Opal Stanley Whiteley

After this I lived in a great many other lumber camps, and there were new people and new animal friends and new nurseries and other cathedrals. I studied in the woods and wrote down what I saw and heard. In the spring of 1918 I went from Oregon to Southern California, to do more research work in natural science, earning my way by teaching nature classes. In the winter of 1918 I published my first nature-book, paying for it by taking orders for it in advance.

In the summer of 1919 I came East, hoping to be able to get another nature-book published. In my going to see publishers, I came to the editor of the Atlantic. While I was telling the editor about this book, he asked me if I never kept a diary, and this is the answer.

After the seventh year and far on into other years I continued the diary; but perhaps some other time the story of all these things will be pieced together and made into another book.

Transcriber’s Notes

Errors in punctuation were repaired.

Except for the following changes, spelling and hyphenation have been preserved as printed in the original.

• Page 17, “thought” changed from “though” (I thought that a walk).

• Page 33, “fairies” changed from “faires” (if the fairies yet).

• Page 48, “would n’t” changed from “wouldn’t” (ham would n’t be cut up).

• Page 50, “maybe” changed from “may be” (thinks maybe his teeth).

• Page 87, “that” changed from “what” (baby that has satisfaction).

• Page 100, “Grand” changed from “Grande” (le Grand CondÉ, was asleep).

• Page 139, “do” changed from “bo” (I do sing it).

• Page 149, duplicated “to” deleted (to go away).

• Page 154, “pancake” changed from “pankcake” (and the pancake-turner).

• Page 167, “asfiditee” changed from “asafiditee” (piece of asfiditee I did).

• Page 170, “Nicholas” changed from “Nicolas” (Nicholas Boileau and Jean).

• Page 194, “Plantagenet” changed from “Plantagenent” (is enough for Mathilde Plantagenet).

• Page 218, “could n’t” changed from “couldn ’t” (we could n’t play together).

• Page 218, “By-and-by” changed from “By and-by” (By-and-by I did hear Solomon).

• Page 245, “olÉandre” changed from “oleandre” (cornope, olÉandre, iris).

• Page 252, “mentholatumed” changed from “metholatumed” (I have mentholatumed).

• Page 276, duplicated “and tante” deleted (and tante and oncle).

• Page 280, “mentholatum” changed from “metholatum” (box of mentholatum that Sadie).