SHORT VACATIONS AFOOT 



BY CHARLES FRANCIS SAUNDERS. 



In spite of the inventions of the 

 age, walking still remains, on the 

 whole, the best means of transporta- 

 tion to Nature's heart. There is no 

 forest glen so remote, no mountain top 

 so rugged, but the human foot may 

 persist in the quest of it long after 

 steam or electricity, the bicycle or the 

 horse, has had to succumb. Further- 

 more, to the foot traveler, many a cot- 

 tage door opens that is shut to those 

 who go more pretentiously, and so he 

 has an advantage in the opportunity 

 to learn at humble firesides and at rus- 

 tic doorsteps, many a bit of local plant 

 lore that the writers of books have 

 never recorded. Indeed, so whole- 

 some a recreation is walking and so 

 close does it bring one to the soil and 

 its tillers, that we of America might 

 advantageously imitate the wander- 

 jahr of the old time German youth, 

 who, his schooling done, was sent out 

 from the home roof to travel afoot for 

 a twelve-month for the educational 

 profit to be so reaped. Better still, if 

 we were to devote a week or two 

 every year to such a return to Nature, 

 walking each day along ways before 

 untrodden by us, and lying each night 

 under a different roof, learning direct- 

 ly from Nature's lips lessons which 

 books can never teach us. 



To be sure, the degree of instruc- 

 tiveness and enjoyment of such an 

 outing depends much upon one's per- 

 sonal temperament. To gain the most 

 from walking, one needs to be a lover 

 of "the quiet life," for, like fishing, it 

 is, after all, a recreation for the con- 

 templative. It calls emphatically for 

 that simplicity of mind which includes 

 the ability to enjoy the day of small 

 things. Its devotee finds a keen zest 

 in the quaint talk of the roadside 

 chance acquaintance, in every little 

 happening by the way, in all natural 

 sights and sounds and smells. He 

 loves the fragrance of the new-mown 



hay, and the shuttle-like music of the 

 mowing machine at work ; the melody 

 of the rippling runs, and the feel of 

 the wind blowing upon his cheek. He 

 delights in the sight of the sunlight 

 as it sifts downward through the lay- 

 ered branches of the hemlocks, and in 

 the shadows as they rest for a mo- 

 ment in the lap of the hills or drift 

 across some upland meadow where the 

 red lilies dot the tall grass. Such 

 things have the power to lift him for 

 the time out of a world where the al- 

 mighty dollar reigns, into God's world 

 where the coin of the spirit is current. 



Such knowledge as the present 

 writer has of plant life, has largely 

 been obtained from devoting for a 

 series of years his annual summer va- 

 cation of two weeks to rural pedes- 

 trian trips, proceeding by rail to a 

 suitable starting point and returning 

 by rail from the walk's end. No one 

 who has not tried it, can imagine the 

 rare delight of day after day devoted 

 without hurry to the study of the wild 

 flowers as they grow — of exploring 

 ravine or wood, bog or meadow, as 

 fancy dictates, renewing old acquaint- 

 ances year after year and ever making 

 new ones. 



The observation of plants with re- 

 spect to their environment is an espe- 

 cially charming branch of nature 

 study, and these vacations afoot offer 

 peculiar opportunities for its pursuit. 

 From even the commonest plants there 

 is much to be learned ; for instance, 

 the sort of insect company they keep 

 and the way in which they receive 

 their guests ; their behavior under 

 varying atmospheric conditions, as 

 sunlight and shadow, or af the differ- 

 ent times of the day, as in the early 

 morning and at nightfall ; their meth- 

 ods of bearing seed and how these are 

 distributed. Many a bit of knowl- 

 edge under these and kindred heads is 

 revealed to the watchful observer as 



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