Montgomery County sentinel., 1936-12-24

by general feeling of kindness. IT.
is in the atmosphere both of country
and of town. 1t is the general appre-
citation of the spirit of Christmas.
Mother and L believe that we get it
more clearly on the farm than in the
city.
The first Christmas was essentially
a rural affair. The shepherds
watching over their flocks by night"
were simply philosophers of pastoral
life. They lived in touch with
nature. Even before the Shepherds
watched their flocks the giving of
presents, the use of holly, mistletoe,
Yule logs, the wassail bowl were
used by the pagans as the things to
set the day distinctly apart from all
other holidays.
How many families widely dis
persed these past few years in the
restless struggle of life have been
reunited? How many old recollections
and how many dormant sympathies
Christmas time awakens?
l write these words many miles
away from the spot at which, year
after year, l met with my five sisters
on that day around the old wood
fire with my mother sitting on our
right and my daddy to the left of
US. It was merry and joyous
circle.
Many of the hearts that throbbed
so gaily then have ceased to beat;
many of the looks that shone so
brightly then, have ceased to glow;
the hands we grasped as we stepped
off the train have grown cold; the
eyes we sought, have hidden their
luster in the grave; and yet the old
house (and had to go back just a
few weeks ago) the room, the merry
voices and smiling faces, the jest,
the laugh, the most minute and
trivial circumstances with daddy
playing on his violin while the neigh
bors with us were the soles of our
shoes out on the none-too-good board
floor-all crowd upon my mind at
each recurrence Of the Christmas sea-
son, as if the last assemblage had
been but yesterday.
The Wabbling World
Short winter days remind US that
this earth on which we live does a
lot of wabbling about. If it were to
move steadily around the sun, our
weather would be much the same the
year round. But the earth wabbles
and the seasons come and go with
the wabble which adds to the variety
and interest in life; and gave Mark
Twain the germ of his idea when he
wrote, considerable was said about
the weather, but not much done about
it."
Neighbor Green said this morning:
81 don't mind cold so very much, or
not enough that l make such a fuss
as some folks do. / can leave Choir
ing to the hired man and sit beside
the kitchen stove. On zero days it
isn't strange a man should like to
stay inside where he can keep warm
on one side. Susie thinks that I
should hump myself outside to thaw
the pump and saw some wood, but
I'll just sit and contemplate about
peculiar ways Of the wabbling world
and what it's comm to, whenever
there is work to do, for after all is
doneand said it's better far to use
your head than freeze your feet, and
so I'll stay inside until a warmer
day! I'll let Susie milk the cows,
gather the eggs, and feed The hay"
Take Stock of Yourself
December is the month: to:
Close your farm accounts. Get
ready for early Matched chicks. Clip
udders and flanxs of dairy cows. Re-
move chill from the water for stock
and poultry and remove stumps and
boulders from the fields. Build ter
races in order to keep your soil from
starting on its winding travels away
from home. And remember that
there is as much education and true
learning, for your boys or girls, in
the analysis of an ear of corn as in
the analysis of complex sentence;
ability to analyze clover and alfalfa
roots of quite as much culture as
does the study Of the Latin and
Greek roots.
This is one of the months when
Nature seems to be resting, for Of
the manifold activities of the sum-
mer and autumn there remains
scarcely a trace. There are the
evergreen trees and the holly
often wonder how they are able to
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