Journal of First Class at The Clearing in Door County, Wisconsin 1957

May 21. Tuesday

We woke to clouds, cold wind, and a driving light rain.   The newly leafing aspens whipped in the wind, as if it were winter again, and the trillium hordes were weighted with water pearling their tri-form flowers and leaves.   Few birds moved or sang.   It was as if we had gone back in the seasons to late winter, with only the indomitable flowers and the unquenchable ovenbirds to show that it was indeed late May in Door county,Wisconsin.

The warmth and dryness of the school, with dripping trees and wet violets outside the windows, was pleasant after a walk down the woodland path.   Mr. Platt spoke of trees of THE CLEARING and emphasized the conifers, specimens of which had been brought in, drippily.

We went out, soon, in raincoats and good spirits, to see what we could see, in spite of wind and cold-and rain.   Plants were there . . . but birds were outstanding by their absence.   The ovenbird still sang, a scattering of mysterious finch voices were over, the black-throated green warbler still chanted.   But this was definitely not a day for birds.

It was an excellent day, however, for mosses and lichens, which swelled greenly in the moisture, among them the concise colonies of Marchantia liverwort — shades of our high school botany!