WILDWOOD WAYS 



south wind to start it in motion again, 

 and the deep snows that are yet to come 

 and bury it so that the waves of arctic 

 atmosphere that may roll over its head 

 for weeks will never be able to touch it 

 are a help. 



Many a hardy little spring plant blooms 

 first, not in April as we are apt to think, 

 but more likely in January, though it 

 may be two feet deep beneath the snow 

 and ice and unseen by any living creature. 

 To go no farther than my own garden, 

 I have known a late January thaw, rap- 

 idly carrying off deep snow, to reveal 

 the " ladies' delights " in bloom beneath 

 an overarching crust of ice. The warm 

 snow blankets had effectually insulated 

 the autumn grown buds from the zero 

 temperature two feet above, and the 

 warmth of the earth beneath had not 

 only passed through the frost but melted 

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