The rain of the night before had turned into a heavy sleet, followed by
blustering weather. All day the sun was hidden by gray clouds,
accompanied with fitful snow showers; but at last the clouds were
dispelled and the following morning dawned clear and cold.
As the sun slowly rose above the horizon he added dazzling brilliance to
the already lovely landscape.
The mercury was very little above zero as I sought the woods to reap the
full benefit of this wonderful transformation of Nature. Just two days
ago she wore her usual garb of neutral tints; but what a magical change
the Frost King had wrought in this time! The earth was now covered with
a white mantle of snow and every tree and shrub had on a glittering
armor of sleet. A few minutes’ brisk walk over the crisp snow brought me
to a corn field, and by wending my way along a path through this field I
arrived at a strip of woodland. Here the path merged into a narrow wagon
road cut out of a steep bluff. The entrance to this road introduced me
to a land of enchantment.
On either side the face of the bluff was covered with a tangled growth
of shrubs, briers and weeds, while above were trees whose over-arching
branches sparkled in the sun, showing all the colors of the rainbow.
Every branch and twig was decked with gems—rubies, sapphires, emeralds
and diamonds everywhere—and diamond dust formed a carpet underneath. The
low bushes at the base of the bank where sheltered from the wind’s
disarranging blast, were wrapped in finest ermine. Just in front of me,
to the left, was a wild rose, a fountain of purest crystal, the effect
heightened by its scarlet hips. A little further on was a small tree
draped with a tangled vine with clusters of pendant fruit, like
crystallized grapes. On the other hand were raspberry canes, the livid
red gleaming through the dazzling frost, and all around was goldenrod,
more resplendent than when its golden blossoms lighted the way in
autumn, and the asters shone like jewel-rayed stars.
A barbed-wire fence, as far as the eye could reach, was converted into
endless strings of pearls. I gazed upon this vision until, becoming
dazzled, I turned from the sun to rest my eyes, and in the background
saw trees that formed pearly silhouettes against the dark blue sky. Was
any enchanted land more entrancing?
Turning again, I resumed my walk to the foot of the hill, and, by the
aid of the bushes and saplings, scrambled up its precipitous face and
pushed onward through the underbrush, parting the interlacing branches
as I went until I reached a ravine.
I continued onward, recognizing the familiar trees everywhere; though
divested of foliage and incased in crystal, each variety has its
distinctive form and bark. A musical tinkle accompanied every movement
as I brushed the twigs and grasses along the way.
One not accustomed to the study of Nature in her various moods might
suppose that such a landscape would be devoid of animation. But this was
not the case. A very pleasing feature of the scene was the animal life
that abounded. A rabbit snugly concealed beneath a bunch of grass
started up, bounded away, and was soon lost to view in the thicket.
Small flocks of snowbirds and chickadees were flitting gaily about. A
crow sat in the top of a majestic oak and cawed lustily in answer to one
that was faintly heard in the distance. A pair of cardinals flew about
the border of the woods, and a single woodpecker was high up on the
trunk of a tree, while another, whose form could not be detected, was
hammering away. All these were suited to the environment, but not so was
yonder lone blackbird, doubtless a straggler from a flock which had
settled in the tree of the yard in the early morning.
Lured by the pleasant, mild weather of the preceding week, they had
arrived only to encounter snow and mid-winter, and would doubtless
retreat to more congenial surroundings and absent themselves until the
true springtime should herald the approach of summer.
Addie L. Booker.