Rest in Change of Work.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 180, 27 November 1886, Page 4

Rest in Change of Work.

A t LAi>T .contributor, writing under, th« name of "MargieWUie.A'.gives her,readert' Of thy fair, sW souhd, • practical advioe in • pleasant cilery;, tone in the, SQUthern Culti* vatoi], of Atlanta, U.S'A^, Upon the subjocfc of, the. wholesome rest ' derived from change of occupation she writes •— " ' , - "Phang'e.of occupation' is rest," said ( a friend to me one "day 'when"! laughingly spoke of her never-ceasing labours. And so it is, sometimes, when '"worn and weary with th,e battle and the strife " of, life, we , obtain rest by siniply changing our " implements of warfare." We lay aside,, our sewing, or housework, and wi,th weary hands ai^d aching eyes we walk into the garden— when lo ! there is a neglected bed to be weeded, "a prized vine to be "trained in the way it should go," a tree, fast' growing- crooked, to, be straightened. ' ' Fiist one little thing, .then another claims our attention, and forgetting our weariness we are surprised when, ,the darkening shadows warn us that lamps must be lighted and supper prepared. 1 Ah ! how soon the delioious, restful, summer twilights are gone ! Reluctantly,' then, our lagging feet taka us out of the fragrant, balmy air in doors. But soon the cheery lights beam from open door and window ; other occupations engross our minds, and here again we find rest — sweet rest. With "May Blos-om " I believe " Labour is Happine&s," that a due portion of toil is just as necessaiy as food ; still there must be some variety, or our life becomes a mere tread-mill. We lose all patience with the woman who makes every screw and bolt of the family machinery run by clock-work, which must be wound up and started to running at daylight and never run down till bed time, though death itself becomes a visitor in the house ! Of all housekeeping characteristics, system is most to be admired, but system must not take the reins and be mistress in the house, or comfort will •• take unto itself wings and fly away." I have an acquaintance who would iso more consent to have a washing machine, a clothes-wringer, a patent windless (or evfen a well, for that matter) on her place than she would willingly =cc -' His Satanic Majesty" installed as master in her home.No, no ! The work must all be done, but it must be done, just as it was when she was "'growing up to be a woman." "My father went to mill with corn in one side of the u allet and a rock in the other, and what wns good enough for him is good enough for me," is her piinciple. If farmers could and would b,uy, laboursaving machinery for their wives and daughters, there would be fewer women prematurely gray and wrinkled, few girls pale, holloa cheeked and listless. Thank £\ovuience ! they are already few in comparison to the number of bouncing, buxom, ro^y cheeked lasses that are blooming in this clear old Southland ot ours ! Gils, you who do the family work, let me tell you that it you need rest, and yet feel too bus t > to Lake it, have on hand some pretty patch- work quilt, or fascinating embroadeiy 01 crochet-work, that you can snatch up at odd moments and rest mind and body by the change. You will hy astonished how the pretty trifles will amuse and resfc you, while at the same' time you will not be absolutely idle. ■Many girl-, e>irn their own pin money by thn- occupying their It isure time, in which fe l q, would really be doing nothing else too. 'lai> i* a pleasant fe<iluie in the case, for although I do not think, as "Marion Eark ' intimated once, that money making i-. tho sintvimui' honum of human existence; still wheie those is a house lull of girla, and no '-a,nk a< count, it ii? nice to feel independent, to feel that you may gratify a little vim without cau-ing any sacrifice to anpti.er. Tnen the chickens and pigs are to be fed, the fiuuur- to be watered, and so many othei changes with which to rest ourselves that I am fciupriaod that any of us get tired I do not think we would, if, when we find duischc 5'5 ' <. T io\vniff weary of one thing that douKI wait o\er ju-vt as well, we would lay it vi-ide and ie*t ouuehes by a change of occupation. Tiue, some duties must be performed ri^ht now, but if we set about them in the aoht way, they me seldom irksome Why, it is a ioA pleasure to go into the den and eathei the fiesh, crisp vegetables still wet with morning dew, while thoughts soar far, far abo\e " carrots and cabbages." By the way, it- there any haun in building " ail castles '{'' If so, lam a terrible sinner, For often when engaged in the most comtnunplace duties, :ny soul if levelling amid scenes of beauty and grandour. That is :me of my "w ci} s of resting. Change of oc is rest. *