During the rain the single trees on the hill are distinct and black.

February 7.

Begins to snow at 8 A.M.; turns to rain at noon, and clears off, or rather ceased raining, at night, with some glaze on the trees. 

FEBRUARY 7,2016

This the first thawing, though slight, since the 25th of December. 


During the rain the air is thick, the distant woods bluish, and the single trees on the hill, under the dull mist-covered sky, remarkably distinct and black.


H. D. Thoreau, Journal, February 7, 1856

During the rain the air is thick, the distant woods bluish, and the single trees on the hill, under the dull mist-covered sky, remarkably distinct and black. See January 18, 1852 ("The pines, some of them, seen through this fine driving snow, have a bluish hue."); January 3, 1856 ("The snow turned to a fine mist or mizzling, through which I see a little blue in the snow, lurking in the ruts."); January 13, 1859 ("I can see about a quarter of a mile through the mist, and when, later, it is somewhat thinner, the woods, the pine woods, at a distance are a dark-blue color."); January 18, 1859 ("When the fog was a little thinner, so that you could see the pine woods a mile or more off, they were a distinct dark blue."); February 7, 1859 ("Evidently the distant woods are more blue in a warm and moist or misty day in winter.").

 See also  January 11, 1855 ("the air so thick with snowflakes . . .Single pines stand out distinctly against it in the near horizon"); February 6, 1852 (A mistiness makes the woods look denser, darker and more imposing.);  November 29, 1850 ("As you advance, the trees gradually come out of the mist and take form before your eyes."); November 29, 1850 ("The trees and shrubs look larger than usual when seen through the mist..."); April 22, 1852 ("The mist to-day makes those near distances which Gilpin tells of.");  August 4, 1854("Rain and mist contract our horizon and we notice near and small objects."); ); November 7, 1855 ("The view is contracted by the misty rain . . . I am compelled to look at near objects."); December 16, 1855 ("The mist makes the near trees dark and noticeable");  September 20, 1857 ("The outlines of trees are more conspicuous and interesting such a day as this, being seen distinctly against the near misty background, – distinct and dark.");