Work Around Home

WORK AROUND HOME By J. C. Hogenson, Extension Agronomist, Utah Agricultural College There are too many men who can see nothing to do around home at all. When around home they are just like "fish out of water," uneasy and don't know what to do with themselves. They just .have one narrow line of work in mind. Nothing else interests them. Nothing else matters to them. Such persons lose one of the great blessings and enjoyments of life, that of being interested in, and getting enjoyment from, the improving of their homes and surroundings. I have known farm women who have worked diligently all spring to plant a little garden, and a few flowering plants' and shrubs around the home only to have the husband or boys come home, turn their horses or cows, calves or sheep, loose, and destroy them all. "Oh, it doesn't matter, they are just a few flowers." To such men a flower is just a flower, a little furry, effeminate flower, nothing more. They fail to see its beauty or smell its fragrance. It has no value to ibem. They fail to see or feel or appreciate the higher and finer qualities which the wife or mother felt when she planted it. To the mercenary man it has no value because it does not contribute dollars and cents. To the finer and higher-toned person it has a value far above dollars and cents. To those whose lives are attuned to the beautiful it awakens finer, kindlier, higher and nobler feelings or emotions which really help to make life worth while. It lifts them from the common, every-day, money-grabbing world, into the finer, higher and nobler world of God. So, it does matter and very much, too. Think it over, and I am sure you will also conclude that it does. A person who enjoys working or playing around home during his leisure hours, hoeing the garden, caring for the flowers, repairing this little thing and that, gets a real pleasure out of life that can be obtained in no other way. It cannot be bought with money. It is part of the enjoyment of real life itself. The genuine man has a real home in mind, always, not merely the accumulation of wealth. He uses every spare hour to improve his home so that it will more nearly approach his ideal. He does not sit around wondering what he can do. There are always more thing to be done than he can find time to do. He enjoys the association of plants. He loves to see them grow and develop each day, week, month, and year, into the wonderful plants he had in mind. He sees where a shrub or a tree will improve the appearance of his home here, and a few flowers there. He plants them and gets enjoyment as well as recreation out of it. He plants his vegetable garden, cares

WORK AROUND HOME 923 for it both because of his love for plants, and also because of the variety it will add to the diet of his family, which, of course, means health and vigor. He sees a gate sagging, or a hinge loosening, and immediately repairs it. Such a man is a real man, father, and friend. He would not turn his farm animals loose to roam about and destroy what either he or his wife has planted. He loves the plants, and loves, appreciates, and has consideration for the feelings of his wife. Stephen L. Richards, in an article entitled "Avocation," which recently appeared in the Improvement Era, says: "Home work is second to nothing else in production of happiness in life. It contemplates all of the arts and activities which lead to the beauty, convenience, economy and the general attractiveness of home. I remember a number of years ago hearing a prominent speaker address a large group of business men. He told them that he had been looking through the City Directory and found listed opposite their names the various vocations and businesses in which they were engaged — merchants, bankers and professional men he found in large numbers. But, said he, Gentlemen, these are not your chief vocations, they are but your side lines, your chief business is to make and maintain good American homes." In the words of the popular song: i "Love made the birds that sing. The flowers in spring, And everything; Love made the bungalow, Where roses grow." To those whose lives are in tune with the beauties of nature all natural objects and lives are of interest. They hear the sweet, har- monious tones of the songs of the meadow lark, and are thrilled by the plumage of the cardinal. The trees inspire by their majestic forms and giant strength. They find with Shakespeare: "Tongues in trees Sermons in stones Books in the running brooks." The shrubs are of interest because of their variety of shapes and sizes, and the colors of their foliage and flowers. The flowers inspire by the variety of their delicate tints, forms, shapes and colors, and the variety of odors which fragrantly fill the air. The grains by their usefulness and the green and golden colors waving in the breeze. The grasses are constantly an inspiration for their thick carpet of green and the fragrant odor of newly mown hay. These things make one more satisfied with and appreciative of life. They make one understand and appreciate more thoroughly the beauties and wonders with which God has surrounded one. They enable one to see the Glory of God and the majesty of his handi- work in a newer and far-greater light than one has ever been able to see them before. Logan, Utah.