THE CALL OF THE COUNTRY in time of sickness and mental disturbance has
never been told in words more appealing to me than those of David
Grayson in his books, "Friendly Road," "Adventures in Contentment," etc.
They have an especial appeal to me because I know what it means to be
suddenly stricken from the roll of workers and compelled to rest. I
shall never forget my longing for the country in my distress and how old
Mother Nature took me to her breast and eventually, with the aid of my
faithful wife, nursed me back to health.
On a never-to-be-forgotten day, I was standing at the speaker's table at
a great meeting, having just finished an address, when my lights went
out. The last that I remember was of falling across the table and of
being surrounded by folks. Heart attack, they called it. The specialist
said it all when he said that I had overdrawn my account; that I was
bankrupt and must liquidate my account with nature.
I dreamed and longed for the country and as soon as I could be moved
from the hospital, I was taken to the Michigan northland, with its hills
and lakes, laughing brooks and singing birds and foliage of various
colors. It is a long story of ups and downs, of the comings and goings
of doctors and nurses, and it required one and one-half years for me to
climb up out of the black hole I had dug for myself. In the course of
time, however, I found rest and recovery. Then followed ten active
years; I had learned how to rest.
times I have found respite. Through that process I have been able to
live well beyond my three score and ten years. Seventy-five percent of
my law class in the University of Iowa now sleep beneath the sod. Of the
living twenty-five percent, probably none began life with less promise
of health and strength, and probably none has been subjected to greater
strain. Truly I have much to thank the country for.
Let the strings of your fiddle down, Mr. City Man, lest your "E" string
or some other string, snap; one cannot maintain concert pitch all of the
time.
"There should be periods in the life of every busy man when he does
nothing-just nothing at all."
-Dr. Crawford McCullough.
"The best and most helpful feature in any people is undoubtedly the
instinct that leads them to the country and to take root there.
"The city rapidly uses men up, families run out, man becomes
sophisticated and feeble. A fresh stream of humanity is always setting
from the country into the city; a stream, not so fresh, flows back again
into the country, a stream for the most part of jaded and frail
humanity. It is arterial blood when it flows in and venous blood when it
comes back.
"A nation always begins to rot first in its great cities, is indeed,
perhaps, always rotting there and is saved only by the antiseptic
virtues of fresh supplies of country blood."
-John Burroughs
"Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields; not
in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps."
-Henry David Thoreau.
"A white man bathing beside a Tahitian, is like a plant bleached by the
gardener's art, compared with a fine, dark green one, growing vigorously
in the open hills."
-Darwin.
I have lived the greater part of my life in a great city where my
activities have been and still are based. I recognize the important part
that great cities play in the advancement of civilization and I most
naturally love the city folks with whom I have lived and in whose
companionship I have tried to play my part in the life of the great
city. Strong and courageous men are stemming the tide of outlawry and
our big cities are becoming more livable each year. Crime and corruption
of great American cities is given much publicity and folks sometimes get
the impression that the majority of our residents are indifferent. Of
course this is not so; the vast majority are law-abiding citizens and
education, art and culture grow by leaps and bounds while schools,
universities, churches, libraries, parks, and playgrounds appear as if
by magic.
I certainly would not advise either men or women to shirk the
responsibilities of city life and flee to the country just for the
purpose of living lives of ease. There has been far too much shirking of
responsibility by the so-called "better element," and that is the reason
why gangsters, racketeers, kidnappers and other offenders gather in
large cities where the apprehension of lawbreakers is more difficult.
There are times for work and times for rest and it is for each person to
decide where his path of duty lies. Taken by and large, I think the
highest purposes of the largest number would be best served if the
population was more spread out. To the man in the moon or to any
unprejudiced observer, it must seem an anomalous condition that human
beings are spread so thickly in some parts and so thinly in others; it
is reasonable to suppose that, to such an unprejudiced observer, a
re-distribution of the inhabitants of this planet would be in order.
If it were the Creator's intention for men to live in masses, for what
purpose did he create millions of acres of mountains and valleys where
air and water is unpolluted by the works of men? Folks tangle themselves
up in great cities somewhat as angleworms tangle themselves in the
bottom of tin cans and bait boxes, and, when there is nothing else to
devour, men, like angleworms, all too frequently devour each other.
The country has been my refuge at all times; when I could not afford it
as a luxury, I put it on the necessity list and as such managed to get
it. Years fall from my shoulders when I ramble along the countryside.
For some years I consistently spent my week ends during the winter
months in the weird but fascinating dune lands bordering on Lake
Michigan in northwestern Indiana. When the dunes get a grip on one, they
never loosen their hold. "Dune-bugs" build shacks among the hills of
sand and most of them command beautiful views of the great lake.
Windstorms constantly change the contour of the land, burying forests
here and uncovering forests there. The flora and fauna of the Chicago
dune lands is in greater variety than in any other Central Western zone.
Weekends spent in the dunes in companionship with other nature lovers is
an excellent conditioner for the business trials of the coming week. Why
should men permit themselves to be kept indoors during the long winter
months with never a breath of fresh air and never the song of a bird to
gladden their hearts?
