Friday, June 15, 2007

The Twelve Moons of the Year. April 02.

Significant sentences from The Twelve Moons of the Year by Hal Borland, a chronology of the New England seasons. April 02.


"Our eyes need the comfort of grass and leaves...." p. 97.

"A flock of grackles is an offense to the ear...likened...to...a fleet of squeaky wheel barrows...rusty gate hinges, thousands of rusty gate hinges." p. 101.

"One can walk with April rain...doesn't slash or sting." p. 103.

"Fog, which technically is nothing but a cloud in contact with the earth." p. 104.

"The fog rises and the familiar world reappears...but for a little while the fog made a world all its own, a fantastic, mysterious world, evanescent as the fog itself." p. 105.

"The farmer turns the clean, straight furrows and something of the soil is plowed into him, the smell of it, the look and feel." p. 105.

"There are about 5,000 species of grass." p. 107.

"Like the very old and very wise of our own race, ferns seem to have outgrown haste and impatience...." p. 108.

"There aren't many flowers prettier than a dandelion, if you can look at a dandelion as a blossom, not a weed." p. 109.

"The dandelion's old virtues are almost forgotten, nowadays...self-blanched inner leaves made an excellent spring green, fresh or cooked.... Roots were used for potherbs.... Wine was made from those bright blossoms.... Dried roots were ground and substituted for coffee.... That was before the dandelion became a dooryard weed." p. 110.

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