有時候我在天剛亮起床，會偷偷溜進花園；那時，草地和花兒都沉浸在露水中。很少人體驗把玫瑰花親切握在手中，或者感受百合花在清晨微風中擺頭的美麗招呼，這類的喜悅。有時候，我摘花時會無意中抓到裡面的昆蟲；這小生命發覺外面突然來的擠壓，會驚慌，一對翅膀就會摩擦出微弱聲響。 

果園是另一個我特別喜愛去的地方，在那裡七月初就能找到鮮美可口的水果；大且甜美多汁的桃子會滾動在我手中，而和風拂過樹林時蘋果會掉落我腳下。呵，我歡歡喜喜的用長裙下襬把這些水果兜起來，臉貼著仍存溫暖陽光的圓滑蘋果，蹦蹦跳跳的回家。 

我們特別喜歡去凱勒平台散步，這是田納西河上一個老舊而有點搖晃的木造碼頭；南北戰爭時，軍隊用它泊船載運士兵。我們在那裡做學習地理學的遊戲，度過許多快樂時光。我挖河床用小卵石圍湖立島，純是好玩，絲毫沒意識我是正在學習一種課業。蘇利文老師對我描述我們偉大地球上的….火山爆發、城市被埋、冰河移動和諸多其他奇妙的事，我越聽越驚異越想知道更多。她用泥土做浮凸的地圖，所以我能夠用手感受到山脊、溪谷和連續彎曲的河流。將地球以各區域和南、北極地帶劃分的區隔我也覺得有趣，但是這也讓我感到困惑和難堪。那些輔助說明用的繩索以及標示極地的柳橙樹枝，我感覺那樣真實，以至於即使是到了現在，任何人只是提到地球的溫帶我也會聯想起一串串的合股麻繩線圈；我也認為假使有任何人那樣做....只是提到北極，也會讓我聯想白熊攀登柳橙樹枝的模樣。

Sometimes I rose at dawn and stole into the garden while the heavy dew lay on the grass and flowers. Few know what joy it is to feel the roses pressing softly into the hand, or the beautiful motion of the lilies as they sway in the morning breeze. Sometimes I caught an insect in the flower I was plucking, and I felt the faint noise of a pair of wings rubbed together in a sudden terror, as the little creature became aware of a pressure from without.

Another favourite haunt of mine was the orchard, where the fruit ripened early in July. The large, downy peaches would reach themselves into my hand, and as the joyous breezes flew about the trees the apples tumbled at my feet. Oh, the delight with which I gathered up the fruit in my pinafore, pressed my face against the smooth cheeks of the apples, still warm from the sun, and skipped back to the house!

Our favourite walk was to Keller's Landing, an old tumble-down lumber-wharf on the Tennessee River, used during the Civil War to land soldiers. There we spent many happy hours and played at learning geography. I built dams of pebbles, made islands and lakes, and dug river-beds, all for fun, and never dreamed that I was learning a lesson. I listened with increasing wonder to Miss Sullivan's descriptions of the great round world with its burning mountains, buried cities, moving rivers of ice, and many other things as strange. She made raised maps in clay, so that I could feel the mountain ridges and valleys, and follow with my fingers the devious course of rivers. I liked this, too; but the division of the earth into zones and poles confused and teased my mind. The illustrative strings and the orange stick representing the poles seemed so real that even to this day the mere mention of temperate zone suggests a series of twine circles; and I believe that if any one should set about it he could convince me that white bears actually climb the North Pole.