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
These mornings I move
into an eastern chamber
to sit in the sun.
 |
| September 4, 2018 (avesong) |
Topping the corn, which has been going on some days, now reveals the yellow and yellowing pumpkins. This is a genuine New England scene. The earth blazes not only with sun-flowers but with sun-fruits. September 4, 1859
It is cooler these days and nights, and I move into an eastern chamber in the morning, that I may sit in the sun. September 4, 1860
I feel like a melon or other fruit laid in the sun to ripen. I grow, not gray, but yellow. September 4, 1860
Carried a pail this afternoon to collect goldenrods and berries. September 4, 1853
I think I see two kinds of three-ribbed goldenrod (beside Canadensis). September 4, 1859
Would it not be worth the while to devote one day each year to collecting with pains the different kinds of asters, — perhaps about this time, — and another to the goldenrods? September 4, 1853
China-like berries of cornel along the river now abundant, some cymes wholly white; also the panicled there and in swamps, though its little red (?) fingery stems are oftenest bare, but are pretty enough, perhaps, to take the place of the berries. September 4, 1853.
5.30 A. M. – To Nawshawtuct by river. Roman wormwood's yellow dust on my clothes. September 4, 1853
Three kinds of thistles are commonly out now, — the pasture, lanceolate, and swamp, — and on them all you are pretty sure to see one or two humblebees. They become more prominent and interesting in the scarcity of purple flowers. September 4, 1859
On many you see also the splendid goldfinch, yellow and black like the humble-bee. The thistles beloved of humblebees and goldfinches. September 4, 1859
The goldfinch is very busy pulling the thistle to pieces. September 4, 1860
Butterflies in road a day or two September 4, 1856
Carried a pail this afternoon to collect goldenrods and berries. September 4, 1853
There are, perhaps, four kinds of goldenrod in C. Hubbard's Swamp Path. September 4, 1853
I think I see two kinds of three-ribbed goldenrod (beside Canadensis). September 4, 1859
In the Well Meadow Swamp, many apparent Aster miser, yet never inclining to red there (in the leaf) and sometimes with larger flowers (five eighths of an inch [in] diameter) and slenderer cauline leaves than common, out apparently almost as long as miser elsewhere. September 4, 1859
The Aster miser is a pretty flower, with its commonly wide and loose branches, variegated or parti-colored with its white rays and broad purplish (and yellow) disks giving it a modestly parti-colored look, with green leaves of sufficient breadth to relieve the flowers. September 4, 1853
Would it not be worth the while to devote one day each year to collecting with pains the different kinds of asters, — perhaps about this time, — and another to the goldenrods? September 4, 1853
The crowded clusters of shrub oak acorns are very handsome now, the rich, wholesome brown of the cups contrasting with the now clear green acorns, sometimes twenty- four with a breadth of three inches. September 4, 1853
The purple culms and spikes of the crab-grass or finger-grass, spreading and often almost prostrate under our feet in sandy paths and causeways,. . . when, pacing over the sandy railroad causeway, I look down and find myself treading on the purple culms of the crab-grass, I am reminded of the maturity of the year. September 4, 1859
See a very large mass of spikenard berries fairly ripening, eighteen inches long. September 4, 1859
The purple culms and spikes of the crab-grass or finger-grass, spreading and often almost prostrate under our feet in sandy paths and causeways,. . . when, pacing over the sandy railroad causeway, I look down and find myself treading on the purple culms of the crab-grass, I am reminded of the maturity of the year. September 4, 1859
Aralia racemosa [Spikenard] berries just ripe . . . not edible. September 4, 1856
Arum in prime. September 4, 1853
Arum in prime. September 4, 1853
Corner Spring Swamp . . .There are many splendid scarlet arum berries there now in prime, forming a dense ovate head on a short peduncle; the individual berries of various sizes. September 4, 1856
Arum berries ripe. September 4, 1857
China-like berries of cornel along the river now abundant, some cymes wholly white; also the panicled there and in swamps, though its little red (?) fingery stems are oftenest bare, but are pretty enough, perhaps, to take the place of the berries. September 4, 1853.
