134 BOULDER REVERIES. 



poplar before me. They are evidently wooing, 

 preparatory to mating before the frost shall 

 have sapped their vigor. This is an uncommon 

 insect in this portion of the State and reaches 

 maturity only in late August, so that the hey- 

 day of its existence is confined to the autumn 

 months. 



The summer is almost gone whither I 

 know not. On but one or two days has the 

 mercury risen to or above 90 Far. ; but one or 

 two nights when blankets have not been a neces- 

 sity yet September is almost here. The so-called 

 summer months have, this year, been stricken 

 from my calendar and have left little to denote 

 their erstwhile presence. Man should measure 

 his life by the deeds accomplished; by the 

 thoughts, worthy and helpful, which his cere- 

 bral cells engender ; yet few deeds, few thoughts, 

 have been mine since the light of summer 

 dawned. My life can not, therefore, be meas- 

 ured for the three months now ending. I have 

 existed, not lived. I have dreamed dreams, not 

 done deeds. I have not grown "like the corn in 

 the night," as did Thoreau, while watching the 



