May 25.
The earth wears a new
and greener vest grass and leaves
many shades darker.
If we had leaped from
last week to this we would be
startled by the change.
Loud very rich song,
black head, rose breast white beneath --
Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
May 25, 2013
A rather warm night the last; window slightly open. May 25, 1855
The earth wears a new and greener vest. May 25, 1860
Within the last week or so the grass and leaves have grown many shades darker, and if we had leaped from last Wednesday to this, we should have been startled by the change. May 25, 1853
Is that sweet-scented vernal grass just begun to bloom at celtis shore? May 25, 1855
The yards are now full of little spires of June-grass, with a brownish tinge but not quite in flower, trembling in the breeze. . . It has shot up erect suddenly, and gives a new aspect to our yards. May 25, 1860
Grass patches conspicuous, and flags and Equisetum limosum and pontederia (eight inches high), and white lily pads now (after yellow) red above, and purplish polygonum leaves in beds above water. May 25, 1855
For some days the handsome phalanxes of the Equisetum limosum have attracted me. May 25, 1855
Meadow fox-tail grass abundantly out (how long?), front of E. Hosmer's by bars and in E. Hubbard's meadow, front of meeting-house. May 25, 1859
How rapidly the young twigs shoot - the herbs, trees, shrubs no sooner leaf out than they shoot forward surprisingly, , , ,Many do most of their growing for the year in a week or two at this season. May 25, 1853
They shoot - they spring - and the rest of the Year they harden and mature, and perhaps have a second spring in the latter part of summer or in the fall. May 25, 1853
The red oak sprouts have
grown ten inches before their
leaves are expanded.
May 25, 1852
Red and white oak leafets handsome now. May 25, 1860
The shad-blossoms are gone. May 25, 1852
It is blossom week with the apples. May 25, 1852
Steady fisherman's rain, without wind, straight down, flooding the ground and spattering on it, beating off the apple blossoms. May 25, 1853
It is remarkable that the aspen on Holbrook's road, though in most places it is the earliest indigenous tree to leaf, is the very latest, and the buds are hardly yet swollen at all. May 25, 1860
The trees I notice which look late now are not only locusts and Holbrook Hollow aspens but tupelos, white ash, swamp white oaks, buttonwoods, and some elms, and even some red maples. May 25, 1860
The female red maples bearing keys are later to put forth leaves. May 25, 1852
The button-bush hardly yet generally begun to leaf. May 25, 1855
Tupelo leaf before button-bush; maybe a week now. May 25, 1855
The chinquapin shrub oak is blossoming. May 25, 1852
The pincushion galls appear on the oak. May 25, 1852
The oak apples are forming. May 25, 1852
Red oak pollen, say a day or two before black. May 25, 1855
Swamp white oak pollen. May 25, 1855
The catkins of the willows on the Turnpike, now fallen, cover the water. May 25, 1852
Some late willows have fresh green catkins now. May 25, 1852
Salix nigra pollen, a day at least. May 25, 1855
The Salix petiolaris is either entire or serrate, and generally, I should now say, was becoming serrate, the later leaves, May 25, 1859
It is remarkable that the aspen on Holbrook's road, though in most places it is the earliest indigenous tree to leaf, is the very latest, and the buds are hardly yet swollen at all. May 25, 1860
Choke cherry pollen on island, apparently two or three days. May 25, 1855
Hemlock pollen, probably to-morrow; some in house to-day; say to-day; not yet leafing. May 25, 1855
Fir balsam begun to leaf —with flower. May 25, 1855
Juniper, plucked yesterday, sheds pollen in house to-day, and probably in field. May 25, 1855
The black spruce of Holden's, apparently yesterday, . . .What a glorious crimson fire as you look up to the sunlight through the thin edges of the scales of its cones . . . while their purplish sterile blossoms shed pollen on you. May 25, 1857
Cottony aphides on white pines. May 25, 1855
The trees I notice which look late now are not only locusts and Holbrook Hollow aspens but tupelos, white ash, swamp white oaks, buttonwoods, and some elms, and even some red maples. May 25, 1860
The female red maples bearing keys are later to put forth leaves. May 25, 1852
