NATURE'S DREAMS 



Nature has drawn her white coverlet and tucked 

 it carefully in around about her, calmly composed 

 for a sound, tranquil sleep. This is the casual and 

 quieting impression from an easy position above the 

 stream now showing as a smooth, winding hollow 

 in the unbroken whiteness of the field. A few 

 Willows and Alders almost buried on the opposite 

 bank seem like splashes of ink on a clean page, and 

 away toward the rising hill that leads to the dense, 

 dark green of the Spruces a black patch of hurrying 

 water shows that under the ice and snow the stream 

 is still alive. Is it the only evidence of life i In front 

 the snow is unbroken in every direction, while behind 

 the winding row of deep indentations tells how the 

 wayfarer may pursue a tortuous course while fondly 

 imagining his path straight. Immediately in front, 

 waiting to be obliterated with the next random step, 

 is a small hole in the snow as round and clear-cut as 

 if made by a walking cane. No pedestrian has been 

 near since the unbroken sheet of snow was spread so 



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