204 THE JOY OF GARDENS 



when should we have had time to do our bulb planting or 

 leaf burning*? 



For man to have a share in the running of the planets 

 would be dangerous, we may be sure. The chariot of the 

 sun would whirl off in a tangent, the trade winds blow 

 awry, and two or three autocrats of a decade confuse nat- 

 ural events for centuries. The rest of us poor mortals, 

 thankful for the vagaries of weather, under wiser powers 

 than we wot of, would have more than our share of 

 suffering. 



Still looking down the long road which has crossed the 

 river beyond the highest hill, and then, as we learned on 

 the nutting tramp, turns west and makes a bee line di- 

 rectly to the courts about the setting sun, we give thanks 

 that we may not know all things. Could we foresee the 

 winter and the spring we should be deprived of the bliss 

 of expectation and the zest of ups and downs whose con- 

 trasts make the variety of life. 



We should lose the little surprises, knowing all the 

 events that matter to no one but ourselves the year of 

 bloom of the wild crab apple, the occasional return of 

 an oriole to nest in the cherry tree, the autumnal after- 

 math of a blossoming wild rose, and November flowers 

 on the quince and the blackberry. These and, yes, the 

 accidental meeting of friends estranged, and the coming 

 of one new and congenial with an affinity of tastes. So 

 for our part we prefer to look down the long road 