The button-bush hardly yet generally begun to leaf. May 25, 1855
Tupelo leaf before button-bush; maybe a week now. May 25, 1855
The chinquapin shrub oak is blossoming. May 25, 1852
The pincushion galls appear on the oak. May 25, 1852
The oak apples are forming. May 25, 1852
Red oak pollen, say a day or two before black. May 25, 1855
Swamp white oak pollen. May 25, 1855
The catkins of the willows on the Turnpike, now fallen, cover the water. May 25, 1852
Some late willows have fresh green catkins now. May 25, 1852
Salix nigra pollen, a day at least. May 25, 1855
The Salix petiolaris is either entire or serrate, and generally, I should now say, was becoming serrate, the later leaves, May 25, 1859
It is remarkable that the aspen on Holbrook's road, though in most places it is the earliest indigenous tree to leaf, is the very latest, and the buds are hardly yet swollen at all. May 25, 1860
Choke cherry pollen on island, apparently two or three days. May 25, 1855
Hemlock pollen, probably to-morrow; some in house to-day; say to-day; not yet leafing. May 25, 1855
Fir balsam begun to leaf —with flower. May 25, 1855
Juniper, plucked yesterday, sheds pollen in house to-day, and probably in field. May 25, 1855
The black spruce of Holden's, apparently yesterday, . . .What a glorious crimson fire as you look up to the sunlight through the thin edges of the scales of its cones . . . while their purplish sterile blossoms shed pollen on you. May 25, 1857
Cottony aphides on white pines. May 25, 1855
Hear buzz of flies in the sultryish morning air on awaking. May 25, 1855
Mosquitoes have come. May 25, 1852
Dragon-flies have begun to come out of their larva state in numbers, leaving the cases on the weeds, etc. See one tender and just out this forenoon. May 25, 1859
Grasshoppers appear. May 25, 1852
Dragon-flies have begun to come out of their larva state in numbers, leaving the cases on the weeds, etc. See one tender and just out this forenoon. May 25, 1859
Grasshoppers appear. May 25, 1852
Yellow butterflies one at a time. May 25, 1852
Frost last night in low ground. May 25, 1860
See the effect of frost on the sweet-fern either this morning or the 21st. May 25, 1860
Thermometer at 87° at 2.30 p. m. May 25, 1857
Quite warm, and I see in the east the first summer shower cloud, a distinct cloud above, and all beneath to the horizon the general slate-color of falling rain. May 25, 1860
The river is quite high for the season, on account of the late rains. May 25, 1859
Though the river is thus high, we bathe at Cardinal Shore and find the water unexpectedly warm and the air also delicious. Thus we are baptized into nature. May 25, 1857
River at summer level, four inches below long stone. May 25, 1855
The water has subsided so that the pads lie on the surface. May 25, 1852
The golden robin keeps whistling something like Eat it, Potter, eat it! May 25, 1855
Hear and see by the sassafras shore the rose-breasted grosbeak, a handsome bird with a loud and very rich song, in character between that of a robin and a red-eye. It sings steadily like a robin. Rose breast, white beneath, black head and above, white on shoulder and wings. May 25, 1854
Rose-breasted grosbeak. May 25, 1856
In Hubbard's Grove, hear the shrill chattering of downy woodpeckers, very like the red squirrel's tche tche. May 25, 1857
Pe-pe heard, and probably considerably earlier. May 25, 1860
Wood pewee. May 25, 1855
Young phoebes in the Baker house. The bird flitted out as we entered. I reached to an old shelf and felt the warm but callow young. May 25, 1856
Cherry-birds. May 25, 1860
Blackburnian warbler May 25, 1856
Apparently yellowbirds’ nests just completed —one by stone bridge causeway, another on birch by mud turtle meadow. May 25, 1855
It is interesting to hear the bobolinks from the meadow sprinkle their lively strain along amid the tree-tops as they fly over the wood above our heads. . . . and at the end that fine buzzing, wiry note. May 25, 1857
Saw, . . .feeding on the edge of the meadow just left bare, along with the peetweets, a bird a size larger . . .. It reminded me of the piping plover, but was not so white; and of the killdeer, but was not so large. May 25, 1856
Most of the robins’ nests I have examined this year had three eggs, clear bluish green. May 25, 1855
