Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-05-29
WHERE SHALL | GO?
THE ALTON LADY TALKS TO PROS
PECTIvE SUMMER BoARDERs.
BEAUTIEA OF THE BLUE EDGE.
The Charms of Nature In the Noun
tains of virginia-Myriad Forms of
Life and AnimatiOn-The Home In
stinct.


that the heat of summer is upon us and
average human fancies lightly turn from
the love thoughts Of early spring to
visions of green fields, ocean waves. and
breezy mountain airs, the momentous
question is: Where shall I go?"
For very many this problem is already
settled. But thousands Of families are
still shifting uneasily from one alterna-
tive to another and yet wrestling with
tho advertisements of summer board.
IT is a little curious to note how this
question of summers fitting Is vari-
ously regarded. Mr.. Howells, for in
stance. in discussing summer outings. re-
Gently declared that for most people
choice is a curse; that the best ways lay
in unbeaten paths and accidental loea-
tons. Beside being too strong. this is
not true. The American home love quite
as often goes with US away from home
and takes US back TO the beaten paths
and weIl-remembered summer resorts,
say, of last year, or the year before.
Quite often Mamma and her girls, who
had such a nice time at Willow Springs,
return to their cosey cottage. or Charlie
and Jane, with retrospective tenderness
recall where "they met by chance the
usual way''-ths other happy felicities
of course. following later on.
WHAT DEPEw SAYS.
1 read a curious thing given out by Mr.
Depew not long since TO brother penny
a-liner.
Mr.. Depew, happily. is one Of the per-
sons 10 whom choice is not curse. Just
before starting on his last trip to Europe,
he summarized thusly: Aboard ship be-
tween New York and London he would
sleep eighteen hours a day; in London
spend fortnight or more in lively social
contact with the most remunerativea In
teliigences-i. e., the upper crust; in
Germany cit around and be amused in
Paris to shop; back to London for a few
last words and dinner speech, and
home again In September.
cannot imagine more dreary pros
pect!
There is no sea bathing in this plan; no
fishing; no tonic mountain air; no COM
muuion with nature; no solitude; no re-
lief from the sound OF the human voice.
Only sleep and unlimited folks!
or course, there is no better tonic
taken in small doses-than folks, IL one
can only reach the right kind. But I
think 1t a blesslng-outside OF the risk
in encountering some ''wlll-of-the-wisp"
Of the Spanish main--that We cannot all
take European tours.
Up here, the sound of the hammer and
the saw and the swish Of the painters
brush have been making a music OF well
come for the past month, and now, as
the last nail Is driven and the paint
pot empty, the Improvements IN comfort
and convenience at either hotel are well
marked.
Certainly. our little city by the c." and
o. never looked more beautiful. The
air is laden with perfect odors, and the
surrounding hills seem more than ever
rich with their lofty crests and many
tinted greens.
THE BLUE RIDGE.
The Blue Ridge, always celebrated for
their picturesque and magnificent scene
ry, retain a loveliness az this season
which battles description. During the
month OF May the mountain laurels and
the wild rhododendrons are in full bloom;
the sloping hillsides and the tumbling,
rushing streams are fringed with the
dark leaves and waxy, pink blooms Of the
latter shrub. With Us May is the riotous
month OF spr.nging grain and
bursting bud, OF swelling fruits and deep
ening, changeful hues; OF life. with tho
glory and the summers splen-
OVERLOOKING. Life all
around; OF the fishes in the running
brooks, and OF teeming millions of In
sects. born for another short summers
life in the air we breathe, and beneath
every bit OF bark and p!ne-tag In the fra
grant woods. And such busy month this
is in the world OF treetop life. There is
always something going on there worth
looking at, and this Is surely true In the
time of iove-making and home-making.
believe that memory is q strong faculty
in many birds: II takes years often 70 OBJ
llterate their impressions. Let him who
doubts consider that the same bird that
built q nest and reared It's young on a
particular tree by his window last year
WILL litter an absence OF many months,
without a compass 10 guide II. or even
a bLazed tree 10 mark its way. return
again year after year to perform the
same paternal Office.
Amidst all ths life Of animate nature
Il is the happy birds that voice the sacred
song OF rejuvenation. From the naughty
noisy blackblrd. full OF pilfering projects.
TO the wood-robin, with It's mellow notes
and that little nugget OF gold. the sun-
mer warbler, they are right about US. and
may be seen and heard In any country
walk
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