The handsomest and most perfect Cornus circinata there that I know, now apparently its fruit in prime, hardly light-blue but delicate bluish-white. September 4, 1857
Cornus sericea berries begin to ripen. September 4, 1857
Cornus sericea berries begin to ripen. September 4, 1857
The Cornus sericea and C. paniculata are rather peculiar for turning to a dull purple on the advent of cooler weather and frosts, in the latter part of August and first part of September. The latter, which grows at the bottom of our frostiest hollows, turns a particularly clear dark purple, an effect plainly attributable to frost. September 4, 1859
The black choke-berries, as also choke-cherries, are stale. September 4, 1853
The black choke-berries, as also choke-cherries, are stale. September 4, 1853
Where are the robins and red-wing blackbirds of late? I see no flocks of them; not one of the latter, and only a few solitary robins about wild cherry trees. September 4. 1859
The two-leaved Solomon's-seal has just begun to redden; so the largest one. September 4, 1853.
The creeping juniper berries are now a hoary green but full-grown. September 4, 1853
The scarlet thorn is in many places quite edible and now a deep scarlet. September 4, 1853
The lycopodium now sheds its pollen commonly. September 4, 1853
The two-leaved Solomon's-seal has just begun to redden; so the largest one. September 4, 1853.
The creeping juniper berries are now a hoary green but full-grown. September 4, 1853
The scarlet thorn is in many places quite edible and now a deep scarlet. September 4, 1853
The Lycopodium complanatum sheds pollen Sepember 4, 1859
Polygonum and medeola now. September 4, 1853.
Carrion-flower in prime. September 4, 1853
Feverwort now. September 4, 1853
The fever-bush is conspicuously flower-budded. September 4, 1856
Indian hemp out of bloom. September 4, 1856
I see where squirrels have eaten green sweet viburnum berries on the wall, together with hazelnuts. The former, gathered red, turn dark purple and shrivelled, like raisins, in the house, and are edible, but chiefly seed. September 4, 1856
Already, long before sunset, I feel the dew falling in that cold calla swamp. September 4, 1857
Full moon; bats flying about; skaters and water bugs like sparks of fire on the surface between us and the moon. September 4, 1854
July 18, 1852 ("The Cerasus Virginiana, or choke-cherry, is turning, nearly ripe.")
July 19, 1854 ("Black choke-berry, several days.")
July 30, 1860 ("Am glad to press my way through Miles's Swamp. Thickets of choke-berry bushes higher than my head, with many of their lower leaves already red")
August 5, 1856 ("Choke-cherries near . . . begin to be ripe, though still red. They are scarcely edible, but their beauty atones for it. See those handsome racemes of ten or twelve cherries each, dark glossy red, semi- transparent. You love them not the less because they are not quite palatable.")
August 5, 1858 ("Choke-berries, fair to the eye but scarcely palatable, hang far above your head, weighing down the bushes.")
August 11, 1852 ("I am attracted by the clear dark-green leaves of the fever-bush.”);
August 12, 1858 ("I eat the blueberry, but I am also interested in the rich-looking glossy black choke-berries which nobody eats, but which bend down the bushes on every side,—sweetish berries with a dry, and so choking, taste. Some of the bushes are more than a dozen feet high.")
August 15, 1852 ("The red choke-berry is small and green still. I plainly distinguish it, also, by its woolly under side.")
August 19, 1852 (The clear dark-green leaves of the fever-bush overhang the stream.”)
August 21, 1854 ("Spikenard berries are now mahogany-color. ")
September 5, 1856 ("Will not the prime of goldenrods and asters be just before the first severe frosts ?")
September 4, 2021
Polygonum and medeola now. September 4, 1853.
Carrion-flower in prime. September 4, 1853
Feverwort now. September 4, 1853
The fever-bush is conspicuously flower-budded. September 4, 1856
Indian hemp out of bloom. September 4, 1856
.
