Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-01-30
THE SIN OF FRETTING
A LIVING POEM IN FROZEN LAND
SCARE.
There IL u Bright sfde--A Question
Asked by . Country GirI-some
Good Advice-Afton Notes and
Personals.
tcorrespondencs OF the nIsnatch.l

pure over all the woods and fields. IT
was soft and clinging as 1t fell the night
before. with every old wall and fence
cleaning white and every post and stub
topped with a tall white hat The bushes
and woods were fairy lands of crystal
arches and dark grottos walled about
with delicate frostwork.
"Dreary?" said the home one, seeing
me start through the drifting fakes for
the post-ofiice mile away. mot at ALL"
1 answered cheerily, and / thought. Whit
ing In the singing ozone, this is the tonic
wine of nature, strong. pure. uplifting
as the wholesome bitter of sorrow.
The homekeeper has often prophesIed
that / would come to sorrow on the high
stills Of too much sentiment Then must
1 go elsewhere. There IS small senti-
ment in the sight OF the near mountains.
Cold, stately, logical are they, with an
enduring stiffness and grandeur. For
within their close proximity, things COM
mon, things fanclful, things mean seem
10 slip from the soul--to me, sort of
largeness pervades the thoughts, and the
cramping prosiness Of daily life has no
room to assert its sway.
The sun came out in dazzling whiteness
on the wintry roads as L made my way
along, and 1 saw flock OF downy
birds near the corner of an old, deserted
graveyard thickly Swallowed by cedars
and favorite summer haunt OF birds.
These are our winter visitors from far
Labrador that come down to the bleak
Virginia mountains as a winter resort.
There is curious phase OF bird life
about these winter hocks OF hufy-gray
a ra 90 " Oh
tirey of females. The males are very
rarely with them in their migrations, and
/ wonder II they stay at home and keep
house, while there prototypes of other
feminines are off for holiday fitting?
These tiny birds, smaller than robbins,
are the harbingers of the bluebirds, and
long ere the first bluebird has whstled
to US from the old fence rail, that, If you
please, spring will be here by and by,
the little grosbeaks are flying about the
trees with soft whistling calls, or feed
ing on the ground, pecking at the low
bush pines, while other birds are showed
up close and warm.
The male birds are distinguished by
their Grim son breasts. This fiery shield
is the family mark Of the grosbeak, just
as the scarlet crest marks all the wood
peckers, and a cheering dash Of color 1t
Is on snowy background.
AN INDIAN LEGEND.
You know. Longfellow. in his Hiawatha,
tell the Indian legend of the wood
pecker's scarlet crest. 1t is, good reading
these long winter evenings to find out all
! about It,
For my own part, I read living poem
in ell the frozen landscape. There is
really no better time for a quiet peep
at the few birds, the snowbirds feeding,
tame and fearlessly at the barn DOORS
the hardy grosbeak. and even the cawng
crow bent on mischief, than the morning
after snowstorm. "Cold, dismal,
dreary?' The day is just as we make
it. And yet how many of US fret, need
lessly, at the weather. TOO wet, too
dry, too cold. too hotp'
An almanac from the seventh sphere,
compiled by ISRAELI. would fail to suit US.
One Of the drollest things in weather
wishes is in Mark Twain's "Innocents'
Abroad" where this one ship going over
prays for favorable winds, that would
likely be adverse TO the many vessels
making the homeward run-at least it is
funny the way It is written.
One should never complain OF the
weather. When it rains in torrents and
upsets the best laid plans of mice and
men," isn't there consolation in the
thought that some of our friends are out
on a picnic; when 1t is cold enough for
the cows TO give ice-cream. as they do in
Klondixe, cannot we wear our new furs
and think Mrs. Smith is yet shvering in
the same old Paisley shawl; or, that
Brother Jones will lose his young orchard.
while we can fill our ice-house for next
summer and when the sun pours down
in red-hot fury, is 1t unpleasant to re-
member that our neighbours lawn will be
burned to a dingy brown?
THERE TS FRIGHT CIDE
You see there is bright side even to
the weather.
If there is a cardinal sin overlooked in
the catechism Of life it is the sin of fret
ting.
The Bible says we are prone to trouble
as the sparks fly upward" but even
sparks from the blacklist smoke reach a
blue sky above-they have only to fly
high enough.
The sin Of fretting is as common as
clay; so common. in fact. that we fail TO
notice II. Watch any ordinary crowd of
people and see how many minutes Will
pass before some one frets.
Yes. 1 am late. know; 1 have such a
slow cook"
THAT horrid car-driver; I couldn't
make him stop, and lost my carl" "'Pon
my honor, old fellow, coolest day / ever
saw-thought I'd freeze!'
| And so it goes. Probably every one in
| the room has some complaint which
everybody knows and nobody can help.
but why say anything about-it?
The worst Of 1t is, that this thing OF
| fretting seems TO be contagious Did you
ever notice that when you were out OF
| sorts and felt cross, everybody you met
seemed in the same condition?
There is one thing we cannot well fret
about. Things are pretty well matched
| in this world, so far as comfort goes
| high and low have their tribulations.
| Even the fishes are hooked. the worms
| are trodden on, and the happy birds are
| fired at. Worry Is everywhere. Poor
mems wives worry because the bread
| won't rise, or the chimney smokes. or
| the clothesline breaks. or they cannot
afford to hire help. Rich mems wives
worry because the parlor set is not OF
the latest pattern. or somebody duplicates
a party dress before the party comes off
| or because some other grandee's wife Is
| grander yet, or their servants sauce them
| and cut up high jinks generally, or Mrs
| Martin has two tails. and a mink's
head more upon her winter cape.
Causes vary, but worry averages the
same.
| 1 knew a dear country girl. the wear
and tear Of whose hard life hurt her with
it's monotonous round OF duties.
| In a garden, one day, she bemoaned
her narrow life of toll. Quite near hel
was a stone bench on which the bee
| hives were placed, and she watched the
| bees crawl back and forth over the glass
"Oh," she said. ito be as free as the
| beesl If could only fit from flower L
flower and sip some sweetness out OF llfe!
And then she remembered the crue
sting Of the bees. mo. no." she thought