The year is but a succession of days,
and I see that I could assign some office to each day
which, summed up, would be the history of the year.
Henry Thoreau, August 24, 1852
The red undersides
of the white lily pads
exposed by the wind.
June 29, 2015
Small rough sunflower, the common, at Bittern Cliff. June 29, 1857
Where I took shelter under the rock at Lee's Cliff, a phoebe has built her nest, and it now has five eggs in it, nearly fresh. June 29, 1857
The wind exposes the red under sides of the white lily pads. This is one of the aspects of the river now. June 29, 1852
Nature never appears more serene and innocent and fragrant. A hundred white lilies, open to the sun, rest on the surface . . . while devil's-needles are glancing over them. June 29, 1852
The frogs and tortoises are striped and spotted for their concealment. The painted tortoise's throat held up above the pads, streaked with yellowish, makes it the less obvious. The mud turtle is the color of the mud, the wood frog and the hylodes of the dead leaves, the bullfrogs of the pads, the toad of the earth. The tree-toad of the bark. June 29, 1852
The river is now whitened with the down of the black willow, and I am surprised to see a minute plant abundantly springing from its midst and greening it, — where it has collected in denser beds against some obstacle as a branch on the surface, — like grass growing in cotton in a tumbler. June 29, 1857
Bathed in the creek, which swarms with terrapins, as the boys called them. June 29, 1856
A man by the riverside told us that he had two young ducks which he let out to seek their food along the riverside at low tide that morning. At length he noticed that one remained stationary amid the grass or salt weeds and something prevented its following the other. He went to its rescue and found its foot shut tightly in a quahog’s shell amid the grass which the tide had left. He took up all together, carried to his house, and his wife opened the shell with a knife, released the duck, and cooked the quahog. June 29, 1856
Bathed again near Dogfish Bar. It was warm and dirty water, muddy bottom. June 29, 1856
At 6 P.M. 91°, the hottest yet. See June 30, 1855 (“2 P. M. -- Thermometer north side of house, 95°”); May 24, 1856 ("To-day is suddenly overpowering warm. Thermometer at 1 P. M., 94° in the shade!"); June 21, 1856 (”Very hot day, as was yesterday, -— 98° at 2 P. M., 99° at 3, and 128° in sun”); May 24, 1857(“At 3 p. m. the thermometer is at 88°).
The wind exposes the red under sides of the white lily pads. This is one of the aspects of the river now. See June 24, 1853 ("remarkably windy this afternoon, showing the under sides of the leaves and the pads, the white now red beneath and all green above."); June 30, 1859 ("The pads blown up by it already show crimson, it is so strong, but this not a fall phenomenon yet."); July 30, 1856 ("I am struck with the splendid crimson-red under sides of the white lily pads where my boat has turned them, at my bath place near the Hemlocks.”); August 24,1854 ("The bright crimson-red under sides of the great white lily pads, turned up by the wind in broad fields on the sides of the stream, are a great ornament to the stream. It is not till August, methinks, that they are turned up conspicuously.”)
All the large black birches on Hubbard's Hill have just been cut down . . .See April 24, 1855 ("I see the black birch stumps, where they have cut by Flint’s Pond the past winter, completely covered with a greasy-looking pinkish-colored cream . . ., yet without any particular taste or smell,—what the sap has turned to.")
Surprised to see a minute plant abundantly springing from its midst and greening it, like grass growing in cotton in a tumbler. See June 26, 1860 ("Young black willows have sprouted and put forth their two minute round leafets where the cottony seeds have lodged in a scum against the alder.")
Where I took shelter under the rock at Lee's Cliff . . . See May 29, 1857 ("The drops fall thicker, and I seek a shelter ...under a large projecting portion of the Cliff, where there is ample space above and around, and I can move about as perfectly protected as under a shed.")
