220 Union Bay 



have almost ceased singing. The blackberry bushes promise 

 a big crop, for they are full of small green fruit and also 

 carry many blooms. The underwater growth thickens daily. 

 Canoeists grumble over the difficulty of pushing their way 

 through the vegetation which clogs the quieter stretches. 

 The blooming is nearly over by the middle of August. Soon 

 after, the windblown petals cease to purple the channels. 

 The seeds of the loosestrife set, gradually the spikes become 

 stiff and nubby, and the leaves begin to acquire the reddish- 

 brown of early fall. From then on each plant loses its grace- 

 ful pliancy and assumes a stiffness which it carries through 

 winter. 



The progress of the cattails and the bulrushes is similar to 

 that of the loosestrife. They emerge at slightly different pe- 

 riods, each fighting its own battle between the greens and 

 browns, with approximately the same result. 



The water-lilies, the yellow pond lilies, the beggar's-ticks, 

 the duckweed, and many other small plants add much to the 

 detail of decoration but little to the general effect. The cat- 

 tails, the loosestrife, and the bulrushes arrange the pattern. 



On this August day I know that the bloom will soon go; 

 the now-green area will be replaced by the changing colors 

 of the maturing plants. The texture will change too as the 



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