THROUGH LIBRARY WINDOWS 41 



thing when one Is in love with outdoor life. \Ki 

 every turn life greets you and imparts a subtle 

 sympathy. Trees rustling their leaves never 

 so gently, I hear it all and feel it; loosened 

 petals fall to the ground with such a caressing 

 touch and mother earth receives them so kindly, 

 I see it and feel it; fragrances float about me, 

 and seem as persons from another world on 

 errands of grace bringing the sweetness of the 

 heavenlies, I sense it all keenly; sunshine and 

 shadow play perpetually about me because of 

 clouds or treewavings, and give endless color- 

 ings ; insensibly it mingles with my thought and 

 imprints itself on my page. What one feels 

 one can think and in part express, but only in 

 part — an echo merely; but it hints the rich and 

 deep original melodies that play in the audi- 

 ence chamber of the soul! 



One's best thoughts and purposes come while 

 out under the open sky. Outdoor life is full 

 of mental tonic. It puts one in love with home- 

 ly ways and wholesome aims, nature touches 

 most helpfully one's better self in every way. 

 When Cowper wrote "O for a lodge in some 

 vast wilderness," he touched the keynote of our 

 kinship to the natural world. We are coming 

 to appreciate nature and our need of it as never 

 before. Our children are learning how to use 



