372 THE GARDEN, YOU, AND I 



Does it ever seem to you strange that our con- 

 trariness began within the year of our legendary 

 creation, when Eve came to misery not by gazing 

 in a bonnet shop, but when innocently wandering in 

 her garden, the most beautiful of earth ? By which we 

 women gardeners should all take warning, for though 

 the Tree of Life may be found in every garden, 



" Yet sin and sorrow's pedigree 

 Spring from a garden and a tree." 



December 10. Snow a month earlier than last year, 

 but we rejoice in it, for it will keep the winds from the 

 roots of the trees not yet wholly settled and comfort- 

 able in their new homes. The young hemlocks are 

 bewitching in their wreaths and garlands, and one or 

 two older trees give warmth to the woods beyond the 

 Opal Farm and sweep the low, snow-covered meadow, 

 that looks like a crystal lake, with their feathery 

 branches. The cedars were beautiful in the May 

 woods and so are they now, where I see them through 

 the gap standing sentinels against the white of the 

 brush lot. It seems to me that we cannot have too 

 many evergreens any more than we can have too much 

 cheerfulness. 



There are no paths hi the garden now, a hint that 

 our feet must travel elsewhere for a time, and I 



