Spring can be a treacherous time of year as ice weakens, snow melts and temperatures zigzag between T-shirts and parkas.

In Elk Rapids a few weeks ago, two children disappeared, their footprints heading out across a partially frozen lake.

In Marquette, a 14-year-old ran into a frozen swamp where snow measured thigh-deep, and night was falling.

In a New York City park, five kids climbed into the sewer system and started walking.

The instant dread we feel in these situations is like a direct transmission into our amygdala. This fear frequency plugs into our own wiring, reminding us of the universal terror of being lost, small and young.

Frantic calls go out. Thank goodness people hear them, and move to action.

In Antrim County, neighbors, 911, first responders from South Torch Lake Fire Department, Antrim County Sheriff’s Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard searched the area, by air and underwater.

In Marquette, conservation officers tracked the footprints through deep snows and water hazards.

In NYC, responders removed and listened at manhole covers for the kids’ shouts to pinpoint their location.

In Antrim, the two boys were found, unhurt, walking in downtown Elk Rapids, seven hours after the initial report. In Marquette, the boy was found on a snowbank. He’d fallen in the water, taken off his socks and shoes and wrapped his bare feet in his jacket to keep warm. The kids in the sewer were found after about an hour, and one had a minor leg injury.

These wins must be celebrated, as they can get lost easily in fresh sorrows — the Amish children killed in a buggy crash in Cadillac, the recent school shooting in Nashville.

In every fearful situation, the “finders” step forward, not knowing how those calls are going to turn out.

Trouble may abound around us, but it does not deter them.

They represent the best in us, and embody hope in an often devastating world.

— The Traverse City Record-Eagle