The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1915-07-29

RELATIONS BETWEEN
MAN AND WEATHER

John Burroughs. 'Locusts and wild
Honey; Boston, Houghton, Miffin
r. "a 1on1 .N

TE''E fFtfWF - ~
John Burroughs, 'Tocusts and Wild
Honey; Boston, Houghton, Miffiin
& Co., 1907.
suspect that like most countrymens
was born with a chronic anxiety about
the weather. Is II going to rain or snow
ne not Of cold. wet or dryf are inquiries
upon which I would fam get the views o.
every man i meet, and ] find that mosi
men are fired with the same desire to gel
ny views upo the same set of subjects
~ q country man the weather means
something-to q farmer especially. The
farmer has sowed and planted, and reaped
ana vended, nothing but weather all his
lie. The weathe must lift the mortgage
on mis- farm and pay his taxes and feeo
mis- labor unless seconded by the weather.
Hence there Is speculation In his eye
whenever he looks at the clouds or tins
moon, or the sunset, or the stars; for ever
the milky way, in his view, may point
the direction Of the wind tomorrow, and
hence IL closely related to the price OF
vice to hitch his wagon to a star" but
ne pins his hopes to the moon n plants
and sows by its phases,
Then the weather is that phase OF Ma
LuTe In which 1t appears not the mutual
rate we are SO wont to regard 1t, but on
the contrary something quite human an0
manageable. not TO say womanish-a crea'
Iure or moods, OF caprices, OF cross pur.
poses; gloomy and downcast today, and
All light and Joy tomorrow, caressing
tender one moment, and severe and frigid
vapor r inconsistent 9se Say i neon sae h incalcui
abe; full OF genius. full Of folly, full OF
extremes; tc be read and understood, not
by rule, but by subtle signs n indirec.
uons-by a look, a glance, q presence, az
we read and understand q man or woman
Some days are like a rare poetic mood
There Is a felicity and an e~xhilaration
about them from morning till night, They
are positive and fill one with celestial fire,
Sther days are negative. and drain one Of
his electricity.
Is as she appears in the weather. IL she
mlscarry once she will twice or thrice
ana a dozen times. In a wet time 1t rains
today because 1t rained yesterday, and
Will rain tomorrow because 1t rained to-
day. Are the crops In any part of the
country drowning? They shall continue
TO drown. Are they burning upf They
in a rut and can't get out without .
shock. l know a farmer who in a dry
time, when the clouds gather and look
taTeatening: gets out his watering pot, be-
an excellent time to apply the water"
OF course there comes a time when the
farmer Is wrong. but he is right four times
The rain means relaxation: the tension
In Nature n In all her creatures Is les
sened. The trees droop their leaves or
win fail on a stflI damp day, when but
yesterday 1t withstood a gale of wind, A
moist south wind p~cnetrates even the mind
anu makes It's grasp less tenacious. III
ought to take less to kill a man on a
rainy day h on a clear. The direct
support of the sun il withdrawn; life In
under a cloud; a masculine mood gives
place to something like a feminine. In
this sense rain Is the grief, the weeping
OF Nature. the relief of a burdened or
agonized heart. But tears from Natures
eyelids are always remedial and prepare
the way for brighter, purer skies.
/ think rain Is as necessary to the mind
as to vegetation Who does not suffer in
his spirit in a drought and feel restless
and unsatisfled. My very thoughts be-
come thirsty and crave the moisture. II
is hard work to be generous or ~neighborly,
or patriotic In a dry time, and as for
growing In any of the finer graces or vir-
tues, who can do It? Ones very manhood
shrinks. n II he Is ever capable of q
mean act or of narrow views II Is then.