Birds & Nature Magazine 



43 



Salting Time 



to wonder what they ever did with such a 

 quantity, and the chances are ten to one 

 that the boy never catches another fish in 

 that particular place. 



On sultry afternoons the girls generally 

 prefer to drift about the lily-pond in an 

 old boat, and twilight often brings father, 

 mother and the baby here for an hour of 

 sweet idleness. 



In late June or early July the children 

 run riot in the daisy-field — a wilderness 

 of bud and blossom — with arms full of 

 bloom, racing down hill amongst the 

 tangle. 



Wild asters mark the sure beginning of 

 autumn, when all waste places are glorified 

 with their drifts of purple and white. The 

 children, creeping reluctantly back to 

 school, speak of the best places to find paw- 

 paws, and where the nuts grow thickest, 

 and there are anxious inquiries as to what 

 somebody charges to take nutting parties 

 to desirable points beyond walking distance. 

 The water melon is passe, and both boys 

 and girls develop a sudden interest in the 

 pumpkin crop, for the Hallowe'en lanterns 

 are not to be lightly chosen. Then, too, a 

 lunch of pumpkin pie and milk leaves no 

 chance for comparison with nectar and 



ambrosia. Mother is eagerly entreated to 

 make just one, "for a starter," and, when 

 made, graceless Tommy has been known to 

 coax her out of the whole pie to be leisurely 

 devoured on the sunny side of the wood 

 pile. 



Along about Thanksgiving comes the 

 first snow, and sometimes the ice on the 

 shallow ponds is pronounced safe by ex- 

 perts. Soon the children are inspecting 

 likely-looking specimens of the fir, and the 

 two older boys are finally entrusted with 

 the cutting and bringing home of the 

 Christmas tree. 



From now on until the sugar-making 

 season, with its whisper of coming spring, 

 the family life centers closer around the 

 hearth stone, with long evenings of recrea- 

 tion and study. In the big living room 

 father may be seen with his paper, mother 

 with her inevitable mending, some of the 

 3^oung people over their lessons and games, 

 while Tommy, in the farthest corner, 

 softly tunes his violin, preparatory to start- 

 ing up a lively dance that will send all to 

 bed in great good humor. For as the old 

 song goes : 



"Winter, too, its share will bring 

 Of cheer and healthful sport, Sir." 



