The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-06-05
A LITTLE JOURNEY IN MAY.

year, my CITY IrlenQ, leI III De III May.
Failing in that, October is also roy
al time, but May is really the merriest
month of all the long glad year. l
make but two journeys in the year,
and these are the months | choose,
and l am we'll versed in the lore of
the seasons, as dweller in country
village should be. l have just re-
turned from my May pilgrimage, and
my heart is full of its beauty. 1t was
the second week in May that l Jared
forth. had been shut in through
all "the furious winter RACES" l had
avoided the blasts OF March also,
though had enjoyed it's sun. April
had afforded some ramhles in search
Of hepaticas, blood-root, and spring
beauties, and the greening grass had
been perpetual delight. But it was
not until l began my journey in the
cars that fully realized that spring
had come. / began to take note of
he trees as we sped along.
They had the first faint pinkish
green of early spring, that indefin-
able color, so fascinating to the eye
of the artist-that tint which art has
found it so nearly impossible to copy.
There were no full grown leaves as
yet, except those of the poplar, which
made bright green patches among
the softer standings of the woods.
Their white shafts cleaned in the
dull forest like silver spears. But the
general coloring of the landscape
was indescribably beautiful. Every
wayside weed was a subdued splen-
dor. Every twig was a symphony in
faint pink. Every roadside hedge had
innumerable standings of delicate
colors. The marshes were most mag
ni6cent. Their green was the green
est thing on the face of the earth.
Aud there were acres of cowslips
without break in their golden glory.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle in the milky way
they stood in never ending line, like
Wordsworth's daffodils, and made
just as jocund company. Then
there came miles and miles of blue
violets, growing close to the track
such as you had not seen since you
roamed, when a child, far from al
the haunts of men.
You wanted to take the whole
world in your arms and kiss it, as
you gazed. And every little stream
and brook that tripped with it's feet
of silver, and it's voice almost articu-
late of perfect joy. was full to over
flowing, and sparkled in the sun, and
the rivers were of the same divine
blue as the skies above.
But oh, the MOSES in the green
coverts, with all their shy, sweet
gracesl How beautiful, how deli
cate, how enhancing they were. 1t
was worth kings ransom to see them,
clustering and clinging to the gnarled
Ioots, to logs and stones. Then the
constant moss! No spring will come
to the gray old world without its
comfort to the heart.
But how thespring leaped forward
n week! On the return journey,
which was by another road, l could
but note the great change. The trees
were almost in full leaf. Every wood
was green now, and literally car
peted with nodding trilliums. They
waved in the breeze and shook out
their white flags, as though nature
were calling for truce in this Field
of the Cloth of Gold which the dan
delions made under our feet.
Never was there such splendor of
dandelions since the world was made,
l am sure. Talk of the peoples of
California; what are they besides our
May-day meadows, when cowslips and
dandelions possess the land! And
then we have loved them from our
infancy. Always may the old flowers
bloom in the old places for me. The
dear common things are the best.
But the fruit trees, wild and tame,
were regalest things of all. In every
bit of woods there were the thorn
apples, sweetest, most ethical of all,
with a pink that shames the Utmost
heart of sea shells, and an odor that
is an ecstasy. And the wild plum
ran rampant everywhere. In the
orchards the crab apple trees were
miracles with their multitude of
blossoms, and the cherry trees one
wreath of white. Plumes of purple
lilac and sprays of Towering current
gladdened the gardens, and the iris
was blue in the shallow pools. The
great miracle play of spring was on
the boards.
But as far as my fellow travellers
were concerned it might as we'll have
been left unperformed. There seemed