Thursday, June 14, 2007

The Twelve Moons of the Year. April (01)

Significant sentences from The Twelve Moons of the Year by Hal Borland, a chronology of the New England seasons. April (01)

"April is...a compound of many subtle scents...the fertile smell of leaf mold and rotting twigs in a woodland, a rich damp, vegetative odor...the damp, almost green smell of moss." p. 90.

"By April you begin to see the buds against the sky." p. 91.

"There are the complexities of catkin and raceme, of pollen and petal, of stem and spreading leaf, all packed within the waiting bud that is smaller than a baby's fingertip." p. 92.

"The geese are on the wing...like small dogs yelping in the far distance...a penciled V against the sky...gabbling in the dusk." p. 93.

"The wild goose...is the epitome of wanderlust, limitless horizons, and distant travel." p. 93.

"...uncounted millions of taut and waiting buds." p. 94.

"Migrating robins can easily fly 250 miles south in a day, find more hospitable weather and wait out the storm." p. 95.

"Few things in this world are newer, and look newer, than the tiny leaves as they start unfolding from the buds." p. 96.

"April...hazed with green...a kind of pastel shimmer." p. 97.

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