The thermometer is at 65° at noon.

February 25. 

I hear of lilac buds expanding, but have not looked at them. 

I go through the woods behind the Kettle place. The leaves rustle and look all dry on the ground in the woods, as if quite ready to burn. The flies buzz out of doors. Though I left my outside coat at home, this single thick one is too much.

I go across the Great Fields to Peter's, but can see no ducks on the meadows. I suspect they have not come yet, in spite of the openness. 

The fragrant everlasting has retained its fragrance all winter. 

That mildew, or gossamer-like scum, of the 18th is still visible here and there. It is like very thin and frail isinglass. 

Goodwin says he saw a robin this morning. 

The thermometer is at 65° at noon.

H. D. Thoreau, Journal, February 25, 1857

I hear of lilac buds expanding, but have not looked at them. See February 18, 1857("Sophia says that Mrs. Brooks's spiraeas have started considerably!"): February 26, 1857 ("I saw Mrs. Brooks's spiraeas to-day grown half an inch (!!), whose starting I heard of on the 18th.")

The leaves rustle and look all dry on the ground in the woods, as if quite ready to burn. The flies buzz out of doors. See February 18, 1857 ("Hear a fly buzz amid some willows. “); March 4, 1855 ("The rustle of the dry leaves. . .reminds me of fires in the woods. They are almost ready to burn. I see a fly on the rock."); March 8, 1853 ("Heard the first flies buzz in the sun on the south side of the house.") See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring: Buzzing flies

Though I left my outside coat at home, this single thick one is too much.  See February 24, 1857 ("I walk without a greatcoat") See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring; My Greatcoat on my Arm

I go across the Great Fields to Peter's, but can see no ducks on the meadows. See A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring, Ducks Afar, Sailing on the Meadow

That mildew, or gossamer-like scum, of the 18th is still visible. . . .like very thin and frail isinglass. See  February 18, 1857 (". . . as if the fairies had dropped their veils or handkerchiefs after a midnight revel, rejoicing at the melting of the snow. What can it be? Is it animal or vegetable? I suspect it is allied to mould; or is it a scum? . . .a thin and tender membrane that envelops the infant earth in earliest spring.”)

Goodwin says he saw a robin this morning. See February 25, 1859 ("Joe Smith says that he saw blackbirds this morning. I hear that robins were seen a week or more ago. So the birds are quite early this year."); . February 27, 1861 ("Mother hears a robin to-day"); February 28, 1860 ("C. saw a dozen robins to-day on the ground on Ebby Hubbard's hill by the Yellow Birch Swamp.") See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Robins in Spring

The thermometer is at 65° at noon. Compare February 25, 1855 ("Thermometer at 7° at 7.30 A.M.”); February 16, 1857 (“A wonderfully warm day (the third one); about 2 p.m., thermometer in shade 58.”); February 17. 1857 ('Thermometer at 1 p.m., 60°.“);  February 18, 1857 ("Thermometer at 1 p.m., 65.”); February 16, 1856 (“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.”); April 9, 1856 (“The thermometer at 5 P. M. is 66°+, and it has probably been 70° or more; and the last two days have been nearly as warm.”); June 22, 1860 (“[T]he thermometer 60° only at 12.30 P.M. and 65 at 5 P.M. But it is remarkably cold in the wind, and you require a thick coat. 65° now, with wind, is uncomfortably cold.”) See also A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, February Belongs to Spring

February 25. See A Book of the Seasons,  by Henry Thoreau,   February 25  

A Book of the Seasons,  by Henry Thoreau, The thermometer is at 65° at noon.

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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