"The Chase" and My Observation

      "The Chase" is written by Annie Dillard, who won the Pulitzer Prize and published dozens of books. "The Chase" describes a certain event during Dillard's childhood. During this time, she was seven years old and was considered "one of the boys". She played sports, such as football and baseball, with the boys in her neighborhood and played them as well as any other boy. Dillard learned something from football. If you fall, concentrate on the ball and try to leap forward. In other words: when you fail at something, try to make the best of it and work hard to achieve that goal.
      On the day after Christmas, Dillard and the rest of the boys come out from their homes looking for something to occupy their time. They gather around the front yard on a house located on Reynolds Street. As cars pass by, they throw snowballs at them to pass the time. Each car moved by at a slow pace and did not really care about the little kids having fun. But then a black Buick rolls along and is hit by the boys. This time, the driver is not so nonchalant. The business-ready dressed man comes out of his car and chases the children mercilessly. They split up and Dillard and one of the boys ends up being the man's main target.
      As the chase drags on, the children are finally caught by the man. After several minutes of catching their breaths, the man finally speaks.

       "You stupid kids," the man blurts out.

       Dillard actually remembers this event as one of the happiest times of her life. She enjoyed the thrill of being chased and the comradery with the other boys. She had fun playing without another care in the world. But who wouldn't enjoy that?
      During my childhood, which was not so long ago, I had great fun in the snow. We would build snowmen and have snowball fights all day long. Dillard's story greatly reminds me of my time in the icy wonderland as a child and brings me a desire to travel back to that time. I had no responsibilities, no grade-threatening exams to study for, and no endless amounts of homework. I had all of the time in the world at my hands and I could do whatever I wanted with it.
      Reading this story brought back those precious memories and entertained me thoroughly. 


~ David N.