Rose hips generally beginning; and the two primroses beginning. September 4, 1853
Elder in prime, and cranberry. September 4, 1853
Rose hips generally beginning; and the two primroses beginning. September 4, 1853
Elder in prime, and cranberry. September 4, 1853
Three or four plants are peculiar now for bearing plentifully their fruit in drooping cymes, viz. the elder berry and the silky cornel and the Viburnum Lentago and Solanum Dulcamara. September 4, 1859
Maple viburnum fully ripe, like the dentatum. September 4, 1853
Hear a warbling vireo, — something rare. September 4, 1853
The hawks are soaring at the Cliffs. I think I never hear this peculiar, more musical scream, such as the jay appears to imitate, in the spring, only at and after midsummer when the young begin to fly. September 4, 1853
Improve the opportunity to draw analogies. There are innumerable avenues to a perception of the truth. All perception of truth is the detection of an analogy. September 4-7, 1851
I feel that the juices of the fruits which I have eaten, the melons and apples, have ascended to my brain and are stimulating it. They give me a heady force. Now I can write. September 4-7, 1851
I think I could write a poem to be called Concord. For argument I should have the River, the Woods, the Ponds, the Hills, the Fields, the Swamps and Meadows' the Streets and Buildings and the Villagers. Then Morning, Noon and Evening, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, Night Indian Summer, and the Mountains in the Horizon. September 4, 1841
Full moon; bats flying about; skaters and water bugs like sparks of fire on the surface between us and the moon. September 4, 1854
September 4, 2019
*****
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau:
*****
September 4, 2023
July 18, 1852 ("The Cerasus Virginiana, or choke-cherry, is turning, nearly ripe.")
July 19, 1854 ("Black choke-berry, several days.")
July 30, 1860 ("Am glad to press my way through Miles's Swamp. Thickets of choke-berry bushes higher than my head, with many of their lower leaves already red")
August 5, 1856 ("Choke-cherries near . . . begin to be ripe, though still red. They are scarcely edible, but their beauty atones for it. See those handsome racemes of ten or twelve cherries each, dark glossy red, semi- transparent. You love them not the less because they are not quite palatable.")
August 5, 1858 ("Choke-berries, fair to the eye but scarcely palatable, hang far above your head, weighing down the bushes.")
August 11, 1852 ("I am attracted by the clear dark-green leaves of the fever-bush.”);
August 12, 1858 ("I eat the blueberry, but I am also interested in the rich-looking glossy black choke-berries which nobody eats, but which bend down the bushes on every side,—sweetish berries with a dry, and so choking, taste. Some of the bushes are more than a dozen feet high.")
August 15, 1852 ("The red choke-berry is small and green still. I plainly distinguish it, also, by its woolly under side.")
August 19, 1852 (The clear dark-green leaves of the fever-bush overhang the stream.”)
August 21, 1854 ("Spikenard berries are now mahogany-color. ")
August 21, 1853. ("The polygonatum berries have been a bluish-green some time. Do they turn still?")
August 21, 1854 ("Red choke-berries are dried black; ripe some time ago. ")
August 21, 1854 ("Red choke-berries are dried black; ripe some time ago. ")
August 22, 1854.("Arum berries ripe")
August 22, 1852.("The arum berries are mostly devoured, apparently by birds.")
August 22, 1852.("The panicled cornel berries now white.")
August 22, 1852. ("I am struck by the handsome and abundant clusters of yet green shrub oak acorns. Some are whitish. How much food for some creatures!")
August 22, 1852.("The two-leaved Solomon's-seal berries begin to be red.")
August 25, 1854 ("Also the choke-berries are very abundant [at Shadbush Meadow], but mostly dried black.");
August 26, 1860 ("I thread my way through the blueberry swamp in front of Martial Miles's. . . . And now a far greater show of choke-berries is here, rich to see.")
