The Eambles of an Idler 



Expect nothing and so be rich in prepared- 

 ness. Set your picnic for the first fair day and 

 specify no date. Learn that dependence on the 

 weather is like trusting to luck, a sure way to 

 be miserable. That you may become better ac- 

 quainted with facts, why not, at least once in 

 your life, picnic in the rain? Perhaps the birds 

 will not sing, but pass the day with them, 

 whether they do or not. Misery loves company. 



An ideal day is one that is suggestive. We 

 must see something about which to think, later. 

 The harvest of an out-door day should be food 

 for thought. Not all gray skies are akin to 

 wet blankets, for sunshine does not reveal all 

 the earth's secrets. How Nature affects us 

 when she frowns is no matter ; but we are con- 

 cerned with her scowling effects upon wild life. 



Clear or cloudy, accept no day as typical. 

 Cloudiness and fog are not depressing. It is 

 only the wind that the birds detest. The cat- 

 bird is really musical now, almost an equal of 

 the thrasher, but not so persistent. Its tend- 

 ency to fret never so far overcomes as not to 

 permit finishing a pleasing song. 



Today I saw a pretty sight. Leaves all drip- 

 ping, and the cat-bird, perched upon a twig, 



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