The Washington herald., 1912-10-13
We DO NOT WEARY
OF WORK WB LIKE
Discomfort and Dragging Hours
: Accompany HisAt.
~ FRANCES sHAUEn

Pretty soon 1t il going to be time to
close windows. start fires and bextn
anew, with the baimy outdoor life all
out Of the story. II il a bit strange
the way some folk take the change of
seasons significant. perhaps, Of the
way they take other changes.
There's the glorious sprinStima for
instance When 1t comes. some Of us
want 1t to last % long. 1t and its next
OF kin. the rich. full summer. that Ne
Keep track Of the time and beerudre
the fleeing months. And because we
love 1t 30 well. the open life and all. II
seems to go like q quick passing cloud.
And winter-well. we count the time. hut
after the first crisp tang Of air in gone
and the FRESHNESS Of variety gives way
in-ness. II comes to be q question of. how
much longer7
And 1t Is nightly like all the THINGS
we care for, and the many others that
just drag along because they must, and
are accepted because there Is no way
out. Time flies when We can do what
we like and how We like and follow
only the things that pleasantly call. And
time drags heavily enough when the dis
agreeable and the unconsenial face US.
DO you ever notice how Ii goes. how
you can work and work away on some
thing that appeals to you. with never
twfnge Of tiredness. never q glance
at the clock, and never q wish to stop,
But walt until the uncongenial tasks
are at the door. the things that come
hard because we do not like to do them
1t 10 then We chafe, grow weary and
very, very restless.
Natsre Gives warnines.
They tell US that nature always sends
out little warnings and gives her tell
ing signs In one way and another. II
only We are wise enough to read. to
know. and then to follow where she
points.
Among other things, she shovs us the
pent OF our minds. and indicates the
line OF work that Is easy because there
Is a bit Of herself in II, kindly nature.
And when she shows plainly and without
the shadow Of doubt. do you know that
It Is the story Of the seasons-time flies.
when interest keeps pace with time And
nothing makes interest live 30 well as
the work we like to follow.
We have. seen the born gardener work
from early morning until the sun sank
down IN the West. lamenting the sorry
TACT that the garden calls were many.
the hours all too few. Tired? So tired
he could scarcely eat. yet he dug, plant
ed. tended and watched from sheer love
OF the work. and never stopped to think
OF being tired. until quitting time was
at hand. And then he knew 1t.
And We have seen the other kind. The
kind that works a bit. then looks up and
signs. bemoaning the long stretch of
work ahead and wishing and wishing
that time might ny and gardens plant.
noe and look out for themselves. And
1t makes all the difference that rests
between the sunshine and the shadows.
Heart and Mind q. Tune.
Some time in the perfect future. schools
and parent too are going to pay more
heed to finding the true balance be-
tween inclination and career, whatever
1t may he. And when that time comes
there will be less complaint Of weari-
ness. less consciousness of monotony,
because when the heart and the mind
sing in tune with the work there ia
harmony everywhere.
To poke away at a desk when one
Is longing to be out in the sunshine.
working at something. anything that
brings one close to nature-weIl. it Is un-
likely there will be a song anywhere.
And to be out in the fields when one
would be at a desk brings the same old
story of misflt and dragging hours
In housework, too-when that Is to be
the way Of life. one ought to feel very
sure 1t Is going to be a satisfying, con-
genial way. because when weary pro-
tests creep into work there's an end to
contentment
Once upon a time a man. aspiring and
eager to prove his mettIe. thought the
finest work on earth was the way of
the litterateur. And he boldly, con-
fidently took his pen in hand, waiting
for the busy thoughts to come. Maybe
genius did not flow quickly eoouRh in
that direction. maybe the confinement,
and the concentration chafed and irked
or maybe nature herself whispered some
thing in his ear. At any rate, early in
the literary game, he decided that there
were pleasanter, easier ways than that
and he gladly left the field to other
men who heard q louder call than he
And every day as he gives his mind
and his muscles to the work in keep
ing with his tastes he knows that he
has come into his own. And so does
everybody else who listens to natures
warnings and follows the leaninss Of
his mind.