Taylor's Terrific Blogs

I actually have two superpowers! My first superpower is that I can be very helpful! We have 80 acres of bush land and a camp in the country. I am very good at helping out when it comes to cutting down trees for firewood and when we have to split, pile, and bring it to our house and re-pile it there. It’s a quite a bit of work, but it’s so much fun! I love the smell of the cedar and the sound of the axe as it splits the wood perfectly in two! I am helpful around the house as well because I do the dishes, and sometimes I get supper ready when my parents are coming home from work.

My second superpower is writing! Writing is so much fun. I can sit and write for hours if it’s a topic I’m interested in! I love blogging and writing about my life. I love the click of each key on the keyboard and posting pictures that go along with the writing pieces.

What’s your superpower?

 

Today I will be talking about each person on our curling team! To have a curling team, you need four people. If you’re not familiar with curling, it is a sport played on ice, but without skates or hockey sticks. You throw big, weighted rocks down the ice, and you try to get them in the house. When I say “throw rocks,’’ I mean sliding them down the ice, and when I say “house,’’ I mean the big circle at each end of the ice. The small circle in the middle of the house is called the “button,” and the rock closest to the button gets the point for their team.

Lead: Sophia

I’ve known Sophia for five years! Sophia is the Lead on our curling team, which means she throws the first two rocks. To be a good Lead, you must have a controlled throw that goes nicely in the house because there are not many rocks in the house yet.

Second: Morgan

Morgan is my twin sister. Morgan is Second on our curling team, which means that she throws the second set of two rocks. To be a good Second, you have to be able to throw rocks in the house (as every person needs to be able to do). But, for this position, you need to be able to throw the rock with a little more power because there are more rocks in the house, so there is a chance you will need to do a knock-out. This means that you knock your opponent’s rock out of the house, and therefore, it is out of play.

Vice: Chloe

I’ve known Chloe since I was in kindergarten! Chloe is the Vice on our curling team, which means she throws the third set of two rocks. To be a good Vice, you must be able to throw the rock hard to do knock-outs but also softly to get it in the house nicely. The Vice is a special position because they help the Skip!

Skip: Taylor

I am the Skip on our curling team, which means I throw the last two rocks. To be a good Skip, you have to be able to throw the rock at a lot of different speeds. The Skip is a little different than the rest of the positions because they stand at the other end of the ice and point their broom at their team members. Doing that helps their team members know which way to turn the rock and where to throw it. The Vice goes to help the Skip when it’s the Skips turn to throw the rock.

Sweeping:

Every player except the Skip sweeps. After one of the players throws the rock, the sweepers tell the Skip if the rock is heavy or light. If the rock is light, the Skip will tell the sweepers to sweep. Doing that means the sweepers will take their broom and sweep in front of the rock to smooth out its path so the rock continues to move and doesn’t stop. If the rock is heavy, the Skip will shout to the sweepers, “Off!” or “Don’t sweep!” There are always two sweepers.

Every year our team goes to a couple of bonspiels. We curl every Monday night at the Winchester Curling Club, beside the arena. We have been a curling team for 3 years and counting! 😊

 

 

I love sports! I want to tell you about one in particular that I do called equestrian vaulting! Some of you might know what this is, but for the ones that don’t, I’ll tell you a bit about it!

Equestrian vaulting is where you do gymnastics on a horse! The ranch where my twin sister and I do it is called Nation Valley Ranch. You have to specifically have the horses trained for this sport because you are moving all over the horses – standing, rolling and cartwheeling off them. At Nation Valley Ranch, there are 4 horses to vault on. We practice the moves on a barrel that has a vaulting saddle on it. It is stationed high up off the ground, so we can practice getting on it as if it’s the horse. We even have a stationary barrel that canters. So we practice our moves on the barrel first and then move to the horse when we are ready.

My sister and I are on the competitive team, so that means we travel to fairs and to the other vaulting clubs in Ontario to show and compete. To be on the competitive team, we have to go an extra two Saturdays a month and do more training, including dance, yoga, cross-fit, and parkour. When our vaulting club hosts shows for family and friends, we also do tricks on silks. If you don’t know what that is, it means that you do flips, tricks, and drops from a special kind of silk that hangs 30 feet in the air, tied to the barn coverall roof. Silks are part of our Saturday training classes, along with the lira, which is a hoop in the air that we also do tricks on. When we vault, there is a lunger, which means we are not in control of the horse. The lunger has a lead rope, and they are guiding the horse to make sure that the horse doesn’t go out of control.

There are only 4 vaulting clubs in Ontario. One club is 6 hours away, and the other two clubs are each 3 hours away. When we go to competitions, the judge flies in from British Columbia because there are no qualified equestrian vaulting judges in Ontario.

When we vault, we have different kinds of routines. We have a solo routine, a doubles’ routine, and a group routine with 4 or 5 kids! There are kids at all different levels. The horses can travel at different speeds, depending on the level of the vaulter. They can walk, trot, or even canter for the advanced vaulters! The most people we can put on the horse at a time when we are doing tricks is 3, but we hop on and off when the horse is moving and when we are transitioning from move to move.

My sister and I really enjoy equestrian vaulting, and we hope it will be in the Olympics one day!

Do you think you would like to try this sport?

If I had to choose to spend the rest of my life in a library, museum or a zoo, I would choose a library! In a public library, there would be new people every day, so I would meet and talk to a lot of different kinds of people. In some libraries, there are computers that the public is allowed to use, so I would spend some time on there and talk to my friends. And don’t forget I’m in a library, so obviously, I would read A LOT of books because I love reading. Also, in most libraries there are tables and comfy chairs, so I would sit there and read. In every library there’s a librarian, so I would also talk a lot and play games with them. I would get to enjoy new types of books that I wouldn’t normally read because I would have lots of time to read and check out new things. With all this reading, my mind and my vocabulary would grow to be amazing!

 What would you choose a library, museum or a zoo?   

 

 

 

 

I’m from jumping off docks

and going super-fast

flying though the air

and hitting the cold water

 

From sitting in a tree stand

early  in the morning with my dad,

and fishing off the boat with my grandpa Ron

 

I’m from running very fast

hitting each base and

hopping on a horse doing tricks

with a smile on my face

 

I am from driving 2 days down south

to an amusement park,

renting a house and hanging out

in a hot tub, and coming back home

sleeping in my own bed

cuddling my fury little creature

 

From 2 and a half years

Of wearing a mask, and staying 6 feet,

hand sanitising each place you went

 

I am from going to church

each Sunday

from singing songs, and praying

 

I’m from going to a place

where the falls are in the shape of a horse shoe

from watching my older sister

set and spike balls over the net

 

I’m from 12 years of

Special moments with my family and friends

from laughing and singing

loudly with the music