C 102 ] 



NATURE'S DECORATION OF AN OLD 

 STUMP 



November 4, 1857. How swift Nature is to re- 

 pair the damage that man does ! When he has cut 

 down a tree and left only a white-topped and bleed- 

 ing stump, she comes at once to the rescue with her 

 chemistry, and covers it decently with a fresh coat 

 of gray, and in course of time she adds a thick coat 

 of green cup and bright cockscomb lichens, and it 

 becomes an object of new interest to the lover of 

 nature! Suppose it were always to remain a raw 

 stump instead! It becomes a shelf on which this 

 humble vegetation spreads and displays itself, and 

 we forget the death of the larger in the life of the less. 



Journal, x, 160. 



November 8, 1858. Nature has many scenes to 

 exhibit, and constantly draws a curtain over this 

 part or that. She is constantly repainting the land- 

 scape and all surfaces, dressing up some scene for our 

 entertainment. Lately we had a leafy wilderness, 

 now bare twigs begin to prevail, and soon she will 

 surprise us with a mantle of snow. Some green she 

 thinks so good for our eyes, like blue, that she never 

 banishes it entirely, but has created evergreens. 



Each phase of nature, while not invisible, is yet not 

 too distinct and obtrusive. It is there to be found 

 when we look for it, but not demanding our atten- 



