THE GARDEN BOOK OF CALIFORNIA 



brilliant-hued maple leaves scattered about my mother's knee, 

 while she drew for us, or had us draw, the outlines of all the 

 most beautiful leaves we had found during our afternoon 

 walk. The study of leaves has never lost its charm for me, 

 nor have I forgotten the quaint games that father and mother 

 taught that might be played in the garden or among the trees 

 and flowers. 



The morning-glories have always had a personality for 

 me because the fairies loved them best, when I was young 

 enough to hear the soft whispers of the tiny folk that live in 

 the flower-cups. I have never ceased to be thankful for the 

 cultivation of the sense of touch gained by playing "Blind 

 Man's Buff" among the trees and coming to know each tree 

 and its location by the feeling of the bark ; or of the training 

 of the eye to distinguish all those details of form and color 

 that to many adults are as a sealed book unless they are 

 aided by the magnifying-glass. 



These suggestions might be extended indefinitely; in- 

 numerable are the mysteries and delights afforded to him 

 who turns his eye natureward. We of California, dowered 

 with a soil of unexampled fertility, and blessed with a climate 

 which fairly entices one out-of-doors the greater part of the 

 year, have much for which to be grateful ; and in the midsl 

 of our gratitude let us resolve to make a new effort to enjoy, 

 and to teach others to enjoy, the beauties of nature that may 

 be found — if they are sought for — even in the tiniest ol 

 flower gardens. 



[10] 



