Spring Is in the Air

As I lay outside, the rays of sun splash against my face.
The warmth wraps my body in a blanket of sunshine.
The breeze whispers to the world that a new is beginning,
That it is time awake and greet what surrounds us all.
The birds sound off to the rest, as if they are the wake up call.
The leaves rustle creating a calming rhythm.
The trees still bare from yesterdays storm.
But holding on their branches the hope for tomorrow.
The flowers stretch open their petals.
Over night it seems the world has gone from black and white
To full of color and life, enriched with greens and reds, purples and yellows.
As the weather changes so to the moods.
People seem chipper, and more intoned with the outside world around them.
The promises spring holds,
One for rebirth
One for life
One for a new
One for change
One for growth
But most of all one for
The promises of tomorrow’s glory.
The rays hold that promise, the promise that the days will grow longer, brighter and towards the season of summer.
by Corinne, Senior

Sharing Nature With a Friend

Date: 3/23/09
Place: Woods around my friend’s house
Time: 3:00 pm
Weather: sunny, warm

Today my best friend and I decided to mark a beautiful day with a hike through the woods. We tended to venture between the stream and the path most of the time. We prefer to find our own way through the forest.
From the main path we found a small cliff that seemed to be formed by whoever cut the path because the base of the cliff was the side of the path. We decided to climb it. It was only about 20 feet up but it was pretty vertical and difficult to maneuver. It was almost a race, but we didn’t want to rush too much and fall. It was so much fun. Once we were at the top it seemed to be so much higher up. The view was beautiful. We could see the path, the creek, and we even spotted a deer a ways off.
To share nature with a friend is truly magical. The more people you share it with, the more point of views you can appreciate and the more pairs of eyes you have to see the wonders that the world has to offer.
by Shelley, Senior

Northwood Litter Clean-up

On Sunday, March 8th, students, teachers, and community members came together to clean-up litter on school grounds and in the wooded corridor next to the school. This clean-up was part of a litter advocacy project to clean-up plastic bags, collect data on them, and advocate to state legislators about their environmental impact. During the clean-up, 326 plastic bags were picked-up, weighing 40 pounds. In all, participants cleaned-up 267 pounds of trash.

Wildlife in a Suburban Stream

Friday 2/13/09- It was a mild and overcast day. I was walking home from school on an iron bridge over Long Branch. I noticed that below me were three pairs of Mallards wading and skimming the sooty bottom for daces and macro invertebrates. There were three males with their distinctive dark glossy green heads, brown chests, dark blue wing tips, and yellow bills, as well as three dull brown colored females with their deep orange bills. They were all very timid and restless. The closer you got to them, the further away they’ll swim from you. Some waddled up to the bank exposing their red orange webbed feet. They all made nervous, muffled quacks, probably as a signal to keep their distance.
The ducks had good reason to be anxious, for there were four Turkey Vultures soaring overhead in the canopy, probably in search of nearby carrion. They couldn’t sit still. A few would continuously swoop down to perch on the Tulip poplar and Red Oak branches. They certainly stood out among many objects in the forest, with their prominent bald red heads, ivory colored beaks with large nostrils, dark brow plumage, scaly stork-like legs, and broad wing spans. All of this activity scared off the timid Mallards, causing them to take off and flee downstream leaving behind a trail of splashes and ripples in the creek.
By Paul, Senior