October 4, 2022 Henry David Thoreau, Mary Hiester Reid, the Dahlia, Kerry Mousetail Fern, Amish Friends 4 Seasons Cookbook by Wanda Brunstetter, and Dorothy Frances Blomfield Gurney

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Historical Events
1852 On this day, Henry David Thoreau writes in his journal.
The maples are reddening, and birches yellowing. 
The mouse-ear in the shade in the middle of the day... looks as if the frost still lay on it. 
Bumblebees are on the Aster... and gnats are dancing in the air.
 
The Mouse Ears that Thoreau mentions in this excerpt is actually a species of forget-me-not (Myosotis laxa) known as the tufted forget-me-not, bay forget-me-not, or just the small-flower forget-me-not.
Mouse Ears like to grow in wet areas, so I can believe there was still frost on this forget-me-not when Thoreau looked at it - especially since it was probably in a low-lying or damp area.
Now Thoreau himself went into a little more detail about the Mouse Ears forget-me-not.
He wrote.
It is one of the most interesting minute flowers. 
It is the more beautiful for being small and unpretending; even flowers must be modest.
 
Thoreau underscores this point of agreement that I have with longtime gardeners: the longer we garden, we come to appreciate some of the more subtle, more minor details in a much bigger way than we did when we were first starting out. We mature in our perspective on our garden - or on different plants or species of plants in our gardens. Our thinking evolves and changes - and what we love about our garden grows as we mature as gardeners.
 
1921 Death of Mary Hiester Reid (books about this person), American-born Canadian painter, and teacher.
A painter of floral still lifes, Mary was a tonalist - passionate, poetic, and subtle - and her works have been called "devastatingly expressive." In her career, Mary was both an impressionist and a realist. Mary produced over 300 oil paintings. In her prime in 1890, Mary was regarded as the most critical flower painter in Canada. 
Mary often painted trios - so her paintings would feature three