TREES AT LEISURE 



and giant limbs upholding a 

 mass of terminal shoots that 

 tinge with warm ocher the win- 

 ter landscape. The black wil- 

 low, having cast its sickle leaves 

 to the autumn winds, lifts itself 

 in twins or triplets, or even 

 larger families of sister trees, 

 that stand in close confab on 

 borders of murmuring streams; 

 while the little pussy willows 

 gather in neighborly groups close 

 to living brooks, where in sum- 

 mer they shade the darting 

 minnows and in winter cuddle 

 contentedly under their snow 

 blanket and listen to the con- 

 tented gurgling of the ice-bound 

 waters. 



The sycamore loses nothing of 

 its effectiveness when it loses its 

 foliage. The dull yellow of the 

 trunk and the pale gray of the 



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