This weekend, students of the Interlochen Arts Academy will present Rogers and Hammerstein's "Carousel."
Though it's one of their darker works, this musical closes with a song that has comforted generations: “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
When you walk through a storm,
Hold your head up high,
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the storm,
there's a golden sky...
In the musical, walking through a storm is a metaphor for enduring hard times. But here in the north woods, storms are not just metaphors. Some of us have walked through real storms, through wind and rain, through forest fires, and most recently through ice storms.
To see a region broken by storm — trees splintered, orchards laid bare — is to feel genuine heartbreak.
But storms are not new. Ever since there have been forests, there have been storms. Yet, there is hope.
Forests, like people, are resilient. A fierce storm topples the old and the diseased trees, opening the canopy, letting in the light which falls on young maples and on beech seedlings.
Fallen trees return to the earth, adding nutrients to the soil with their decay. Openings foster biodiversity , as sun-loving plants take root, and birds and animals find food and shelter in the broken places.
In the past few years, our forests have experienced many storms, most recently, exquisite but ravishing ice storms.
But as the song promises, at the end of the storm, a golden sky awaits and, eventually, we will see regeneration, renewal and a richer, more vibrant forest than before.
