The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-07-09

When my heart was as light as a
blossom in June"
Glorious Whitsuntide.- The prom
Use Of ummer as youth is the prom
ise of manhood. If the heart is ever
happy it is at this season, the fairesy,
sweetest Of the summer tide. May
has just finished her fiesta of roses.
her carnival Of tulips, Of paeonies, Of
spowbails. Of %syringas, each follow
ing the other in their pageant of per-
fumed and decorated floats for u
admiration; her vintage is over. To-
day the sky is bluer than h lark
spurs Of my borders, or the speed
well along the brooks, the clouds
f1oat-in broken masses, fluffy as down,
majesticalIy from East to West.
fashioned by the wind into laces and
fabrics-shimmering tissue, be-
spangled and silvered like a June
brides gown; some are pure and
beautiful and spotless as the veil Of
Isis, or the mantle which fell from
h brown hen-hawk sails higher and
higher, widening her circle in her
flight; from out the blue her clear
call reaches my ear, and fills the
heart with rhapsody. 1t is, the un-
n:stakable call Of the wild, and /
hic to the woods and fields.
My first stretch led along q foot
pdtH "u1Cu ZISZdSScO lh1OuSn All
open field, foaming with daisies.
across which. through the parted
trees, l caught the high lights of he
June u upon the bay. The elder
bushes all along the ditch-banks v
put on their Panama hats for the
summer. 1t is early afternoon. the
delicious breeze cools my temples,
and more than counterbalances the
warm OF the sun, as / approach
the deep woods near Belvidere swamp,
my objective point. The odor Of the
chinquapin in blossom dominates the
woods TODAY, n steals upon my
senses; color and 1oyousness are
everywhere. My youth comes to me
as 1t has not lone since years went
by-that swelling of the heart which
We rarely feel again.
What unspeakable JOY, and adora-
chosen Apostles on that first Pente-
costal day! 1t is the hour and sea-
son OF worship. remember how in
the freshness and sweetness and in
the simplicity Of perfect childish
faith. I used to attend the old country
church in the neighborhood where
l lived, at this season. Riding to
the ROY where the dear old church
sat white as snow midits-ta "a oaks
and pines, as l climbed the hill, !
could hear the neighing horses tied
everywhere in the grove. groups Of
people were Sdtn0Icu ABOUT lQC uOOIS,
and the old church was fairly ringing
with the songs Of Zion. 1t always
awakened in me deepest reverence
and profound alteration for the Most
High. Would that in maturer years
We could worship in that same beauty
Of holiness. From the remotest
dawn Of history mar has sought the
most beautiful groves in which to
erect his temples OF worship, whether
heather or Christian, real or unreal
The grove Of Daphne so charmed
Apollo that he who went there just tc
loo never came away again. the
grove of Nodens, Abraham planted
, a grove in B~eersheba. and "calleo
there on the name Of the Lord. the
= everlasting Cod" the oak groves OF
the Druids, the grove of Academus
lear Athens planted with olives and
, plane-trees, at first devoted to ath
leticS, subsequently where Plate
taught his sublime philosophy.
taught the youths the i'm
: mortality of the soul. And toda,
how many beautiful groves and gar
dens do we see surrounding our vas
cathedraiS and places of worship
Especially do / recall one surroundin,
the bea utiful old cathedral on h,
Island of Antigua, set with ever,
tropical plant and tree and contain
ing a statue of Adam and Eve. A
: these cite by way Of illustration.
t l have reached the woods. ant