By Phoebe Jin Wardle

The ocean hits the shore that sounds like the wind playing hide and seek through the trees.

The clouds form together and the heavens open, the icy cold water mirrors the beauty up above.

As the sun sets and as you walk by the forest it feels like a place where you CAN believe in fairies, unicorns, and hobbits.

The orange sun shines through the trees and sets on the dew that sits on the elegant leaves created by Mother Nature, turning them gold.

This it the perfect picture to remember.

But because I didn’t put this scenery into a photograph, I put it into words, and look how beautiful they sound.

This is my escape,

This is the escape.

– Phoebe (named after her cousin Phoebe Blalock, a long-time resident of Lopez) was 14 when she wrote this poem.  She lives in Shanghai, China with her parents and 4 siblings. Phoebe is the great granddaughter of Bob and Nina Church who lived on Lopez for many years, and now comes to Lopez almost every summer to visit her grandparents Don and Mary Church.