A chip-bird’s nest on a balm-of-Gilead, eight feet high, between the main stem and a twig or two, with four very pale blue-green eggs with a sort of circle of brown-black spots about larger end. May 25, 1855
Red-wing’s nest with four eggs — white, very faintly tinged with (perhaps) green and curiously and neatly marked with brown-black spots and lines on the large end. May 25, 1855
Red-wings now generally beginning to lay. May 25, 1855
Late rose shoots, two inches, say a fortnight since. May 25, 1855
Pyrus on side of Fair Haven Hill, yesterday at least. May 25, 1856
Huckleberry there, yesterday also at least. May 25, 1856
The veronica is everywhere in bloom, in the grass by the roadside. May 25, 1852
Veronica peregrina in Mackay’s strawberries, how long? May 25, 1855
On the Cliffs, orobanche; Veronica arvensis, the little one on the rocks there, well out. May 25, 1856
Also low blackberry on the rocks a day or two. May 25, 1856
Fever-root one foot high and more, say a fortnight or three weeks. May 25, 1855
Aralia nudicaulis, perhaps two days pollen. May 25, 1855
Cornus florida, no bloom. Was there year before last? Does it not flower every other year? May 25, 1855
Critchicrotches in prime. May 25, 1855
Cares exilis river-shore opposite Wheeler’s gate, six inches high, but the culm smooth —some time. May 25, 1855
What a sunny yellow in the early cinquefoil, which now spots the grass! May 25, 1852
Clustered Solomon's-seal. Polygonatum pubescens ready to bloom. May 25, 1852
Medeola or cucumber-root in bud, with its two-storied whorl of leaves. May 25, 1852
Cress in flower. May 25, 1852
The large yellow woods violet (V. pubescens) by this brook now out. May 25, 1852
What is the orange-yellow aster-like flower of the meadows now in blossom with a sweet-smelling stem when bruised ? May 25, 1851
Comandra out, not long. May 25, 1860
Euphorbia cyparissias. May 25, 1860
The fringed polygala (P. paucifolia), flowering wintergreen. May 25, 1852
Polygala, fringed, by path beyond Hubbard Grove; how long? May 25, 1856
Lupines, apparently yesterday. May 25, 1856
Azalea nudiflora in garden. May 25, 1856
The scheuchzeria out some days apparently, but only in the open pool in the midst of the swamp. May 25, 1860
The European cranberry budded to bloom and grown one inch. May 25, 1860
The ferns are grown up large, and some are in fruit, a dark or blackish fruit part way down the stem, with a strong scent, --quite a rich-looking fruit, of small dark-greenish globules clustered together. May 25, 1852
I see half a dozen heads of tortoises above the sphagnum there in the pool, and they have vermilion spots on the neck or hindhead, — a sort of orange vermilion. May 25, 1860
The Rana palustris, or pickerel frog, is abundant in the meadows. May 25, 1852
I hear the first troonk of a bullfrog. May 25, 1852
Heard the first regular bullfrog’s trump on the 18th; none since. May 25, 1855
Hear a quail and the summer spray frog, amid the ring of toads. May 25, 1855
Hear within a day or two what I call the sprayey note of the toad, different and later than its early ring. May 25, 1859
It evidently rains around us, and a little falls here, and the air is accordingly cooled by it, and at 5 p. m. the toads ring loud and numerously, as if invigorated by this little moisture and coolness. May 25, 1860
7 p.m. — River one inch below summer level. May 25, 1860
Now, at 8.30 o'clock P.M., I hear the dreaming of the frogs. So it seems to me, and so significantly passes my life away. It is like the dreaming of frogs in a summer evening. May 25, 1851
Hear within a day or two what I call the sprayey note of the toad, different and later than its early ring. May 25, 1859
It evidently rains around us, and a little falls here, and the air is accordingly cooled by it, and at 5 p. m. the toads ring loud and numerously, as if invigorated by this little moisture and coolness. May 25, 1860
7 p.m. — River one inch below summer level. May 25, 1860
Now, at 8.30 o'clock P.M., I hear the dreaming of the frogs. So it seems to me, and so significantly passes my life away. It is like the dreaming of frogs in a summer evening. May 25, 1851
*****
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Reminiscence and Prompting
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Ring of Toads
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The world can never be more beautiful than now.
