was too shallow and compact to get inside my shoes. I never really felt cold.

After checking in and watching a brief safety video just before my scheduled start time, I found myself really glad not to be encumbered by heavy clothes or equipment as I walked down to the “magic carpet” that moves guests up to the start of the course. When I got there, one of the cheerful guides handed me a snow tube, which is included in the $48 ticket entrance fee. I stepped onto the slow-moving conveyor belt, clutching the tether of my tube, and began a pleasant ascent up a big hill with a nice view of the Shenandoah Valley.

I admit to feeling a bit nervous as

I approached the top of the lane I was about to plummet down. This was very unlike the feeling I had the one time I went skiing back in college. Skiing is a fun rush but not relaxing, because it requires active concentration and skill. If you lose control of your speed or balance, you’ll tumble, rather than glide, down the hill.

Snow tubing is a completely different experience. There’s nothing to do, really, but sit down, hold on and enjoy the ride. The staff will even give you a push onto the slope if you’re having trouble scooting. This sliding downward allows for the kind of complete surrender to gravity that I’ve only experienced on waterslides and rollercoasters.

Dozens of people of all ages were at Snow Riders when I went on a recent Sunday, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Because the setup is so simple and the staff so on-the-ball, there was hardly any wait time to get back up on the slope. I took the plunge five times during my 90-minute session, but I’d estimate it to be possible to ride down the hill a dozen times in that timeframe. When it was time to go, I left my tube at the bottom of the hill and walked to the parking lot where a little food truck was vending winter treats. I ordered a hot chocolate, drank it on my short walk to the car, and headed out.

Twenty minutes later, I was back in my home just south of Frederick discussing lunch plans with my wife and two girls. They are both under 3, but I’m hopeful the older one will meet the 36inch height requirement next winter so she, too, can be a snow rider.

Erik Anderson is a freelance writer in Frederick who cares about few things more than the history of his community. Email him at erikanderson07@gmail. com.

”Natural Selection: Experiencing Change” — through Feb. 26, Delaplaine Arts Center, 40 S. Carroll St., Frederick. Paintings by S. Manya Stoumen–Tolino. The idea of natural selection belongs to human ideas about how organic forms evolve and endure, or not. In this series, StoumenTolino reflects on major forms, lines, and color experienced in the natural world that express the inherent changes constantly occurring in all living things. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 301-698-0656 or delaplaine. org.

”Drifting Through Deep Time” — through Feb. 26, Delaplaine Arts Center, 40 S. Carroll St., Frederick. Photography by Keith Kozloff. A reflection on “deep time,” a term applied to how we conceive of geological timescales. Constructing a photographic narrative loosely based on the protocontinent Avalonia, his work is a reflection on human attention and humanity’s capacity to understand Earth’s life support systems. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 301-698-0656 or delaplaine. org.

”Diversity, Equity and Inclusion”

— through Feb. 26, Blanche Ames Gallery, 4880 Elmer Derr Road, Frederick. Features nine artists from the Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association. Call 301-473-7680 for gallery hours or visit frederickuu.org.

“Community Threads: Connectivity through Creativity” — through Feb. 26. This exhibition was curated as a vignette showcase that reflects the array of creativity within the Frederick County Art Association, with work by 16 members. DISTRICT Arts, 15 N. Market St., Frederick. Districtarts.com.

”Natural Selections” — through Feb. 26, NOMA Gallery, 437 N. Market St., Frederick. Works by artists Melissa Penley Cormier and Caitlin Gill investigate the natural world as metaphor. Cormier uses photography and installations to document and explore how we mark time. Gill uses printmaking, sculpting, drawing, collage, painting and fiber to create artwork that explores ideas of identity, femininity and domesticity. Hours are noon to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. 240-367-9770.

Brad Blair: “Divergent Entities” — through Feb. 26, Delaplaine Arts Center, 40 S. Carroll St., Frederick. Blair’s curiosity of the unknown, paired with a strong imagination and an inquisitive mindset, leads him to create art what provides wonder and examination. His ceramic work in this exhibition are obscure oddities that help convey a message regarding this mysterious life we live, in a universe yet to be explored fully. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 301-698-0656 or delaplaine.org.

