BAIN AND SNOW 



111 



with it comes the sense or feeling of stirring 

 life. It is in the very air. Nature is turning 

 as though anxious to rouse from slumber. The 

 evidence of life is not great, but we feel under 

 stillness, coldness, and bareness a potential 

 power. The great oaks and chestnuts that 

 stand high up on the mountain, their trunks 

 showing against snow - banks, their branches 

 against the sky, will soon be turning green, and 

 the meadows and swales of the valley will glow 

 with new life and color. 



Perhaps just at this time, when nature has 

 not yet started out of winter, there comes a late 

 snow-storm which turns to rain, covering the 

 limbs of the trees with ice and putting a crystal 

 coating upon the earth. Then what a spectacle 

 we see the next morning, with all the world glit- 

 tering like spun glass under the rays of the sun ! 

 It is a brilliant sight, and at times a most aston- 

 ishing one in color. For, if we can get the ice- 

 bound trees between us and the sun they will 

 take on any color that the sun or sky may show. 

 Occasionally, with a red sunset, a whole grove of 

 trees will look to be on fire, and under a yellow 

 sunset the same grove of trees will appear of the 

 most brilliant topaz hue. It is not unlike a 

 similar effect seen in falling hail. 



