Family valued 2.9.05

Slave to the wave

What’s the deal with snow tubing? In my day, we used wooden
sleds or maybe silver saucers if our parents were really progressive. But a tube? What if it leads to hard-core winter sports?

            Thankfully,
snow tubing at Polar Wave in Batavia
is so much fun, your kid won’t need a new thrill
anytime soon. Preschoolers ride with adult co-captains. School-aged kids pilot
individual tubes. Teens command large tandem tubes which hook together to form
flotillas. It’s enough to make Admiral Nelson squeal with delight.

            Parents
like Polar Wave, too. Employees carefully fasten towropes onto the tubes at the
bottom of the hill and manage hilltop traffic. The six-run hill is
exhilarating, but doesn’t scream “potential brain damage.” Plus, there’s a TV
in the snack bar so you can catch up on important world events, like basketball
games and soap operas.

            At $11.99
for two hours or $13.99 for three, it’s reasonably priced fun. Kids 42 inches and under ride for $4 off these prices. Buy
tickets at Wegmans and save $1.

            Polar Wave
is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Ride February 21 through 25, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
other weekdays by reservation only. For info visit
www.polarwavesnowtubing.com or call 888-727-2794.

            Make your
kid appreciate Polar Wave’s towropes with some preliminary sledding at local
parks. Ellison is a convenient option. Northampton
in Ogden is a great choice, too
with its wide slope. Visit www.monroecounty.gov or call 256-4950.

— Linda Kostin
(www.junkstorecowgirl.com)

This week for
families:

African
American Scavenger Hunt Mon-Sat, Feb 14-19.Wheatley
Library Branch, 33 Dr. Samuel
McCree Way. 428-8212

Brighton Memorial Library Stories for pre-K:
Mondays 10 a.m.; for toddlers:
Mondays 10:30 a.m.; for families:
Thursdays 7 p.m. | Through Feb 25:
Alice B. Wilson Literary Awards Contest, for Brighton
residents grades 6-12. | 2300 Elmwood Ave,
784-5300

Clifford’s
Valentine’s Day Party Mon, Feb 14.StrongMuseum, 1 Manhattan Sq, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $7, $5 kids. 263-2700, www.strongmuseum.org

Henrietta Public
Library Stories for preschoolers: Wed, Feb 9, 10:15-10:45 a.m. and Tues, Feb 15, 11-11:30 a.m. | Afterschoolstorytime: Thurs, Feb 10, grades K-3, 4-4:45 p.m. | 455 Calkins Rd. 359-7092, www.hpl.org

Interrupting VanessaSat-Sun,
through Feb 20. Big Theatre for Little People, recommended ages 5-12, Geva Theatre, 75 Woodbury Blvd, Sat 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Sun
1 and 4 p.m. $9-$12. 232-4382, www.gevatheatre.org

Jungle Jog T-Shirt
Design Contest through Feb 28. For kids up to 12 years old, theme: black
bears. Mail to SenecaPark Zoo, 2222 St Paul St, Rochester,
14621. www.senecaparkzoo.org, 336-7213

Make Worlds From
Words Sun, Feb 13. Storytelling, Jay Stetzer,
SchweinfurthMemorialArtCenter, 205 Genesee St, Auburn, 2 p.m. $3, free for kids. 315-255-1553

Monday Kicks Mon,
Feb 14. For ages 2-6, StrongMuseum,
1 Manhattan Sq, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $7, $5 kids. 263-2700

Open House Wed,
Feb 16. HillelSchool, 191
Fairfield Dr, 6:30-8
p.m. 271-6877

Paper Sculptures and
Paper Stories Sun, Feb 13. Storytelling, book talks, MemorialArtGallery, 500 University Ave, 1 p.m. Free. 473-7720

Preschool Workshop Thurs,
Feb 10. For ages 2.5-5, art project, story, tour, MemorialArtGallery, 500 University Ave, 10:30
a.m.-12 p.m. $17. 473-7720

Science Saturday Sat,
Feb 12. Amazing animal artists, Rochester Museum and Science Center, 657 East
Ave, 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Tix: $5-$7. 271-1880, www.rmsc.org

Seneca Park Zoo 2222
St Paul St. Wednesdays, book and beast, 11 a.m.
Hours: daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m.Tix: $5, $4 seniors, $2 kids.
467-9453, www.senecazoo.org

Swimming
Lessons Saturdays through Mar 21.Ages 7-13,
various recreation centers and schools. Free. 241-4443

Tapping
Your Feet to the KlezmerBeat Wed, Feb 16.Concert, Making American
Music series, StrongMuseum, 1 Manhattan Sq, 7:30
p.m. $15. 263-2701 ext 314

Tutoring
Program through Sat, Mar 12.For ages 6-18.MonroeHigh School pool, 164
Alexander St (Saturdays, 9:15-11:15 a.m.); FrederickDouglassSchool, 940 Fernwood (Saturdays, 9:15-11:15 a.m.); AdamsStreetCommCenter, 85 Adams St (Tues and Thurs, 3:30-5 p.m.); NorthStreetCommCenter, 700 North St (Tues and Thurs, 3:30-5 p.m.) Free.
Info: 428-7888

Bell the cat

Learn as if you were
following someone whom you could not catch up, as though it were someone you
were frightened of losing. — The Analects of Confucius, Book VIII.17

            There is a
wonderful Aesop’s Fable called “Belling the Cat.” In it, a committee of mice
meets to determine what to do about a fiendishly stealthy feline that has been
wreaking havoc on their community. One young mouse suggests tying a bell around
the cat’s neck so they’d always hear it coming. This suggestion meets with
enthusiastic approval until a wizened old mouse asks the fateful question, “And
who among us will bell the cat?”

            We grow
old, but why grow weary? Must we tire of ponderous things? We are the
beneficiaries of ancestral toil, and inherit complex tools and harrowing tasks
of our own. Unhealthy cycles must be terminated. Broken lives repaired.
Enlightenment restoked. Globally, AIDs
might be our polio; the fuel cell our quest for fire;
deep space our uncharted ocean.

            We can stop
spending time like AWOL drunken sailors taking extended leave of our senses,
and start thinking like sober captains with destination and mission ever in
mind. We can grow, even as we grow old. We are called to foment change and
growth for our families and the world.

            Embrace
again your most dangerous challenge. Imagine some distant kin with your
portrait on the wall saying: “…oh, that? That’s my great, great-grand… (S)he belled the cat.”

            Don’t quit
now. Bell that cat.

— Rev. Corey Keyes

This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2005.