Lake Umbagog
1907
August 9
(No 11)
virgorous still but of the stump which formerly encircled it
at the base only a single slab-like fragment remains in place.
  Glancing towards the barn belonging to the Lake House
I see that it is wholly unchanged and that under its eaves
the Cliff Swallows nests cluster as thickly as ever. To the
right of it I see the tall sedges waving over the bog and the
dragon flies hovering just above them. Beyond all the knolls
and ridges still for the most part dark with the foliage of
spruces and balsams although the one nearest the house has
been despoiled of most of these trees. In the shed attached to
the (?) of the house clear, cold water brought from a spring
through a small lead pipe continues to overflow the moss-
encrusted, wooden tub in which we used to keep
living trout.
Lake House
  Passing around to the front of the house I note that
the fields and pastures on Upton Hill have been extended
in places over ground formerly occupied by woods but that
in other respects they appear essentially unchanged. The grassy
slope stretching from where I stand to the river, scarce
fifty yards away, is studded with the blossoms of buttercups,
red clover, white clover, yarrow and thistles, just as I
remember it many years ago. I miss the noble white pine
that once stood at the boat landing but its companion, an
equally fine elm that shaded the foot of the rapids where
we used to fish for trout, is still in its original place
although it has lost all but two of its living branches and
is evidently nearing its end.
  I now move to the west side of the house to find the
view from there wholly cut off by trees and bushes of various kinds
that have sprung up in and around the neglected garden and
by a large shed. But from a little lower