At Lee's Cliff a phoebe has built her nest. . .five eggs in it, nearly fresh. . .See May 5, 1860 ("At Lee's a pewee (phoebe) building. . . .Think how many pewees must have built under the eaves of this cliff since pewees were created and this cliff itself built!!"); June 20, 1856 ("Five young phoebes in a nest . . .just ready to fly."); June 25, 1855 ("A phoebe’s nest, with two birds ready to fly."). See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Eastern Phoebe
Bathing in the cove by railroad. See July 17, 1860 ('The soft sand on the bottom of Walden, as deep as I can wade, feels very warm to my feet, while the water feels cold. ") and note to July 23, 1856 ("Bathing in Walden, I find the water considerably colder at the bottom while I stand up to my chin, but the sandy bottom much warmer to my feet than the water.")
Just as the sky appears concave. See June 3, 1850 ("The landscape is a vast amphitheatre rising to its rim in the horizon."): June 25, 1852 ("The earth appears like a vast saucer sloping upward to its sharp mountain rim."); March 28, 1858 (" On ascending the hill next his home, every man finds that he dwells in a shallow concavity whose sheltering walls are the convex surface of the earth, beyond which he cannot see..")
The river is now whitened with the down of the black willow, and I am surprised to see a minute plant abundantly springing from its midst and greening it, — where it has collected in denser beds against some obstacle as a branch on the surface, — like grass growing in cotton in a tumbler. June 29, 1857
Bathing in the cove by railroad. When I hold my head near the surface and look down, in two or three feet of water, the bottom appears concave, just as the sky does. June 29, 1858
Bathed in the creek, which swarms with terrapins, as the boys called them. June 29, 1856
A man by the riverside told us that he had two young ducks which he let out to seek their food along the riverside at low tide that morning. At length he noticed that one remained stationary amid the grass or salt weeds and something prevented its following the other. He went to its rescue and found its foot shut tightly in a quahog’s shell amid the grass which the tide had left. He took up all together, carried to his house, and his wife opened the shell with a knife, released the duck, and cooked the quahog. June 29, 1856
She opened the shell
with a knife released the duck
and cooked the quahog.
Bathed again near Dogfish Bar. It was warm and dirty water, muddy bottom. June 29, 1856
All the large black birches on Hubbard's Hill have just been cut down, — half a dozen or more. June 29, 1854
P. M. — To Walden. Very hot. June 29, 1859.
Examined the flying squirrel's nest at the base of a small white [oak] or two (sprouts), four inches through, in a small old white oak stump, half open above, just below the level of the ground, composed of quite a mass of old withered oak leaves and a few fresh green ones, and the inside wholly of fine, dry sedge and sedge-like bark-fibres. The upper side of the nest was half visible from above. It was eight or nine inches across. June 29, 1859
In it I found the wing of an Attacus luna, — and July 1st another wing near Second Division, which makes three between June 27th and July 1st. June 29, 1859
At the railroad spring in Howard's meadow, I see two chestnut-sided warblers hopping and chipping as if they had a nest, within six feet of me, a long time. No doubt they are breeding near. Yellow crown with a fine dark longitudinal line, reddish-chestnut sides, black triangle on side of head, white beneath. June 29, 1859
Examined the flying squirrel's nest at the base of a small white [oak] or two (sprouts), four inches through, in a small old white oak stump, half open above, just below the level of the ground, composed of quite a mass of old withered oak leaves and a few fresh green ones, and the inside wholly of fine, dry sedge and sedge-like bark-fibres. The upper side of the nest was half visible from above. It was eight or nine inches across. June 29, 1859
In it I found the wing of an Attacus luna, — and July 1st another wing near Second Division, which makes three between June 27th and July 1st. June 29, 1859
At the railroad spring in Howard's meadow, I see two chestnut-sided warblers hopping and chipping as if they had a nest, within six feet of me, a long time. No doubt they are breeding near. Yellow crown with a fine dark longitudinal line, reddish-chestnut sides, black triangle on side of head, white beneath. June 29, 1859At 6 P.M. 91°, the hottest yet. June 29, 1860
A thunder-shower has passed northeast and grazed us, and at 6.30 or 7, another thunder-shower comes up from the southwest and there is a sudden burst from it with a remarkably strong, gusty wind, and the rain for fifteen minutes falls in a blinding deluge. June 29, 1860
