It seemed that a moment as tho it had been years since I heard a rooster crow, and such a wave of homesickness & intangible yearning swept over me, as I could hardly endure.
     For some time it was sheer pleasure to stride boldly along, swinging the arms, thrusting the chest out, & breathing in deeply.
     While I was crossing a field to the old railroad-bed, something inside my left foot began to chafe and I had to stop & sit on an old log and remove the boot. Now I discovered it was a tiny marble in my underwear - so small a thing if constantly irritated could ruin a walk!
     Here I saw a willow clump studded with white bird tips.
     Going up the hill thru the woods, I found literally thousands of acorns in one spot.
It was a welcome physical diversion to cross a deep hollow, which required careful maneuvering, the steep banks being frozen with ice.
     The latter part of the walk, up over the Ridge on the dirt road was not so pregnant with feelings. The hint of Spring was gone - it seemed like a late winter day, the snow banks cold & unmelted.
     Last night a dream.
     I had been wandering in country to the south, and on my return I decided to climb a steep, wooded ravine-side; it had been raining and I thought, “This being so much further south than I live, I will find hepaticas in the woods above. I climbed with the aid of tree roots - growing between