Evening star., 1947-03-06
This and That
BIZ Charles E. IruceDell.
DECATUR STREET.

Dear Sir:
I'm spite of the snow and the cold
weather and the high winter winds, we
can see some signs of spring.
The days are getting longer. The
sun. is on its journey northward again.
1.-The cardinals are singing.
zone Of the surest signs of approach
ing spring is the swelling flower buds
of the elm trees. "A flush of purple
overspreads the tree while snow is still
on the ground It Is surprising what a
lovely lacey pattern the elm buds make
against the blue sky. And spring is just
around the corner when the elm trees
are budding.
"An these signs of spring should cheer
our hearts. Soon we can say as one Of
old said, For 10! the winter is past.
the rain Is over and gone. The flowers
appear on the earth. The time Of the
singing of birds Is come
II thank you for your very interesting
column.
"very sincerely yours, E. D. B."
Spring gives the lie to all the smart
alecks in high and low places who
SOsIlG1IOW SoU tA4C 4ACS eAA6V 0A2 oAAAAA6o
can never be good.
Spring is as old as the hills, and yet
its annual return is perpetually new.
No matter how short or long our years,
the message of spring is exciting.
The smart boys would have it that
there is nothing new to be said about
spring, and If you try you are just being
trite Well, maybe. Being trite, too, is
something that may be good, although
like spring, it may be old.
They seem to want one not to try, but
trying may be interesting.
Repetition, saying the thing that has
been said, always has the possibility Of
striking an idea in somebody's mind.
Shying too often and too violently
from the old is silly. The whirr of a
motor is always the same but always
interesting to the seeing mind which is
not obsessed with the fetish Of some
thing new
Fortunately, most people like old
things. They like to be told the things
they know, just as they like the old
familiar songs best.
Spring is the quintessence Of things
old. Even the sophisticate finds it hard
to sneer when he hears cardinal sing
ing The rest of us are only too glad
to see and hear and feel the old familiar
signs of spring.
Though the cardinal sings exactly the
notes he sang last year, his song is none
the less welcome for all that.
Spring In its coming and when 1t is
actually here is gathering together
of many good old things. 1t is as new
as the kittens meow and as old as the
great forces which shame mankind s
effort to initiate.
We have often wondered what q
truly sophisticated person does with
spring, and of course the answer is
that he ignores it.
Just as the city man likes to feel that
snow and rain and storm are not for
him, so the smart aleck who pretends
| that twice-told tale is nothing but
hokum is forced into the position in
which his own little comings and goings
seem more important to him than buds
coming out on a tree.
There will come day when he will
see that he was mistaken, and that all
the plain people who thought spring
worth talking about, even at the ter
rible risk of saying something that had
been said before, were as right as right
could be.
Let US rejoice, then, in our sweet
platitudes. They have sanity in them, If
nothing else. They cheer the heart,
warm the toes, keep the head cool. Trite
thoughts by right fellows still make the
world go round. Spring remains the
most platitudinous thing In the uni
verse, but it is something none OF us
wants to misk