SPEING JOTTINGS 



For ten or more years past I have been in 

 the habit of jotting down, among other things 

 in my note-book, observations upon the seasons 

 as they passed, — the complexion of the day, 

 the aspects of nature, the arrival of the birds, 

 the opening of the flowers, or any characteristic 

 feature of the passing moment or hour which 

 the great open-air panorama presented. Some 

 of these notes and observations touching the 

 opening and the progress of the spring season 

 follow herewith. 



I need hardly say they are off-hand and in- 

 formal; what they have to recommend them to 

 the general reader is mainly their fidelity to 

 actual fact. The sun always crosses the line on 

 time, but the seasons which he makes are by no 

 means so punctual; they loiter or they hasten, 

 and the spring tokens are three or four weeks 

 earlier or later some seasons than others. The 

 ice often breaks up on the river early in March, 

 but I have crossed upon it as late as the 10th of 

 April. My journal presents many samples of 

 both early and late springs. 



But before I give these extracts let me say 

 a word or two in favor of the habit of keeping 

 a journal of one's thoughts and days. To a 



