Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-09
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

If he does not want to! Therein lies
the secret. If he once gets into his
head the desirability of decent home
breakfast. he will get up in time enough
| to prepare 1t properly and to allow him
plenty of time to eat it.
The old-fashioned "heavy" breakfast
has gone out. No longer does the table
tables. Lack of physical exercise and
various other reasons operate to restrict
the morning dietary.
It Is precisely because the average
breakfast is SO limited that every one
ought to eat 1t at home in order to
get the benefit of the home atmosphere.
This includes a leisurely attention to
the happiness of the occasion.
Time enough to talk as one eats not
only aids digestion but also helps in the
mere matter of everyday living. 1t
always has seemed to us that not
enough attention is given to the realiza-
ton of the satisfactions of life as we
go along. We do not mean in the way
Of a self-conscious attention to small
detail but simply in regard to an ap-
probation OF happiness when present.
Too many men and women today, as
always, spend time lamenting the past
or looking forward to the future, when
they would be better off If they lived
more and solely in the present, appre-
ciating its good qualities as they come
and minimizing as much as feasible its
bad points. These latter arise in every
life in varying degree, sometimes uneX-
pectedly, sometimes remorselessly. AS
well as one may, he should forget them
and grasp such happiness as presents
itself.
Whatever may be the trouble, a cozy
breakfast at home may be within the
lot or almost every one. At home the
diner will find no strangers, but every
one his own folk. He will not have to
sit and smell some other persons
cigarette smoke or listen to the heavy
handed son Of servitory toll slam and
bang plates and cups until it would
seem every moment that the whole
trayful were going to be smashed into
smithereens.
At home he will not have to put I'D
with soiled cups, for instance, as he
will In many another place, but he may
have his china to his liking. Perhaps
he has a favorite bowl. This he may
use. Cream tastes better to him out
OF one pitcher than another The sheen
Of flowers in the window box is a great
deal; 1t should not be passed up
lightly.
And then there is informality. There
Is little question that the happiest meals
are those of an informal nature, where
those who know each other we'll. talk
OF topics outside the range of argu-
ment. Some follow pleasant practice
OF taking their coffee in the living
room after breakfast is over. Here a
| small coffee table and an easy chair
permit Of luxurious comfort which not
even the SWEETEST" hotels can boast.
Not the least Of the benefits of eating
breakfast at home is the honest, COM
Portable, well fed feeling which one
takes downtown to work He is better
able to appreciate the sights along the
route than If he were going the same
way breakfastleSs, with only the pros
pect OF the strange grace of stranger S
table awaiting him
After one gets downtown 1t may or
may not be expedient for him to go
out to get another cup of coffee, as
many do, not only for the solace of the
brew but also for the opportunity of
passing few words with a companion,
These little snacks tighten the labors of
the day. But the breakfast, small or
heavy, should have been consumed miles