I took a trip home to Canada one summer, and my sister, my husband, and I went out in a canoe and kayak for a paddle around the lake. My sister and I used to spend most summers at my grandparents' cabin in northern Ontario. Since my grandma passed away, we've liked to say her spirit is still present at the camp when we see or hear the loons singing on the water. The loon in this illustration surfaced out of the water right in front of my sister's kayak, closer than I've ever seen one before. She asked me to draw it for her, and this is the result.

An illustration of a girl in a swimsuit in a canoe looking out across a lake where a loon is swimming

Copyright © 2021 Kaila Elders