Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1915-10-08
STOP WRITER'S PEN
Many Gentle Distractions In
Summers Garden.
Some Reasons Why Il 10 DlfsicuIt to
Work Out Of 0oors-Observation
OF the Birds One Of the
Greatest.

In summer l write every morning
in q summer house at the extreme
rear of my garden-a house which IL.
In reality, q COW shed converted by
Virginia creepers, side trellises. great
openings sawed in all four sides and
q small plaster cast of Q section Of
the Parthenon frieze. painted with
white enamel paint to resist the rain.
But find It difficult to work out Of
doors. even in the summer. There are
80 many distractions. l am disturbed
necessarily by the tiny clamors Of lit
tie things. making their sweet. insidi-
Gus appeal for attention.
There is, for instance-or. rather.
there has been-a chick-a-dee's nest
on my summer house, in q box tackled
there to attract the wrens. All my
life ! have desired to have q chick-a-
dee's nest under observation. and this
year my wish was granted. Every
morning while Mrs. Chick-a-dee was
'sitting on her eggs saluted her when
l came down to work.
Then. after / had settled down. and
had just got a paragraph well under
way. Mr. Chick-a-dee would appear
with worm or bug in his mouth to
feed her. and I would have to lay
down my pen to watch him. First he
would perch on a twig twenty or thir-
ty feet away and. without dropping
the food from his mouth. say "chick-a.
dee" two or three times softly-a pref
ty. wiry. tinkling sound. He never
on any occasion added the remaining
"dee-dee-dees" Of the familiar call.
After repeating his announcement he
would then fly to strip Of the trellis.
beside the bird box. and sitting there
once more give his wiry little Chick.
a-dee." Then he would suddenly give
a hop to the perch below the hole in
the box, transfer the food to the wait.
ing bill of his wife. who would have
her head out ready. and depart.
Another disturber of my labors II
q bluebird whose family inhabits Q
box in my .eighbors yard. but who
prefers to hunt in mine. I can never
resist watching the fash of his blue
wings over the flower beds. Still an
other disturber IL q Baltimore oriole.
Ho feeds in the orchard. swallowing
down q bug or caterpillar and then
fairly dancing on q spray while he
emits q musical grace after meat
Sometimes q yellow butterfly in
vades my privacy. fluttering across
my vision to attract attention. and
then winging IL circles over tn potato
field or the flower beds. I watch It In
its flight
When look back at my paper an
INT is crawling over It. The ant
makes me think of my young apple
trees set out this spring. for the ants
crawl up young apple trees and evi-
IDENTIFY devour the green aphis on the
leaves. Have my new trees any
aphis? l must get up and investigate
Yes. they have. must get the hose
and spray them on.
Back at last at my table am free
to resume my work, and another para
graph gets completed. Then I hear
q meadow lark or perhaps q wood
thrush and. arrested by the sound.
pause to listen. and my ear catches
clearly the various noises of the sum-
mer day. which so often we hear with
out hearing. and would only be aware
of II they stopped altogether. To
sink back and Just listen-to feel the
touch of the breeze on your cheek. to
watch the great, lazy. beautiful white
cloud, to smell the warm scents Of
the garden-that IL better than work.
ing!-Walter Prichard Eaton in the
Philadelphia Evening Ledger.