50p
Spring has Sprung!
Pleasantly surprised to have a Monday with only three classes because of AP exams, I wandered over to the sunlit balcony of Crooks Hall overlooking the ocean to study for the multitude of quizzes or tests which inevitably pile up in anticipation of a Mid-Term Break. Under a sweeping blue sky, however, my plans to study were delightfully thwarted by the wind, gleefully flapping the pages of my Art History textbook back and forth – and by the melting fingers of the sun, prying my concentration away from analyzing the architectural components of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to gaze at a flock of seagulls squawking eagerly as they meandered over the rocky beach exposed by the low tide, on the lookout for clams.
The glorious light of third term has finally arrived: sunrays are pouring frantic, glittery shimmers of silver over the rising tops of the sea, and Spring has unfurled her gorgeous petals to bask in the long-awaited warmth. Bright tulips by the Maeda Health Centre sway a waltz with the wind under the sun’s spotlight, their petal-coats of red and pink blushing under the shine, and drifting whimsically from cherry blossom trees, the little leaves speckle the rough concrete path with a soft carpet of pink. Once barren tree branches in the winter have now proudly grown shocking green clusters of shrubbery just as Harry Potter’s hair magically sprung overnight into a rowdy but triumphant mess.
In a lame effort to avoid the distraction of flourishing foliage, I close my eyes, but the closing of one sense only amplifies the other four: it is impossible to block out the salty, tell-tale tang of the sea when it is at low tide, mingled with the luring scent of fresh soil and mowed grass, or to feel your skin melt into the delicious, enveloping warmth, or to close your ears to the bustling symphony composed by the busy murmur of the bees zipping from flower to flower, the delighted conversations of swooping seagulls, and the gentle, lazy lapping of the tide.
The heat is coaxing everyone to come out – for why on earth should you be inside when the sun is bursting resplendently on the other side of the glass? Summer, summer, summer – the end is beating like a not-so-distant drum. We’re in the middle of AP week, on the cusp of the Grad Dinner-Dance, and about to graduate from high school forever: the end of an era — in every sense of the word — is leaping towards us. Perhaps these nature-heavy scenes will be one of the most difficult things to part with on leaving Brentwood – for whatever will we do without that wide, sprawling view of the ocean stretching towards Mount Baker, or those moments lying on the field watching the sky turn above our heat-hazed bodies, minds free and unencumbered for that single moment, a vacuum of peaceful nothingness? Grab a cold drink, put on your shorts, don a pair of shades, and go outside!
Cherrie K, Class of 2012
The glorious light of third term has finally arrived: sunrays are pouring frantic, glittery shimmers of silver over the rising tops of the sea, and Spring has unfurled her gorgeous petals to bask in the long-awaited warmth. Bright tulips by the Maeda Health Centre sway a waltz with the wind under the sun’s spotlight, their petal-coats of red and pink blushing under the shine, and drifting whimsically from cherry blossom trees, the little leaves speckle the rough concrete path with a soft carpet of pink. Once barren tree branches in the winter have now proudly grown shocking green clusters of shrubbery just as Harry Potter’s hair magically sprung overnight into a rowdy but triumphant mess.
In a lame effort to avoid the distraction of flourishing foliage, I close my eyes, but the closing of one sense only amplifies the other four: it is impossible to block out the salty, tell-tale tang of the sea when it is at low tide, mingled with the luring scent of fresh soil and mowed grass, or to feel your skin melt into the delicious, enveloping warmth, or to close your ears to the bustling symphony composed by the busy murmur of the bees zipping from flower to flower, the delighted conversations of swooping seagulls, and the gentle, lazy lapping of the tide.
The heat is coaxing everyone to come out – for why on earth should you be inside when the sun is bursting resplendently on the other side of the glass? Summer, summer, summer – the end is beating like a not-so-distant drum. We’re in the middle of AP week, on the cusp of the Grad Dinner-Dance, and about to graduate from high school forever: the end of an era — in every sense of the word — is leaping towards us. Perhaps these nature-heavy scenes will be one of the most difficult things to part with on leaving Brentwood – for whatever will we do without that wide, sprawling view of the ocean stretching towards Mount Baker, or those moments lying on the field watching the sky turn above our heat-hazed bodies, minds free and unencumbered for that single moment, a vacuum of peaceful nothingness? Grab a cold drink, put on your shorts, don a pair of shades, and go outside!
Cherrie K, Class of 2012
75p
