Evening star., 1946-10-10
This and That
BY Charles =. Trdcs,Deu.
TAILS CHURCH, Va.

Dear Sir:
"All Of the dumb animals really have
. language OF their own, II people have
time and patience to listen to them.
'Such study affords me one Of my
keenest pleasures. ! love to watch the
squirrel fold his forepaws over his chest
while In . listening attitude.
MY saddle horse furnishes me with
ears-she announces the approach Of
other riders by wiggling them.
"The house cat expresses her content
ment by purring, and anger by fiatten-
dogs wag their tails in happiness.
Sincerely. o. E. c."
-
Emerson put it succinctly when he
said, "The language Of q turtle is all
turtle
Each living creature has its own way
Of registering emotions.
. Even thoughts. as they race through
the brain, may be interpreted by the
careful watcher.
It is well known that house cats
dream. Exactly what they see in their
dreams we viii never know, but some
times guess may be made
The other day little Gray was asleep
In his chair.
Suddenly his forelegs began to twitch.
The claws extended-he was seizing .
mouse!
Then his lips began to work. He was
eating IT.! =
The happy thing about nature Is that
1t may be studied by variety Of persons.
There is too much Of . tendency,
perhaps, to believe that only the outdoor
person can enjoy nature.
Nothing could be further from the
truth.
One of the greatest nature students
who ever lived died at Asheville after
six years fiat on his back in bed.
He had plenty Of fresh air, Of course,
but at that period Of his life he scarcely
could have been called an outdoor man,
except in q way Of speaking.
= Yet he loved and studied the crea-
lures, especially the birds, and even
wrote a book about them.
Outdoor study, In the field, Is but one
phase Of nature work. One does not
have to take to q canoe or hike along
mountain paths to delve into the in
tricacies Of the living creatures put here
in such abundance.
It is human to arrogate to ones self
the all Of any situation or completely.
Thus, the man who tramples the nelds
will tend to think that his way, and
only his way. is the real road to nature
study.
He Is mistaken.
As much Or more may be seen from
q window.
Every backyard, no matter how hum
BILE, offers infinite material to the
questing heart and mind.
# one possesses the seeing eye, he
will see good and wonderful things
everywhere.
If his eye Is dark, clouded by arrogance
and the inner desire to cry out against
others, he win see nothing, although
his eyes may test perfect by scientific
standards.
one man discovered more than 1000
different kinds Of insects In . city
backyard.
The greatest extent Of his walking
was 200 feet.
We know a woman over In Glen Echo
who does not leave her room, but she
knows the scores of creatures outside
the window, caters to them. and really
enters into their lives.
No one should confuse Outdoor" with
mature" The latter has a way Of
making its out boundaries. 1t often
mocks our best definitions. It is wider.
broader than some think. Do not sneer
at the man or woman who, for some
reason or other, is content to stand and
LOOK at nature, rather than take an
active part In 1t. Maybe his eye 3sees
more. and his heart understands more,
than you do, for al your canoeing