Spotlight

Spring on Sugar Island
By Sarah Sloan, Middle School Student

The water is still. Ripples lap up against the shore silently. The trees and bushes sprout miniscule buds, alerting inhabitants of the change in season. Rain washes away the last traces of Old Man Winter, bringing with it high-pitched bird chirps and a sodden landscape. Spherical droplets of water shower down upon the sprouting ground. A sweet wind so unlike the harsh winter gales stir the branches. The sound is comforting and warm. The air has an earthy smell mixed with the luxurious aromas of the forest. It is pleasant to breath in and cleanses the mind. Lichen flourishes with new color on rocks that litter the soft forest floor. Geese call out to one another as they glide above the river searching for a place to rest their wings, the tips of pine trees blurred by thick tasting air. What was once prickly and foreboding becomes round and approachable. The low hanging clouds and haze create the illusion of mysterious organisms waiting just through the mist. Spring on Sugar Island returns.

Sarah Sloan grew up in northern Michigan and spent her childhood outdoors. She recently moved to Ann Arbor and exchanged expansive forests for cement jungles, but makes time to journey north and counts down the days until she can do so, starting from the moment she leaves.

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