“When A Tree Falls” — through Feb. 26, Delaplaine Arts Center, 40 S. Carroll St., Frederick. Selected woodturners from throughout Maryland join artistic forces with local Frederick artists for a treethemed exhibition of handcrafted woodturnings, presented alongside paintings, carvings and prints. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 301-6980656 or delaplaine.org.

”Home Free: A Farewell to California” — through Feb. 26, Delaplaine Arts Center, 40 S. Carroll St., Frederick. The photographs in this exhibition are a part of Brandon Oleksy’s final farewell to the state he

Cumberland Valley Artists and Photographers Exhibitions

Experience 95 pieces from 86 area artists & photographers!

February 11-April 23, 2023

Washington County Museum of Fine Arts

401 Museum Drive, Hagerstown 301-739-5727 | wcmfa.org | Free admission called home for as long as he can remember. The collection comprises scenes that he and others residents passed a thousand times, and are both a remembrance of place and the start of calling a new place “home.” 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 301698-0656 or delaplaine.org.

”UNSHUTTERED: Celebrating Photojournalism of The Frederick News-Post — through April 1 at the Frederick Book Arts Center, 217 W. Patrick St., Frederick. Curated by Nancy Luse, the show celebrates the News-Post photographers during the era of film. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday. 301-228-9816 or contact@ frederickbookarts.org.

”Together We Rise” — through Feb. 28, EastSide Artists’ Gallery, 313 E. Patrick St., Frederick. A world traveler, most of Kianna Nobles’ photography captures the world from Iceland to South Korea to France. She also does portraits and street photography. This month, she is focusing on Black History Month with guest artists Gaby Nobody (Gaby) and Big Stratus (Jasmine). 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. eastsideartists313@gmail. com.

“Mingling Echoes” — through March 3, Phaze 2 Gallery, 98 West Campus Drive, Shepherdstown, W.Va. Work by Lauren Koch, adjunct professor of sculpture who incorporates found and repurposed objects from a personal collection amassed over the past three decades from many places. 304876-5159, eboggess@shepherd.edu, shepherd.edu/art/phaze-2-gallery.

”Scents of It All” — through March 3, Gallery B, 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. Explore the artists interruption of scent, evoking emotional memory and transporting self through space and time. Noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. 301-215-6660 or bethesda.org/bethesda/gallery-bexhibitions.

”Behind the Fold” — through March 5, BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown. Showcasing the works of nationally known sculptor, amateur magician, and former Carnegie Melon professor, Dan Droz. Artist talk Feb. 25. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 301528-2260 or blackrockcenter.org.

”Unfolding Reality” — through March 10, Esther Prangley Rice Gallery, Peterson Hall, McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster. Student honors art exhibition features a variety of work from six art majors. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. 410-857-2595 or mcdaniel.edu.

“Home Away From Home” — March 1 to 26, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. March 4 at DISTRICT Arts, 15 N. Market St., Frederick. Laurenee Gauvin’s homage to her Haitian roots. This featured-artist exhibition introduces an emotional look into what home feels like in today’s climate and reflects the journey and the arrival of Gauvin as an exciting and thought-provoking presence on the contemporary art scene. Districtarts.com.

”Angry Women Done Swallowing Our Words” — March 5 through April 30, Blanche Ames Gallery, 4880 Elmer Derr Road, Frederick. Featuring the work of Kristan Ryan. Artist reception and talk 11:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. March 5. For gallery hours, call 301-473-7689 or visit frederickuu.org.

May the best tea cozy win

A tea cozy is defined as a “thick or padded cover of a teapot to keep the tea hot.” The first documented tea cozy in writing was in 1867 England, however, it is thought that it might date back to the 1600s, when tea was first introduced to England.

One tale says the tea cozy was accidentally invented in Ireland. A farmer leaned across the table, legend says, and his hat fell on top of the teapot. When he later removed it, the tea was still warm.

A tea cozy is as varied as a tea drinker.

Some are knitted like a woolen hat complete with a pom-pom on top; some are made of thick material, often with a decorative pattern; at restaurants, some include a metal exterior to protect the inner fabric. The early tea cozy allowed the women of the house to have a creative outlet, while still having the practicality of keeping the tea warm during the traditional afternoon tea. The tea cozy, though, would never be used during social teas with the elaborate silver sets because a silver set was meant to be shown, not hidden

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