.'^c*'" 



MY NEIGHBOR S FIELD 



into a decline, a succession of color 

 schemes more admirably managed than 

 the transformation scene at the theatre. 

 Under my window a colony of cleome 

 made a soft web of bloom that drew me 

 every morning for a long still time ; and 

 one day I discovered that I was looking 

 into a rare fretwork of fawn and straw col- 

 ored twigs from which both bloom and 

 leaf had gone, and I could not say if it had 

 been for a matter of weeks or days. The 

 time to plant cucumbers and set out cab- 

 bages may be set down in the almanac, 

 but never seed-time nor blossom in Na- 

 both's field. 



Certain winged and mailed denizens of 

 the field seem to reach their heyday along 

 with the plants they most affect. In June 

 the leaning towers of the white milkweed 

 are jeweled over with red and gold beetles, 

 136 



V 



