128 THE NATURE-STUDY IDEA 



do, things to think about in the winter as in the 

 spring. There is interest in the winter wayside, in 

 the hibernating insects, in the fret-work of the 

 weeds against the snow, in the strong outlines of 

 the trees, in the snow-shapes, in the cold deep sky. 

 To many persons these strong alternations of the 

 seasons emphasize and punctuate the life. They 

 are the mountains and the valleys. The winter 

 makes the spring worth while. 



The lesson is that our interest in the out-of-doors 

 should be a perennial current that overflows from 

 the fountain that lies deep within us. This interest 

 is colored and modified by every passing season, 

 but fundamentally it is beyond time and place. 

 Winter or no winter, it matters not : the fields lie 

 beyond. 



