184 EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
Cambridgeport, a total stranger to me, .... 
and each rubbed his hands with pretended 
horror but real delight, if I named a higher 
figure than he had yet heard. It was plain 
that one object which the cold was given us 
for was our amusement, a passing excitement. 
It would be perfectly consistent and American 
to bet on the cold of our respective towns for 
the morning that is to come. Thus a greater 
degree of cold may be said to warm us more 
than a less one. This is a perfectly legitimate 
amusement, only we should know that each 
day is peculiar and has its kindred excitements. 
In those wet days like the 12tli and 15th, 
when the browns culminated, the sun being 
concealed, I was drawn towards and worshipped 
the brownish light in the sod, the withered 
grass,, etc., on barren hills. I felt as if I could 
eat the very crust of the earth, I never felt so 
terrene, never sympathized so with the surface 
of the earth. From whatever source the light 
and heat come, thither we look with love. 
March 19, 1860. Going along the turnpike 
I look over to the pitch pines on Moore’s hill¬ 
side, and it strikes me that this pine, take the 
year round, is the most cheerful tree and most 
living to look at and have about your house, it 
is so sunny and full of light, in harmony with 
the yellow sand there and the spring sun. The 
