I 



THE SNOW RECORD 



From left to right: i. Tracks of a pheasant retreating hastily. 2. The same pheasant 

 approaching cautiously from cover. 3. Tracks of a rabbit, also probably alarmed. 4. Tracks 

 of a partridge. Tracks of a fox coursing along the edge of the swamp are also discernible. 



and no photograph can do more than 

 merely hint at the reality. Whoever has 

 once witnessed the phenomenon of a New 

 England ice-storm can never forget its 

 ravishing beauty. 



THE ORGAN-PIPES OE ICE 



Another icy spectacle which Thoreau 

 always took pains to observe on its an- 

 nual recurrence was the formation of 

 icicle "organ-pipes" on the face of a cer- 

 tain cliff in Concord, and one can find the 

 same process in operation, under suitable 

 conditions, in exactly the same spot today. 

 The water from melting snow trickles 

 down over the perpendicular rock-face, 

 and "its constant drip at night builds 

 great organ-pipes of a ringed structure, 

 which run together, buttressing the rock. 



"Behind these perpendicular pipes, or 

 congregated pillars, or colonnades run 

 together are formed the prettiest little 

 aisles or triangular alcoves with lichen- 

 clad sides. The shadow of the water 

 flowing or pulsating behind this trans- 

 parent icy crust or these stalactites in the 

 sun imparts a semblance of life to the 

 whole." 



This suggestion of life, by the way, 

 was always a most welcome feature of 

 Thoreau's winter walks. Any reminder 

 of the past summer, such as a bird's nest 

 with its "snowy egg,'' or the persistent 

 panicles of poison - dogwood berries, 

 "beautiful as Satan," or the scarlet fruit 

 of the black alder, gave him keen 

 pleasure. 



Likewise the least promise of the com- 

 ing spring, like the opening of the river 

 channel, or the breaking up of the ice in 

 the ponds, or a distant bluebird's warble. 

 Even so simple a thing as a running 

 brook called forth his enthusiasm. "Per- 

 haps what most moves us in winter," he 

 wrote, "is some reminiscence of far-off 

 summer. How we leap by the side of the 

 open brooks ! What beauty in the run- 

 ning brooks ! What life ! What society ! 

 The cold is merely superficial ; it is sum- 

 mer still at the core, far, far within." 



INTERPRETING THE "GRAND OLD POEM 

 winter" EVERYWHERE 



Thoreau made all his observations of 

 winter phenomena in Concord, but it by 

 no means follows that one need make a 



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