IV 

 WINTER 



T7XCEPT for its varying physical geog- 

 -L/ raphy, the back yard gets little at- 

 tention in winter. Perhaps it deserves to 

 be looked at oftener, for snow will drift 

 in fantastic shapes, and we have miniature 

 mountain-ranges and plateaus, and, in 

 thaws, an extensive system of lakes. Our 

 arctic scenery does not stay arctic. Its 

 gloss and whiteness are dulled by smoke 

 and dust, and the feet of birds and cats, 

 by dropped leaves of withering plants, and 

 by the undetected yet pervading foulness 

 of city air. And in the longest, sharpest 

 winter the juices of the grass and shrubs 

 are not frozen, like the surface moisture, 

 but are merely locked in the roots until 

 the sun calls them into the stalks, or makes 

 new leaves to busy themselves in, when 

 March arrives. 



