December — Indoor Studies. 33 



VII. 



I resolve to live in the Present — Alexis — How we passed December — 

 Wild Boars and Wolves — Strength of the Wolf — Courage of a 

 Shepherdess — The Wild Boar Eatable — Wintry Splendor of Janu- 

 ary — Beauty of Dried Leaves — Oak-leafage in January — Common 

 Hornbeam — Leaves of Hornbeam in January — Winter foliage of 

 the Beech — Its Form and Color — Rich color of the Quince-tree in 

 January — Common Bramble. 



THE weather, which had been gloomy since our 

 arrival in the Val Ste. Veronique, now became 

 more cheerful, and as we were more settled in our new 

 home the beauty of Nature grew more evident and more 

 satisfying. In times of mental disturbance from what- 

 ever cause, from the pressure of affairs, or anxieties, or 

 sorrow, we do not see Nature clearly, nor do we see it 

 either in the dulness of eimiri. A certain middle state 

 is needed between anxiety and too stagnant calm, in 

 which the mind does not either suffer from the sense of 

 pressure on the one hand, nor yet, on the other, become 

 dulled from the want of use. Every day my sorrow pro- 

 duced less of disturbing pain, and knowing the past to 

 be wholly beyond my power, I resolved to live as much 

 as possible in the present. This was rendered the easier 

 by the companionship of Alexis, who, with the natural 

 buoyancy and activity of his age, soon entered with great 

 eagerness into the pleasures of our new existence, whilst 

 he willingly accepted the studious discipline which I had 

 felt to be necessary for both of us. 



The month of December was passed in indoor stud- 

 ies, with occasional excursions in the forest, undertaken 



3 



