Evening star., 1949-02-02
This and That
Bu Charles E. Traceueu

Many people feel a great deal better when
February comes around.
The sight of the narcissus coming through
the soil is encouraging.
Red shoots OF the peorieS have been q feast
for winter-sore eyes," too.
Song of the cardinal the real song all of 1t,
has sounded sweet on the chilly air.
Bad weather may intervene. There may be
snow and ice. and all that but when February
stands before us we may feel reasonably sure
that spring is not too far off.
1t is a good thing we have spring Winter
is much too much, in this climate, for many
people. And the older they get, the more they
hate it.
Young people often wonder why older folks
want to 60 to Florida or California to live
When they begin to get old themselves, they
find out.
1t is mostly matter of weather
Weather is one of the things always with us
Some people solve the problem by pretending
to ignore it, but for most of us that is an
impossible way. When we happen to live in
the suburbs We find it plainly impossible.
Weather Is too interesting, then. The plants
and the birds and the wild animals cannot
ignore weather: why should we?
We, too, belong to weather, all of us. The
blooming OF the springtime is as old as the
hills, literally, and as fascinating. The life of
mankind has come along with the life of
nature. Man is part of nature, but today he
tends to stand outside it, as if it were a show.
1t is a show, all right, show Of which he
is part.
Natures show of weather is something any
one can take part in, by no more than being
interested in it,
And, of course. we all take a part in it
whenever we hoist an umbrella, or put on
overshoes, or an overcoat, or raincoat. There
is no ignoring weather, really
These bright young men and women who let
the rain pour over their hair are not ignoring
the rain as much as they hope people will
think. Or do they so think? 1t is impossible
for an old duffer to know what they think.
They are hard to fathom, but one might wish
them to put on hats in a pouring rain. 1t
does no good to get the head soaked in that
fashion
Rain is weather though, so perhaps the
youngsters are merely getting good dose of it.
Out our way the rain Is something to con-
slider, because we have surface drainage, in
the MAN, and water is likely to get into base
ments.
Sometimes some house will have to be pumped
out. When that happens the owner finds
weather is. very much in his thoughts.
Like the young man who moves to farm
of his own and finds there is too much rain for
good farming, the owner of a wet basement
must consider what to do If he asks his friends,
he gets as many suggestions as friends.
One will say to tackle the job from inside,
Wnlle Lne next says tnat IL Snould pe handled
from the outside, at least first. Afterward
something might be done inside The danger,
he goes on is that too good job of keeping
the water out Grom the insde) may throw
the water up the walls like wick-terrible
thought.
Weather primarily should be an outside con-
sideration. and usually is. The weather we
like is the sort that makes the flowers grow
and the birds sing It is weather made for
man. Much weather is not manlike, although
man may take It," and usually does. But the
real weather is warm weather, the kind for
the best human happiness When we think of
the freedom from colds and other respirational
diseases. in the spring and summer, we may
marvel that people continue to live in sections
of the country where winter is a nuisance and
fall is none too good. Photographs of bright
young men and women on skis have little
charm, compared with that of a robin on
bough. The warm weather is what our winter
bound world longs for, and let no one pretend
anything else The cardinals already have
sensed it, and the peonies, and Others Reports
continue to come in OF blooming things. L. G.
Of Virginia reports spring beauty (Claytonia)
budding on bank. "A lark sang softly in the
open fields and redbird called from the edge
of the pines" So goes the report 1t is dupli-
Gated hundred times, and 1t means that when
February comes, spring Ia not too far OF.