The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1908-03-26


the joys of a monkish retirement. OF
set my self up for a hermifs gay
| life.
man and woman make all there
| IL to this cruel world OF ours Is
a part of my sworn creed, and | sub
scribe heartily to the Biblical axiom
that 1t is not good for man TO be
alone"
But does II not mean lack OF d.
vining ones own possibilities when
a man or a woman feel distraught OF
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 &c
come. and yet not with that feverish
anxiety which robs city life Of sc
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
Savor 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 II
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 a
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 sc
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-ail these we've as ugly
mists which had passed away and
left behind hardly a vestige OF the
shadow they cast.
Il is a fair test, II some one comes
to see you who is entirely companion
able, whether the fact OF their leay-
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.
ly. They liked the country for a
change. and one. at least of them
really regretted his going. But for
the most part. after the novelty wore
on, they were ready to return TO the
cities again. and the very fact OF
their readiness TO get back made their
farewells more OF a Formally. With
the one man whose stay was marked
by the delight which only a genuine
lover OF nature feels in congenial sur.
roundings. we parted With genuine re
greet. and were delighted when he
made us a return visit. protesting that
he had pierced TO the secret OF our
enjoyment of the farm, and showing
by his unreseryed happiness in out
doors that he was one of the elect.
Paradoxical as 1t may seem. II we
were ever lonesome IL was for soil.
tude. We had made friends with
every tree and pasture on the place,
we knew where the birds nested and
where the flowers blossomed. An old
orchard where house had once stood
was a favorite rendezvous for us, for
the shadows OF its former occupants
seemed moving where the sunken
hearth-stone barely showed, and
where the well-curb hsd been grown
over thickly with sheltering grass.
We knew where the fox squirrels
nested or had their retreats In hollow
trees and where the quail were bring.
ing out their broods In the tall grass
alongside the fences, or in the black.
berry Tickets or ravines in the tim.
Der. Study nature as you will and
her secrets ever seem to grow more
in number and still more fascinating
/ in their uncertainty
II was not lonesome to view the sun
going down westward slopes, nor TO
watch the nome-going robins and tur-
tledoves az they flew past. The pres.
ence or the absence of human faces
or evidences made no change In the
tide OF days. The advent OF a neigh.
Dor OF the clatter of passing wheels
marked the sign OF happenings in a
rural neighborhood, and school chill
dren trailed past to the country
school-house, wee bits Of mortality In
the panorama that spread out before
| us.