That Tree Came out of Nowhere

Some people think snowmobiling can be obnoxious and dangerous, while some may think it is fun and peaceful. Whichever way you ride, it can come to a screeching halt all of a sudden. Let’s just say lessons can be learned when coming to a screeching halt. When riding snowmobiles it is especially important to make sure they won’t break down. When it gets dark at around four o’clock in the evening and temperatures dip into the single digits, maybe even less, it is important to make sure that the snowmobile you’re riding doesn’t break down. When I was riding with my buddy Logan, he had a pretty unfortunate snowmobile season during sophomore year. (and I have pictures to prove it) First, it was his exhaust pipe coming loose and his dad having to come to help him, then it was fouled spark plugs, then it was him sliding into a tree, and on top of all this taking the most epic stunt jump of his life. (I also have video evidence of this)  And riding back to his house from the jump scene at an average speed of 20MPH because his hand was killing him since it bent in such an unnatural way when he crashed. Through all this he still decided to keep ripping along with me, Conner, Tyler, Isaac, Adam, Alex Ben, and other guys we’d go rip with. 

Last season I had been cruising along the trail with my dad right after I had put my brand-new Ripsaw track in my snowmobile. Little did I know today I would pull a stunt like Logan pulled previously. I was so hyped to be out riding again. Until a tree happened. I came around the corner and smashed into a tree, bending the tunnel of my snowmobile along with many other vital components. I was defeated, not even half an hour into the ride I had wrecked it. As soon as I got home I pulled it into the garage and started to melt the snow to see the real damage that had been done. The sled was straight as a roundabout. It needed some pretty extensive work to get it fixed right. I was mad at myself for doing something so stupid, but at the end of the day, I learned to never take an L, just call it a lesson.

I have a crazy relationship with trees. Coming home from work one night, it was a pretty cold night from what I remember. It was still mid to late winter at this point, and I remember seeing the road and I thought to myself “This ain’t even that bad looking, I don’t even see any accumulated snow or ice”. Until I did. I was coming around a corner doing maybe around 40MPH and as I was turning the wheel to go around the corner, the car just kept going straight down an embankment into a puny tree right down the road from Lexi’s house. As I sat in my car, I saw coolant smoke come up from the radiator. All kinds of lights going off on the dash. I hopped out of the car into the winter night and saw it as it sat. Smashed into a tree, just like my snowmobile was. The first thing I said was “Dude this is cool” as it hissed and whined away in pain. By this tree, I was Unphased, as that same night, not even 30 minutes later, I and Kyle Delano hung out in my basement after Triple-A tow truck pulled it out of the ditch and put it in my yard. Eventually, I got all the parts and pieces from the Junkyard and put it together one piece at a time

Through setbacks, we learn lessons. If one can accept the temporary suffering and pain of these setbacks, one will achieve greatness on the other side. All these lessons me, my friends, and my class learn every day make or break us. We can either give up and become staid, or forget how we feel about the situation and persevere through these challenges and turn them into lessons. Some of you will become nurses, psychologists, therapists, tradesmen, teachers, go into the field of business, and more. No matter what field you decide to go into there will always be something trying to drag you down no matter what. It’s up to you to make that decision to let these things make you or break you.

“2002 Volvo S60 AWD in Black Sapphire, Front Left, 11-12-2022” by Elise240SX is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.