P. M. —To Walden.
It has been trying to snow for two days. About one inch fell last night, but it clears up at noon, and sun comes out very warm and bright.
Wild says it is the warmest day at 12 M. since the 22d of December, when the thermometer stood at 50°. To-day it is at 44.
I hear the eaves running before I come out, and our thermometer at 2 P. M. is 38°. The sun is most pleasantly warm on my cheek; the melting snow shines in the ruts; the cocks crow more than usual in barns; my greatcoat is an incumbrance.
There is no down visible on the sallows when I descend the east side of the railroad, unless a scale has come off.
Where I measured the ice in the middle of Walden on the 6th I now measure again, or close by it, though without cutting out the cake. I find about 11 1/4; (probably about same as the 6th, when called 11 1/2) of snow ice and 21 in all, leaving 10 1/4 clear ice, which would make the ice to have increased beneath through all this thickness and in spite of the thaws 2 3/4 inches. Near the shore in one place it was twenty-two inches.
H. D. Thoreau, Journal, February 16, 1856
It has been trying to snow for two days. See January 5, 1856 ("It has been trying to snow all day, but has not succeeded; as if it were too cold.")
About one inch fell last night, but it clears up at noon, and sun comes out very warm and bright. See February 13, 1859 ("A dry, powdery snow about one inch deep, from which, as I walk toward the sun, this perfectly clear, bright afternoon, at 3.30 o’clock, the colors of the rainbow are reflected from a myriad fine facets")
I hear the eaves running . . . The sun is most pleasantly warm on my cheek; the melting snow shines in the ruts; the cocks crow more than usual in barns; my greatcoat is an incumbrance. See February 16, 1855 ("Sounds sweet and musical through this air, as crows, cocks, and striking on the rails at a distance."); See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring; My Greatcoat on my Arm; A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring: the new warmth of the sun; A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Braided ripples of melting snow; A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring: The crowing of cocks, the cawing of crows; A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring; The Eaves Begin to Run
There is no down visible on the sallows when I descend the east side of the railroad, unless a scale has come off. See February 9, 1854 ("I do not find any willow catkins started, though many have lost their scales."); February 14, 1868 ("I was struck to-day by the size and continuousness of the natural willow hedge on the east side of the railroad causeway"); February 19, 1857 ("Some willow catkins have crept a quarter of an inch from under their scales and look very red, probably on account of the warm weather."); March 18, 1861("The very name “sallow” (salix, from the Celtic sallis, near water) suggests that there is some natural sap or blood flowing there."); March 22, 1860 ("The phenomena of an average March . . .willow catkins become silvery."); See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring: Alder and Willow Catkins Expanding; A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau. Willows on the Causeway
Where I measured the ice in the middle of Walden on the 6th I now measure again, or close by it, though without cutting out the cake. I find about . . . 21 in all, . . See note to February 6, 1856 ("Cut a cake of ice out of the middle of Walden,. . .On the 18th of January the ice had been about seven inches thick here,. . . It was now 19 inches thick, . . . ")
February 14, 1856 <<<<< >>>>> February 17, 1856
It clears up at noon
and sun comes out warm and bright –
44°
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Warmest day since December
A 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 © 2009-2026
https://tinyurl.com/hdt-560216
No comments:
Post a Comment