The roof of the depot shed is taken off, many trees torn to pieces, the garden flooded at once, corn and potatoes, etc., beaten flat. You could not see distinctly many rods through the rain. It was the very strong gusts added to the weight of the rain that did the mischief. I think I never saw it rain so hard. June 29, 1860
Thus our most violent thunder-shower followed the hottest hour of the month. June 29, 1860
A thunder-shower has passed northeast and grazed us, and at 6.30 or 7, another thunder-shower comes up from the southwest and there is a sudden burst from it with a remarkably strong, gusty wind, and the rain for fifteen minutes falls in a blinding deluge. June 29, 1860
The roof of the depot shed is taken off, many trees torn to pieces, the garden flooded at once, corn and potatoes, etc., beaten flat. You could not see distinctly many rods through the rain. It was the very strong gusts added to the weight of the rain that did the mischief. I think I never saw it rain so hard. June 29, 1860
Thus our most violent thunder-shower followed the hottest hour of the month. June 29, 1860
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| June 29, 2013 6:23 PM A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau: |
The flying squirrel's nest. See June 19, 1859 ("A flying squirrel's nest . . .south of Walden, on hilltop, in a covered hollow in a small old stump at base of a young oak")
I found the wing of an Attacus luna, three between June 27th and July 1st. See June 27, 1859 ("At the further Brister's Spring, under the pine, I find an Attacus luna, half hidden under a skunk-cabbage leaf, "); June 27, 1859 ("A frail creature, rarely met with, though not uncommon.")
I found the wing of an Attacus luna, three between June 27th and July 1st. See June 27, 1859 ("At the further Brister's Spring, under the pine, I find an Attacus luna, half hidden under a skunk-cabbage leaf, "); June 27, 1859 ("A frail creature, rarely met with, though not uncommon.")
All the large black birches on Hubbard's Hill have just been cut down . . .See April 24, 1855 ("I see the black birch stumps, where they have cut by Flint’s Pond the past winter, completely covered with a greasy-looking pinkish-colored cream . . ., yet without any particular taste or smell,—what the sap has turned to.")
Surprised to see a minute plant abundantly springing from its midst and greening it, like grass growing in cotton in a tumbler. See June 26, 1860 ("Young black willows have sprouted and put forth their two minute round leafets where the cottony seeds have lodged in a scum against the alder.")
Where I took shelter under the rock at Lee's Cliff . . . See May 29, 1857 ("The drops fall thicker, and I seek a shelter ...under a large projecting portion of the Cliff, where there is ample space above and around, and I can move about as perfectly protected as under a shed.")
At Lee's Cliff a phoebe has built her nest. . .five eggs in it, nearly fresh. . .See May 5, 1860 ("At Lee's a pewee (phoebe) building. . . .Think how many pewees must have built under the eaves of this cliff since pewees were created and this cliff itself built!!"); June 20, 1856 ("Five young phoebes in a nest . . .just ready to fly."); June 25, 1855 ("A phoebe’s nest, with two birds ready to fly."). See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Eastern Phoebe
Bathing in the cove by railroad. See July 17, 1860 ('The soft sand on the bottom of Walden, as deep as I can wade, feels very warm to my feet, while the water feels cold. ") and note to July 23, 1856 ("Bathing in Walden, I find the water considerably colder at the bottom while I stand up to my chin, but the sandy bottom much warmer to my feet than the water.")
Just as the sky appears concave. See June 3, 1850 ("The landscape is a vast amphitheatre rising to its rim in the horizon."): June 25, 1852 ("The earth appears like a vast saucer sloping upward to its sharp mountain rim."); March 28, 1858 (" On ascending the hill next his home, every man finds that he dwells in a shallow concavity whose sheltering walls are the convex surface of the earth, beyond which he cannot see..")
June 29, 2012
If you make the least correctobservation of nature this year,you will have occasion to repeat itwith illustrations the next,and the season and life itself is prolonged.
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, June 29A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau"A book, each page written in its own season,out-of-doors, in its own locality."~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2022
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