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Horizon
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Spring Leaf-out
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Aspens
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Apple Blossom Time
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Violet
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Birds of May
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Young Birds
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Red-wing in Spring
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Rose-breasted Grosbeak
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Bobolink
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Olive-sided flycatcher or pe-pe
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Summer Yellowbird
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Eastern Wood Pewee
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Blackburnian Warbler
Is that sweet-scented vernal grass just begun to bloom at celtis shore? See May 27, 1857 ("I perceived that rare meadow fragrance on the 25th. Is it not the sweet-scented vernal grass? “)
Azalea nudiflora in garden. See May 29, 1855("Azalea nudiflora in garden") and May 31, 1853 ("I am going in search of the Azalea nudiflora.")
Cornus florida, no bloom. . . .Does it not flower every other year? See May 22, 1856 ("The Cornus florida does not bloom this year..”)
The black spruce of Holden’s. See May 21, 1857 ("The staminate buds of the black spruce are quite a bright red."); May 22, 1856 ("The red and cream-colored cone-shaped staminate buds of the black spruce will apparently shed pollen in one to three days?");
Azalea nudiflora in garden. See May 29, 1855("Azalea nudiflora in garden") and May 31, 1853 ("I am going in search of the Azalea nudiflora.")
Cornus florida, no bloom. . . .Does it not flower every other year? See May 22, 1856 ("The Cornus florida does not bloom this year..”)
The black spruce of Holden’s. See May 21, 1857 ("The staminate buds of the black spruce are quite a bright red."); May 22, 1856 ("The red and cream-colored cone-shaped staminate buds of the black spruce will apparently shed pollen in one to three days?");
It is blossom week with the apples. See May 27, 1857 ("This is blossom week, beginning last Sunday (the 24th).”);May 28, 1855(“The apple bloom is very rich now.”)
The first summer shower cloud, . . .all beneath to the horizon the general slate-color of falling rain. See note to May 11, 1854 ("There is a low, dark, blue-black arch, crescent-like, in the horizon, sweeping the distant earth there with a dusky, rainy brush.”); May 24, 1855 ("Just before six, see in the northwest the first summer clouds, methinks, piled in cumuli with silvery edges, and westward of them a dull, rainy looking cloud advancing and shutting down to the horizon; later, lightning in west and south and a little rain.")
Sprayey notes and dreaming frogs. See June 13, 1851 ("The different frogs mark the seasons pretty well,- the peeping hyla, the dreaming frog, and the bullfrog.”) See also May 13, 1860 ("It is so warm that I hear the peculiar sprayey note of the toad generally at night."); May 16, 1853 ("Nature’appears to have passed a crisis. . .. The sprayey dream of the toad has a new sound");J une 12, 1855 (“I hear the toad, which I have called “spray frog” falsely, still. . . .A peculiarly rich, sprayey dreamer, now at 2 P. M.! . . . This rich, sprayey note possesses all the shore. It diffuses itself far and wide over the water and enters into every crevice of the noon, and you cannot tell whence it proceeds”)
So significantly passes my life away. See July 19, 1851 ("I may say I am unborn. If my curve is large, why bend it to a smaller circle? If life is a waiting, so be it."); August 8, 1852 ("When the play - it may be the tragedy of life - is over, the spectator goes his way. It was a kind of fiction, a work of the imagination only, so far as he was concerned."); November 12, 1859 ("I do not know how to distinguish between our waking life and a dream.")
 |
| May 25, 2019 If you make the least correct observation of nature this year, you will have occasion to repeat it with illustrations the next, and the season and life itself is prolonged. |
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 © 2009-2024
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