Evening star., 1929-12-19
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

wealthiest man in the world cannot see
unless he gets up in time, and that is
the sunrise, heralded in this vicinity by
the boom of cannon from Arlington.
The sleepy private who is uncere-
moniously hauled out of bed through
force of military discipline to fire that
gun probably sees little beauty in the
spectacle of Nature.
Maybe he fires his cannon and goes
back to bed-we don't know-but the
fact remains that if any one wants to
see the sunrise he must get up in time
to see it.
The precise moment is not to be COM
pared with the gradual approach of
Dawn. The ancientS, who had more
sense in their mythology than some
times we are willing to grant, pictured
Aurora as a beautiful lady sweeping
along with white, pearl and gold back
grounds.
Perhaps there is no city in the world
with more beautiful sunsets, at least
often enjoys colorations in the Western
sky which would cause painter to be
branded as Nature faker if he put them
on canvas.
Even the calm days of Summer some
times produce clear sunsets which have
a peculiar power to make grass and
foliage unusually green, or at least seem
unusually green to the beholder.
The necessity for thought in keeping
alive the sense of beauty was never
greater than in this age, when COM
merce in general and mass production
in particular tend to take the accent
off beauty for itself and place it. on
beauty for the sake of sale. This is
not to be imputed fault of business,
but rather an inevitable result, against
which the beauty lover must be on his
guard-that is all.
1t takes determination nowadays to
see beauty in the little things of every
day, to see the grace and beauty of the
dancing child before everything else,
and not be drawn away by an instant
deduction that 10 years from now she
may be making thousands of dollars on
the stage.
City beauty is everywhere clouded by
the ugly. Drab aspects crop up at
every turn. When Athens was in its
glory no doubt novels could be seen with
the same eye-sweep which took in the
Acropolis.
The thing to do, to see Washington
as an Eldorado, is to look for the Edo
radish things and concentrate on the
effects which Nature has built around
them.
Emerson's. bluebirds and bobolinks
and thrushes are still singing in the
National Geological Park, although most
of us haven't visited there is a coon's
age, as they say back where we come
from.
The great dullness of perception
comes through the clogging effects of
the ordinary. 1t is really a mysterious
thing-the effect of the every day upon
the average temperament.
Most of US go plodding to work with
out seeing a thing along the way, not
because there aren't plenty Of things to
be seen, but because we have got used
to going that way, and nothing less than
an accident will stir us out of our
apathy.
Select something unusual-say a
house that resembles a castle, not all
over but in some one portion. Ask 100
persons who go that way if they have
ever seen it. Probably not 10 of them
have.
There is a sunken garden at turn in
a road and thousands pass that way
every day, but only a few have ever
noticed the flowers; not because they
would not appreciate them, but mostly
because they have become unhabituated
to beauty. Poke a flower under their
noses and they will grant it is beauti-
full, but If they have to raise their heads
to see it they have something else to do