Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1920-08-16

n lew Jays ago II fcIlreu IdfHlcF oI
Mason City read a paper TO other re
| tired farmers called Confession of Il
Retired Farmer to the Retired Farm
ers' Club" which will be Of interest to
farmers who want to 90 to the city
and to people in the city who want to
| change the environment at an advanced
stage of life and feel that to quit work
would be Elysian. The confession read
as follows:
"Tln statements made in this CON
| fessiOn are given to you in strict con-
| fidence and are not to be divulgeh to
| anyone not a member of this club or
| who is not retired farmer or farm
creSs.
'Thc chronological meaning of re-
| tired means to withdraw from, but in
the case of many farmers. it means to
be tired again.
| "Mcst farmers have more or less
clear idea that some time III the sweet
by and by, and somewhere they hope
to come upon time and place where
they can do somewhat as they please
and not as they must. Some time they
hope to lie abed in the morning until it
plcases them to get up. Some time they
hope to be able to take Il day off when
they feel like it. Some time they
would like to wear the Sunday suit
without feeling conscious of it all the
day long if they happen to have it on
f! during Il wcek-d day. Some times they
| would like to forget that there are
chores which must be done and that
| the longer they stay away from them
| the later they will be in coming into
the house at night.
And then some day in the course of
| time, they arrive at Il point in life
when they can or must retire from the
| farm.
"SOmc;ilneS poor health or the nat
ural intrmities of age forces him to-
retire. or it may be he is crowded OIL
by tl1c younger generation, who must
have the right of way and so he comes
to town hoping to find Elysian fields
he has dreamed of during the busy,
stressful period of his life. and there
by hangs tale
"IIc Immediately finds the force OF
habit. he il good or bad He would lie
abcd. but he wakes up at ! 30 u. H., as
he has done for these many years ana
he wonders how long it will be before
the factory whistles will blow so that
he MAY get up without disturbing the
ucighbors: and as he lies there he'has
=. yuiI,v feeling as Of one who is shirk-
ing He can lie abed now, but he
would rather be up. He knows there
is n freshness in the air at . O'Clock
that will not be there at .. He enjoys
being outdoors when the day Is new
and before the rattle and rush OF buSl-
ness begins. This eternal rush back
and forth wears on him ana he longs
for the absolute quiet OF summer
evening on the farm, when he used to
sit on the porch for little While ne
fore going to bed and listen to familiar
sounds--thc chirp of the cricket. the
pcpping of the little chicks that were
not yet quite ready to so to sleep
thc grooming of the old hen as she how
rrs them. the bleat of the lambs ana
the answering eve. the Whitney OF the
colts as the work horses go out 10
meet them. the call of the newly weah-
cd calf for its mother and the salts
fled srunting of the old SOW as her
brood of Youngsters are working f0l
their last meal beforei going to sleep.
the barking of the neighbOrs' dog anu
maybe the voices of persons that are
not nearer than half Il mile. but yet
are plainly audible.
Lonesome:
NO. he is never lonesome IN the
country. The horses know him ana
greet him every time he goes into the
barn. The COWS recognize him when he