August 27, 1858 ("I see round-leaved cornel fruit on Heywood Peak, now half China-blue and half white, each berry.")
August 27, 1853 ('Topping corn now reveals the yellowing pumpkins.")
August 28, 1859 ("Pumpkins begin to be yellow.");
August 28, 1856 ("See the great oval masses of scarlet berries of the arum now in the meadows.")
August 22, 1852.("The arum berries are mostly devoured, apparently by birds.")
August 22, 1852.("The panicled cornel berries now white.")
August 22, 1852. ("I am struck by the handsome and abundant clusters of yet green shrub oak acorns. Some are whitish. How much food for some creatures!")
August 22, 1852.("The two-leaved Solomon's-seal berries begin to be red.")
August 25, 1854 ("Also the choke-berries are very abundant [at Shadbush Meadow], but mostly dried black.");
August 26, 1860 ("I thread my way through the blueberry swamp in front of Martial Miles's. . . . And now a far greater show of choke-berries is here, rich to see.")
August 27, 1858 ("I see round-leaved cornel fruit on Heywood Peak, now half China-blue and half white, each berry.")
August 27, 1853 ('Topping corn now reveals the yellowing pumpkins.")
August 28, 1859 ("Pumpkins begin to be yellow.");
August 28, 1856 ("See the great oval masses of scarlet berries of the arum now in the meadows.")
August 28, 1856 ("The bright china-colored blue berries of the Cornus sericea begin to show themselves along the river. ")
August 28, 1856 ("The bushes are weighed down with choke-berries, which no creature appears to gather. This crop is as abundant as the huckleberries have been. They have a sweet and pleasant taste enough, but leave a mass of dry pulp in the mouth.")
August 28, 1856 ("The bushes are weighed down with choke-berries, which no creature appears to gather. This crop is as abundant as the huckleberries have been. They have a sweet and pleasant taste enough, but leave a mass of dry pulp in the mouth.")
August 29, 1859 ("It is so cool a morning that for the first time I move into the entry to sit in the sun")
August 31, 1858 ("Red choke-berry, apparently not long. ")
August 31, 1856 (“The Cornus sericea, with its berries just turning, is generally a dull purple now . . . “)
September 1, 1854 ("The Cornus sericea berries are now in prime, of different shades of blue, lighter or darker, and bluish white. . . .a great ornament to our causeways and riverside.”)
September 1,1856 ("Red choke-berries, which last further up in this swamp, with their peculiar glossy red and squarish form, are really very handsome.")
September 1, 1859 ("The spikenard berries in the shade at Saw Mill have but just begun to turn.")
September 1, 1859 ("Red choke-berry ripe.")
September 1, 1856 ("I think it stands about thus with asters and golden-rods now.”);
September 1, 1851("The fruit of the trilliums is very handsome.. . .a dense crowded cluster of many ovoid berries turning from green to scarlet or bright brick color.") ;
September 1, 1859 ("The scarlet fruit of the arum spots the swamp floor.")
September 1, 1851 ("Then there is the mottled fruit of the clustered Solomon's-seal, ")
September 1. 1856 ("A few medeola berries ripe.")
August 31, 1858 ("Red choke-berry, apparently not long. ")
August 31, 1856 (“The Cornus sericea, with its berries just turning, is generally a dull purple now . . . “)
September 1, 1854 ("The Cornus sericea berries are now in prime, of different shades of blue, lighter or darker, and bluish white. . . .a great ornament to our causeways and riverside.”)
September 1,1856 ("Red choke-berries, which last further up in this swamp, with their peculiar glossy red and squarish form, are really very handsome.")
September 1, 1859 ("The spikenard berries in the shade at Saw Mill have but just begun to turn.")
September 1, 1859 ("Red choke-berry ripe.")
September 1, 1856 ("I think it stands about thus with asters and golden-rods now.”);
September 1, 1851("The fruit of the trilliums is very handsome.. . .a dense crowded cluster of many ovoid berries turning from green to scarlet or bright brick color.") ;
September 1, 1859 ("The scarlet fruit of the arum spots the swamp floor.")