The Prairie Club of Chicago, of which I am a charter member, was
established thirty-five years ago for the purpose of giving young people
opportunity to enjoy grand hikes in the country. We have had as many as
two thousand members, nearly all of whom came to the city from homes in
the country. The Prairie Club gives folks an opportunity to renew their
touch with their beloved country, and in many instances has constituted
the one and only available means of doing so.
While Saturday afternoon hikes are the distinguishing feature of the
Prairie Club, organized camps and other similar recreational features
which contribute to the health and happiness of legions of school
teachers, clerks, stenograpers, etc., are provided. The Saturday
afternoon hikes are announced in the Chicago newspapers and all nature
lovers are invited to join them without expense other than the necessary
cost of transportation. The hikes are carefully mapped out by competent
leaders who have blazed the trails and made arrangements with the
railroads for as many extra coaches as may be needed.
The Prairie Club co-operates with the Rocky Mountain Club of Denver, the
Sierra Mountain Club of San Francisco, the Mountaineers Club of Seattle,
the Nature Lovers Club of Indianapolis and with many other clubs devoted
to promoting interest in outdoor life.
Chicago has a young man from Boston to thank for its Prairie Club, His
name is Alexander Wilson and his name is too little known.
No restrictions are made as to the ages of the applicants for
membership. The youngest regular participant in the hikes whom I knew
was a rugged little maiden three year of age, who needed no assistance
except that of being lifted over fences by her parents. She could reel
off a ten mile hike without unhappy consequences. She is now a mother of
strong rugged children of her own.
The oldest Prairie Clubber I have known was Captain Robinson, ninety
years of age, who took his camera along photographing unusual wild
flowers and writing them up for a magazine.
Naturalists have eyes to see the beauties of uplands and lowlands; noses
to smell the aroma of pines and balsams, and ears to hear the sweet song
of the bobolink, the meadowlark and that "divine contralto," the hermit
thrush,
Many who know the blessings of rural life plan to adopt it as soon as
they can afford to buy or build property suitable to their tastes and in
conformity with the standards they have set up; in many cases they find
that their standards are so high that it is necessary to defer moving to
the suburbs time and time again;
often they defer too long-thousands build, move and then die, having
enjoyed their new home only a few years or perhaps only a few months.
Our home is located in an extra large block in a suburb of culture and
refinement and we have enjoyed it for thirty-odd blessed years. We came
none too soon. Twenty-six families reside in our block all in homes of
their own. When they came to our block, husband, wife and children were
living happily together, but to-day ten of those houses are owned and
occupied by the widows of the men who built them and one is owned and
occupied by a widower. The percentage, ten to one in favor of widows, is
a sad commentary on the struggle for what men call success; it is almost
as devastating as the war which sons and grandsons of my neighbors are
now waging on the Eastern and Western fronts. These men came to our
suburb to get rest, and in that respect they were successful, but they
rest under ground.
It is quite an undertaking to move to a suburb but it is a far greater
undertaking to retire. How glibly men speak of retiring. Utopia, at
last! Nothing to do but to rest and luxuriate in the thought of having
nothing to do! How different they find it! Retirement is a crisis. A
limited number only come through. To throw the yoke off in advanced
years is even a more serious undertaking than it was to put the yoke on
in the days of vigorous youth. There is, however, a way out; new and
engrossing interests must be found: they are frequently found in the
country.
To the young and vigorous, an emotional escape from life's realities
does not make a strong appeal, but life in the country need not be an
escape from realities; it not infrequently proves to be an opening to
larger opportunities for usefulness under more favorable conditions.
Young and vigorous shoots stand transplanting very well.
The gift of country life near woods and hills
Where happy waters sing in solitudes.
-John Musefield.
May I a small house and large garden have?
And a few friends and many books, both true.
-Cowley.
How blessed is he who leads a country life
Unvexed with anxious cares and void of strife
Who, studying peace and shunning civil rage
Enjoyed his youth and now enjoys his age.
-Dryden.
"After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics,
conviviality, love and soon have found that none of these finally
satisfies or permanently wears-what remains- Nature remains to bring out
from their torpid recesses the affinities of man or woman with the open
air-the sun by day and the stars of the heavens by night."
-Walt Whitman.
Nothing can he more serviceable in extending one's acquaintance among
the best people than membership in a Rotary club but if there is no
available Rotary club, welcome an invitation to membership in a Kiwanis
club, Lions club or in any of the recognized service clubs.
I hope it will not be considered presumptuous for me to express the
opinion that there can be no better introduction to the life of a
community than one that comes through the local Rotary club. If there
happens to be no Rotary club in the community, there will surely be one
not far distant and a few miles ride in the country does not amount to
much if one has a motor car. Membership in any Rotary club gives one
guest privileges in Rotary clubs throughout the world. Many Rotarians
visit Rotary clubs whenever they chance to be traveling and this is a
great boon to travelers in foreign lands. Enthusiastic Rotarians
frequently plan to visit club meetings in neighboring towns thereby
extending their acquaintance through their part of the state.
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