OnthiswaningautumnafternoonthenorthernMainelandscape1istart， compelling， shadowedhereandtherebypuffsoffair-weathercumulus， ， adozenmileswestofWaldoboro， Ioncespentmysummersfromtheageof12to14atoneofthoseIndian-namedboys' camps—moreyearsagothanIliketothinkabout.
， severalhundredyearsold， -heavyAugustdayshaveIstoodonthisriselookingoutoverthewoodedlandscapetowardtheCamdenhills？ Formeitwasalwaysamagicalprospect， ， whenwegatheredaroundthegreatoakjustaftersunset， MountBattiewithoutlosingitsdefinitionwouldtakeonablueluminosity.
Overtheyearsaraggedsecond-growthofaspenandbirchandspeckledalder， atthefaredgeofthebaseballdiamond， .
Onsultryafternoons， whentheairquivered3inthecoolandfadinglightofearlyevening， Iusedtostandherebytheoldoakandlookoutacrossaninterludenofscrubandswampfromwhichseveralmilesaway， ， beckonedtome， ， IknewonlythatbeforesummerendedImustgotoit， (makemywayoverthepasture， upanduppastshrubandgraniteuntilIstoodontheverysummit.) .
， ouractiviticswererecordedinacounselor' —， toclimbahillfornoreason， thatwasoutsidetherules， againstthe "campspirit."
Saturdayafternoons， withtheirinfluxofparentsandvisitors， broughtacertainrelaxation， ， Icouldseeitssummitaheadofme， unknown， ， Iedgedalongthebaseballfield， thenslippedintotheunderbrush.
Itwashardgoing， ， ， deadbranchessnaggedme， .Withmosquitoes4droningandhover-fliescirclinganddarting， Iploddedon， losingmyselfandlosingtrackoftime.
， anopengroveofashandmaple， ， trimmedwithscrollworkandcuspsandscallopedshingles， withnarrow， high-pitchedroofs， eachwasnomorethananarm' slengthfromthenext， .
