Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-04-18

am housekeeping. but | can't stand
it to have Il lady drop in, because she
locks around with an air rs much as
to intimate that | do not understand
the business. Then she looks at me
pitifully as much as to intimate that
| ought to have a wife, and / don't
like to be piticd except when ] have
a headache or a pain in my stomach
Or something Of that sort. OF course
wiped out the drawers thoroughly
and busted the closets before put
the few things which | decided to keep
back in their places. Then swept
all the floors and washed them.
didn't have to wash the walls because
they are not yet finished W. | didn't
disturb any of the cobwcbs overhead,
because such ancient things seem to
me both classical and sacred. They
remind me of the roots of the old
, churches in Europe where our an
ceStorS used to worship. And Il won
Gerful Spiderwcb aCrOs one half OF
my kitchen window | did not disturb,
because it was such a perfect work OF
true art. L had watched :hc spider
as she was making it and wondered
at her d%eXtcrity. didn't blacken
the kitchen stove. because the contin-
uous black which some people admire
on a stove does not seem to me ar
tistic. That peculiar blending Of var
ious cOlOrs which the natural heat
produces seems to me really pretty.
can't understand why some people
wish to have everything SO stereotype
ed. Natural variety suits me better,
but | do not claim to Judge for other
people.
| washed all the dishes and thor.
oughly wiped out the cupboard before
washing the kitchen floor, Of course.
| think that in hOusCcleaning the
last room to be attended to should be
the kitchen. | secured all my kettles
in a pile of sand which | always have
near the outside door for that pur-
pose. | also find the fine Missouri
river sand good for securing floors
and steel knives.
When all this housekeeping was
finished ] took a good bath in u wash
tub and then got supper. My dinner
had consisted Of a mere lunch. When
all was oven my while house seemed
to have a sense Of newncss which was
truly refreshing. This whole job re-
luircd only one day, mind you. |
think some people make SO long a job
of spring housekeeping that they fail
to realize that refreshing sense of
ncwncss which would be experienced
if the whole job vas done in one day,
or at most in two or three days.
! think a bachelor, or any other per-
son can live down that uncanny sense
OF hauntedncss which many houses
have if he will courageously colsign
to the bonfire one.half of all he has.
and give away one half of the other
half. Perhaps the basis of this feel
ing is the disposition to keep every
thing n has for fear he NAV want it
sometime. 1t is better to take life
! generously than to take it too serious.
ly.
TO me. the worst thing about house.
cleaning is the nervousness lest some
body will drop in and catch me at it.
wonder if a lady has the same feel
ing when she is housekeeping. Why
! do We have this sense of almost Grim.
lnal guilt when We are housekeeping?
Is it peculiar to NE. or do women feel
it also? And when the bonfire has
brightly burned and we have smelled
the clean ashes we seem to taste Of
salvation. Perhaps if men would take
out of the back parts of their heads
half the things they have slowed away
there in memory and make a bonfire
Of them, they would experience a sim.
liar sense of newaess and sweetness.
speak only for men-the ladies must
Ispeak for themselves.
| will not say that my house was
very bad before | cleaned it up. or
that it is angelic perfection now, for
| do hate to hear a reformed a
tell how bad he was and how good
he now is. Such talk seems to mt
bravado. If a man is really rotten at
heart, perhaps nothing short of death
and hell will make an angel OF him,
Most men who brag about their re.
formation are really the same old
sixpence flipped the other side up.
| wish some sensible lady would
write an article for the Tribune telling
just how she does her housekeeping.
From such an article written by a
intelligent oma | should expect to
get some valuable suggestions for my
next housekeeping. ,