September 1, 1851 ("Then there is the mottled fruit of the clustered Solomon's-seal, ")
September 1. 1856 ("A few medeola berries ripe.")
September 2, 1851 ("A writer, a man writing, is the scribe of all nature; he is the corn and the grass and the atmosphere writing.")
September 2, 1853 ("The medeola berries are now dull glossy and almost blue-black; about three, on slender threads one inch long, arising in the midst of the cup formed by the purple bases of the whorl of three upper leaves")
September 2, 1852 ("Rose hips begin to be handsome")
September 2, 1853 (" The dense oval bunches of arum berries now startle the walker in swamps. They are a brilliant vermilion on a rich ground.”)
September 2, 1856 ("Some years ago I sought for Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum) hereabouts in vain . . .”)
September 3, 1854 (“I see some fleets of yellow butterflies in the damp road after the rain, as earlier.”)
September 3, 1853 ("To fill my basket with the neglected but beautiful fruit of the various species of cornels and viburnums, poke, arum, medeola, thorns, etc.")
September 3, 1856 (“The white berries of the panicled cornel, soon and apparently prematurely dropping from its pretty fingers, are very bitter. So also are those of the C. sericea. ”)
September 3, 1853 ("Now is the season for those comparatively rare but beautiful wild berries which are not food for man.. . .Berries which are as beautiful as flowers, but far less known, the fruit of the flower.")
September 2, 1852 ("Rose hips begin to be handsome")
September 2, 1853 (" The dense oval bunches of arum berries now startle the walker in swamps. They are a brilliant vermilion on a rich ground.”)
September 2, 1856 ("Some years ago I sought for Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum) hereabouts in vain . . .”)
September 3, 1854 (“I see some fleets of yellow butterflies in the damp road after the rain, as earlier.”)
September 3, 1853 ("To fill my basket with the neglected but beautiful fruit of the various species of cornels and viburnums, poke, arum, medeola, thorns, etc.")
September 3, 1856 (“The white berries of the panicled cornel, soon and apparently prematurely dropping from its pretty fingers, are very bitter. So also are those of the C. sericea. ”)
September 3, 1853 ("Now is the season for those comparatively rare but beautiful wild berries which are not food for man.. . .Berries which are as beautiful as flowers, but far less known, the fruit of the flower.")
September 3, 1860 ("Here is a beautiful, and perhaps first decidedly autumnal, day, -- a, cloudless sky, a clear air, with, maybe, veins of coolness. ")
Nature is stung by
God and the seed of
man planted in her.
September 4, 1854
September 6, 1854 (" I think I may say that large Solomon’s-seal berries have begun to be red.")
September 6, 1857 ("I see in the swamp black choke berries twelve feet high at least and in fruit.")
September 6, 1858 ("Hear a warbling vireo, sounding very rare and rather imperfect.")
September 6, 1859 ("A half-warbled strain from a warbling vireo in the elm-tops.")
September 7, 1860 ("Common rose hips as handsome as ever")
September 6, 1858 ("Hear a warbling vireo, sounding very rare and rather imperfect.")
September 6, 1859 ("A half-warbled strain from a warbling vireo in the elm-tops.")
September 7, 1860 ("Common rose hips as handsome as ever")
September 9, 1852 ("The goldenrods resound with the hum of bees and other insects.")
September 11, 1859 (" September is the month when various small, and commonly inedible, berries in cymes and clusters hang over the roadsides and along the walls and fences, or spot the forest floor")
September 13, 1859 ("I see some shrub oak acorns turned dark on the bushes and showing their meridian lines, but generally acorns of all kinds are green yet. ")September 14, 1855 ("I scare from an oak by the side of the Close a young hen-hawk, which, launching off with a scream and a heavy flight, alights on the topmost plume of a large pitch pine in the swamp northward")
September 16, 1852 ("What makes this such a day for hawks? There are eight or ten in sight from the Cliffs.")September 17, 1858 (“Cooler weather now for two or three days, so that I am glad to sit in the sun on the east side of the house mornings.”)
