NOVEMBER 



23 



Again I am struck by the singularly wholesome 

 colors of the withered oak leaves, especially the 

 shrub oak, so thick and firm and unworn, without 

 speck, clear reddish-brown, sometimes paler or yel- 

 lowish-brown, the whitish under sides contrasting 

 with the upper in a very cheerful manner, as if 

 the tree or shrub rejoiced at the advent of winter. 

 It exhibits the fashionable colors of the winter 

 on the two sides of its leaves. It sets the fash- 

 ions; colors good for bare ground or for snow, 

 grateful to the eyes of rabbits and partridges. 

 This is the extent of its gaudiness, red-brown and 

 misty-white, and yet it is gay. 



THOKEAU: Autumn. 

 24 



Who knows not Silver-Rod, the lovely and rev- 

 erend old age of Golden-Rod, else Golden-Rod 

 beatified and sainted, looking moonlit and misty 

 even in the sunshine ! In this soft, canescent after- 

 bloom beginning at the apex of the flower cluster 

 and gradually spreading downward, the eye finds 

 an agreeable relief from the recent dazzle of yel- 

 low splendor. I almost forget that the herb is not 

 literally in bloom, that it is no longer ministered 

 to by sunshine and dew. 



EDITH M. THOMAS: The Round Year. 



