The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1908-04-18

the joys of a nonkish retirement, or
set myself up for a kermit's gay
life.
is to this cruel world of ours is
q part of my sworn creed, and sub
scribe heartily to the Biblical axiom
that "it is not good for man to be
alone"
But does 1t not mean q lack of d.
vining ones own possibilities when
a man or a woman feel distraught or
uneasy when there is no one around
to make a diversion in the round Of
existence? Is there left no relish for
calmly sitting alone and musing on
the joys and ills of worldly life. Of
bringing up the past and dreaming Of
the future, of planning for days to
come, and yet not with that feverish
anxiety which robs city life Of so
much possible attractiveness?
Alone on farm means alone with only
1.-THE of the responsibilities which
are saddled on men and women in the
cities. Duties and responsibilities are
all very well in their way; indeed life
would be blank without them. But
there is no need Of being Incorporate
in that respect and loading ones self
down with a multitude of petty
crosses which take the salt and the
SAVIOR out of living.
The main impulse In your retire
ment when your thoughts drift city
ward is to look back on the life you
left In the city with infinite amuse-
ment. You remember when all that
rush and hurry and kaleidoscope
glitter seemed very important. 1t
doesn't now. Life on farm or any
where else is simply one phase of ex.
istence, and there is really nothing i'm
portant but contentment. There is q
beautiful sense of calm In looking
out on perfectly clear skies, with the
farm stretching to the valleys and
hills, and rejecting that in all the
cities in existence there is not so,
much peace as in these spaces.
To be alone in a crowd is much
worse than to be companioned among
solitudes. To be happy is a gift; and
the Fates find so much that makes
for sadness in crowded streets, that
the happy souls are few behind urban
walls.
We two in these sun-washed vaults
OF cloudless blue that dreamed above
us were more nearly ourselves with
out let or hindrance than we had ever
been In the towns. There was a
buoyant chord in wind or storm which
seemed to sing to us. There was not
even the trace of loneliness in the air. |
Smoke, squalor, dust, wrangle of
creeds, the noisy insistence of metro
politan life-all these were as ugly
mists which had passed away and
left behind hardly a vestige of the
shadow they cast.
1t is a fair test, IL some one comes |
to see you who is entirely companion
able, whether the fact OF their leav-
Ing makes a difference which fingers
with you. The real hitch comes when
the contrast is presented. We had
some very welcome visitors at the
Farm. and enjoyed their coming great
". They liked the country for a
change, and one, at least of them
really regretted his going. But for
he most part, after the novelty wore
IN, they were ready to return to the
titles again, and the very fact of
heir readiness to get back made their
arewells more of formality. With
he one man whose stay was marked
" the delight which only q genuine
over OF nature feels in congenial sur.
oundings. we parted with genuine rs-
ret, and were delighted when he
made US a return visit, protesting that
le had pierced to the secret Of our
Enjoyment Of the farm. and showing
y his unreserved happiness in out
oors that he was one of the elect.
Paradoxical as 1t may seem, II we
Tere ever lonesome, 1t was for soil
ude. We had made friends with
very tree and pasture on the place.
re knew where the birds nested and
here the flowers blossomed. An old
richard where a house had once stood
'as favorite rendezvous for us, for !
ne shadows of its former occupants
eemed moving where the sunken
earth-stone barely showed, and ,
here the well-curb bad been grown
yer thickly with sheltering grass.
We knew where the fox SQUIRRELS
ested or had their retreats in hollow
ices and where the quail were bring
lg out their broods In the tall grass :.
longside the fences, or in the black. :
cry thickets >or ravines in the tim
er. Study nature as you will and
er secrets ever seem to grow more
number and still more fascinating
their uncertainty
1t was not lonesome to view the sun |.
ping down westward slopes, nor to
atch the home-going robins and tur. .
edoves as they few past. The pres
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