NEWSLETTER No. 32 May 1978 
     
     NEXT MEETING 
     
     Time: 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 2, 1978 
     
     Place: Provincial Health Building, 3rd Floor, Room 47. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Program: The Nature Slide Competition will be held, the 
     
     slides shown and the members will judge winners. 
     
     Bring your slides to the meeting. 
     
    
   
   
    
     SPRING THAW 
     
    
   
   
    
     As the season turns, 
     
     grey edges of the days begin to lengthen, 
     
     snow murmurs as it goes, 
     
     sod softens slowly, thaws, 
     
     turf becomes elastic on gusty afternoons 
     
     and green is easy to imagine on brown today. 
     
    
   
   
    
     I watch and listen 
     
     to brown birds waking in the weeds 
     
     to early flies on warm windows 
     
     to slow swell of buds and flush of twigs; 
     
     the warm wind breathes across old pitted snow 
     
     as the river's ice sighs and sings, 
     
     and the smell of promise fills the air. 
     
    
   
   
    
     As the season turns, . 
     
     grey edges of the days begin to lengthen, 
     
     yes, dawn and evening linger, 
     
     I hear the groundthaw of my mind 
     
     slowly waking to a new song, 
     
     extending a paw to test the weather 
     
     of the ragged end of Winter edge of Spring. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Before the floods and flowers. 
     
    
   
   
    
     F.W. Grimm 
     
     Trail and Landscape 
     
     Vol. 12(2):54, 1978 
     
    
   
   
    
     ANNOUNCEMENTS 
     
    
   
   
    
     "ISLAND WOODLAND PLANTS" 
     
    
   
   
    
     A pleasant surprise greeted the N.H.S. members at the April 
     
     meeting. Copies of this new publication from the Department of the 
     
     Environment, were on the table, free for all to take. The author 
     
     is Kathy Martin, our newsletter editor. Forty-three woodland plants 
     
     are described in easy-reading language. Each plant is illustrated 
     
     with a drawing by Elizabeth MacArthur. The cover and several pages 
     
     of woodland scenes are by Cheryl Olsen. The scientific name, the 
     
     common English name, the common French name, and the plant family 
     
     name are given with each plant. All this adds up to a great little 
     
     book - a credit to all who had any part in its creation. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Margaret Mallett, 
     
     Charlottetown. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Conference Brochures Available 
     
    
   
   
    
     "Nature in the Gulf - Island, Man and Sea" conference brochures 
     
     have been completed for the CNF annual meeting in August 1978. We 
     
     have included one with your newsletter. Numbers are available for 
     
     distribution and it is up to all our members to publicize the 
     
     conference. We encourage you to send copies to all your friends or 
     
    
   
   
    
     relatives who might have an interest in attending. Also you can 
     
    
   
   
    
     I