The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-11-04
The Temptation of Overdo,rv.


Everyone is getting back now from
their summer wanderings by field and
fell. and the swish of the silk-lined skirt
is heard once more. Rosy cheeks, and
sun-tanned faces are everywhere in evil
dence. and where two or three women
are gathered together the talk is of
springs, and mountains, and Europe. No
matter how much one has enjoyed an
outing, the best part is getting back.
Home always looks so good when l
nrst return. said woman the other
day. that for me a trip is equal to fur
nlshing the house from top to bottom"
One feels, however, that atnno other
time OF the year are women so sadly in
need of note of warning as just now.
OVERRIDING is always their besetting sin,
and when one comes home, tired out with
idleness and simply aching for work; the
temptation to rush in and try to do every
thing ut once is very subtitle and insidi-
GUS and hard to resist. To begin with,
the house cries aloud for cleaning. If
the servants have taken care of it during
the summer, there is bloom of dust on
everything that might delight an anti
quarry, but that throws good housewife
into cold fits. If the husband has
"bached,' confusion worse COMPOUNDED
prevails, and there are shoes on the nj
ano, and duck trousers on the hatrack,
and pipes and cigar stubs everywhere.
Besides, the. children must be gotten
ready for school, and little late fruit
preserved, and heaven knows what odds
and ends of jobs looked after.
Every woman will realize that it takes
real heroism for another woman to sit
down quietly and rest, with everythin
at SKIES and sevens about her, but ali
the same she is wise who takes things
slowly, and who does not undo by
week of frantic housekeeping all the
good two or three months of. rest have
done her. More than that. it is almost
breach of good faith with those about
her. The serenity and happiness of the
household depend ON the woman's good
health and temper, and she has no right
to unnecessarily imperil that by bringing
on an attack of nerves by overwork.
One of the advantages of the annual mi
grafton of women is that they travel with
| their eyes wide open, and learn so much.
For her to see a thing is to adopt it, and
adopt it to her own use. She comes
home with her head full Of new ideas, and
her desire to put them all into instant exc
cution is also full of peril. Here, too
there is luck in leisure, and she will never
regret having waited for a! while before
she threw away her good old fashioned
furniture for spurious empire gim-cracks
or having reflected that the heavy hang
ings of Turkish cozy corners that looked
SO fetching Ill CulcdkO OF NeW York would
seem stuffy and smothery in New Orleans.
This is also the time of year when one
is importuned to join church societies, and
clubs galore, and when. in the first flush of
getting back and being glad. to see every
one, you weakly subscribe 80 everything
that. is offered to you. Go slow about
! that, too, sister. It is SO much easier to
get into things than it is to get out. Ev-
cry dilatory member is dead weight
on club, and you have no right to Join
in it. Take time when you FIRST. get home
to look about you, and see what you really
can do, and want to do. Make up your
slate, as the politicians say, and: don't be
in too big hurry. You have the whole
| winter before you. Take things ,leis,irely.
and keep the roses you brought back from
your summer vacation.-New Orleans
Picayunc.