September 18, 1852 ("In the forenoons I move into a chamber on the east side of the house, and so follow the sun round.”)
September 18, 1858 ("The earth is yellowing in the September sun.")
September 20, 1859 ("Where are the red-wings now? I have not seen nor heard one for a long time")
September 21, 1859 ("Acorns have been falling very sparingly ever since September 1, but are mostly wormy. They are as interesting now on the shrub oak (green) as ever.")
September 24, 1856 (“Methinks it stands thus with goldenrods and asters now”);
September 24, 1856 ("Arum berries still fresh")
September 27, 1852 ("The medeola berries are common now, and the large red berries of the panicled Solomon's-seal.")
September 21, 1859 ("Acorns have been falling very sparingly ever since September 1, but are mostly wormy. They are as interesting now on the shrub oak (green) as ever.")
September 24, 1856 (“Methinks it stands thus with goldenrods and asters now”);
September 24, 1856 ("Arum berries still fresh")
September 27, 1852 ("The medeola berries are common now, and the large red berries of the panicled Solomon's-seal.")
September 28, 1858 ("The small shrub oak . . . with its pretty acorns striped dark and light alternately.")
September 28, 1856 ("The arum berries are still fresh and abundant, perhaps in their prime. A large cluster is two and a half inches long by two wide and rather flattish . . . These singular vermilion-colored berries, about a hundred of them, surmount a purple bag on a peduncle six or eight inches long.")
September 29, 1854 ("Bass berries dry and brown.")
September 30, 1859 ("Most shrub oak acorns browned.")
October 1, 1859 ("The shrub oaks on this hill are now at their height, both with respect to their tints and their fruit. The . . .pretty fruit, varying in size, pointedness, and downiness, being now generally turned brown, with light, converging meridional lines . . . .Now is the time for shrub oak acorns.")
October 8, 1856 ("The following is the condition of the asters and goldenrods")
October 14, 1859 ("The shrub oak acorns are now all fallen, — only one or two left on,")
October 19, 1859 ("Though the dark-blue, or ripe, creeping juniper berries are chiefly on the lower part of the branches, I see fresh green ones on old wood.")
September 28, 1856 ("The arum berries are still fresh and abundant, perhaps in their prime. A large cluster is two and a half inches long by two wide and rather flattish . . . These singular vermilion-colored berries, about a hundred of them, surmount a purple bag on a peduncle six or eight inches long.")
September 29, 1854 ("Bass berries dry and brown.")
September 30, 1859 ("Most shrub oak acorns browned.")
October 1, 1859 ("The shrub oaks on this hill are now at their height, both with respect to their tints and their fruit. The . . .pretty fruit, varying in size, pointedness, and downiness, being now generally turned brown, with light, converging meridional lines . . . .Now is the time for shrub oak acorns.")
October 8, 1856 ("The following is the condition of the asters and goldenrods")
October 14, 1859 ("The shrub oak acorns are now all fallen, — only one or two left on,")
October 19, 1859 ("Though the dark-blue, or ripe, creeping juniper berries are chiefly on the lower part of the branches, I see fresh green ones on old wood.")
October 20, 1852 ("The small red Solomon's-seal berries spot the ground here and there amid the dry leaves.")
October 28, 1857 ("Again, I hear the scream of a hen-hawk, soaring and circling onward.")
November 2, 1853 ("The shrub oak cups which I notice to-day have lost their acorns.")
October 28, 1857 ("Again, I hear the scream of a hen-hawk, soaring and circling onward.")
November 2, 1853 ("The shrub oak cups which I notice to-day have lost their acorns.")
Nature is a kind of gall—
the Creator stung her and
man is the grub she is destined
to house and feed
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, September 4
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 © 2009-2023
https://tinyurl.com/HDT04September
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