Gilbert White
After two days and nights of thaw the green fields emerge into the light. A mild Westerly wind knocks and shakes everything free of snow.
Gilbert White, (born 1720), author of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selbourne kept his journal from 1768 to 1793 when he died. His journals record details of the passing seasons. Without plan or pretension they become poetry.
1779.
Nov. 23. An eclipse of the moon, total but not central.
Nov.25. Mrs. Snooke’s old tortoise retired under the ground.
Nov. 28. The ground is glutted with water.
Nov. 29. Snow was halfshoe-deep on the hill. Distant lightening.
Dec. 2. Vast condensation in the great parlour; the grate, the marble-jams, the tables, the chairs, the walls are covered with dew. (Later.) This inconvenience may be prevented by keeping the window-shutters & the door close shut in such moist seasons.
Dec.13. Much thunder. Great hail at Faringdon.
Dec. 22. Ground covered with snow.
Dec.25. Vast rime, strong frost, bright & still, fog. The hanging woods when covered with a copious rime appear most beautiful and grotesque.
Dec. 26. Most beautiful rimes.
From Journals of Gilbert White, edited by Walter Johnson. Routledge. 1931.
Gilbert White, (born 1720), author of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selbourne kept his journal from 1768 to 1793 when he died. His journals record details of the passing seasons. Without plan or pretension they become poetry.
1779.
Nov. 23. An eclipse of the moon, total but not central.
Nov.25. Mrs. Snooke’s old tortoise retired under the ground.
Nov. 28. The ground is glutted with water.
Nov. 29. Snow was halfshoe-deep on the hill. Distant lightening.
Dec. 2. Vast condensation in the great parlour; the grate, the marble-jams, the tables, the chairs, the walls are covered with dew. (Later.) This inconvenience may be prevented by keeping the window-shutters & the door close shut in such moist seasons.
Dec.13. Much thunder. Great hail at Faringdon.
Dec. 22. Ground covered with snow.
Dec.25. Vast rime, strong frost, bright & still, fog. The hanging woods when covered with a copious rime appear most beautiful and grotesque.
Dec. 26. Most beautiful rimes.
From Journals of Gilbert White, edited by Walter Johnson. Routledge. 1931.
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Comments
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There can't be a used bookstore within 50 miles of you that's safe, Steve. I so enjoy these posts.
EdPosted 12-11-2010 at 08:46 AM by Ed Shacklee 
