PREPARING FOR SPRING 203 



These leafy circles appear like hopeful claims staked 

 out for flowering spaces in the spring* The treasure 

 located there is the mystery of life. ** In dark soil 

 and the silence of the seeds the robe of spring it 

 weaves/' Where it is not sustained in the vigorous 

 evergreens, the surviving circles of leaves, or the 

 hidden roots that endure the winter, it lives in the 

 inert seeds that have been scattered and hidden in 

 bewildering variety in every crack and wrinkle of the 

 receptive earth. It seems strange that every foot 

 of that solidly-frozen surface is instinct with life, 

 dormant for the moment, but ready to renew its 

 infinitude of activities with the changing seasons. 



