ONLY T\\'0 WEEKS A YEAR 



301 



Only Two Weeks a Year, but "Nature 

 KNOWS Her Own." 



AN INTERESTING POINT OF VIEW FROM THE 

 CITY. 



New York City. 

 To the Editor : 



You know it isn't that we don't want 

 to look at the clouds as they go sailing 

 by, or watch the whirling snow, but 

 we have to hustle to overtake the train ! 

 We New Yorkers are forever hurrying ; 

 hurrying in the morning, at noon and 

 at night, and when we are on the train 

 or the street car the time must be used 

 for reading the papers to keep up with 

 the topics of the day. What time have 

 we to contemplate the stars ! 



Only two weeks out of the whole 

 year (with perhaps a week end trip 

 now and then) have I the pleasure of 

 being out of the city, and, Oh, the city 

 habit gets into the very blood, so that 

 we city folk should be pitied because 

 we cannot abandon ourselves to the 

 country life — I mean become natural 

 when v/e are near to nature's heart. 

 The shriek of the locomotive's whistle 

 still rings in our ears, the glare of the 

 electric light still dazzles our eyes — 

 pity us poor city-bred mortals. 



I think that during all the rest of the 

 months, I plan for those two weeks in 

 the country, and the planning is almost 

 the best of all ; but, no, there is the re- 

 counting of my adventures after my 

 return. That too is a delight, for, Mr. 

 Bigelow, I see things when I am out 

 there. Every day, every hour is an 

 experience to me, but not so for most 

 folks. So when my friends ask, "Had 

 a good time?" I say, "Oh yes, a splen- 

 did time," and perhaps relate as graph- 

 ically as I can what splendid board and 

 meals I had, speak of the golf course 

 and the dances. 



But would I tell every chance ac- 

 quaintance my experience with nature? 

 Those creatures would stare at me, or 

 listen with ill concealed weariness, if I 

 should become enthusiastic over an 

 early morning walk in the woods or 

 over a tramp for miles to find a covert- 

 ed flower or to gain a fine view of the 

 country, or should tell them of a bird's 

 nest that I found, or that at last I saw 

 the bluebirds (they do flash by so 

 quickly), or that I know where the 

 mountain laurel can be found ! 



Why, 1 am just starved here in the 

 city ; you have all the riches ! I know 

 so little, and you so much. But don't 

 l)lame me. 1 cram into those two 

 weeks all the outdoors that I can 

 squeeze into them. Perhaps I do not 

 go at nature "hunting" scientifically, 

 l)ut all the same I get out of it pleasure 

 and happiness that last me till the next 

 summer. No, you are right. We are 

 not all fit to be farmers nor farmers' 

 wives. A poor stenographer like me is 

 not, I am sure of that. There the sten- 

 ographer would woefully fail ; she is 

 too city-bred to succeed, although, of 

 course, it has been done. Yet do you 

 think that nature does not know her 

 own ? There is a revelation in every 

 leaf and flower and insect and bird, if 

 you look for it in love. Did not the 

 dwellers of "The Heart of the Ancient 

 Wood" (by G. D. Roberts) know their 

 own kind? They knew the little girl 

 was not to be feared but trusted. And 

 look at "The Harvester" (Gene Strat- 

 ton-Porter). Was nature not an open 

 book to him? Some people fear the 

 solemnity of a forest, shrink at the 

 sighing of the wind, are frightened 

 when the leaves rustle, and think it an 

 ill omen when they hear an owl hoot- 

 ing. They do not understand the lan- 

 guage of nature, nor that all is in ac- 

 cord and is planned as no man could 

 plan it. 



So then I come to the end where 1 

 want to thank you most deeply for 

 your lecture of this evening in our Pub- 

 lic School No. 46. I hope you have 

 taken at some time in the spring a walk 

 through our Botanical Gardens at 200th 

 Street, and our famous Bronx Park. 

 I remember the place when the old 

 Lorillard tobacco mill was still stand- 

 ing there, and artists with their easels 

 went there to sketch. We have some 

 beautiful parks about here, with grand 

 trees. What would this city be with- 

 out its parks ! 



I am going next summer to see 

 ArcAdiA, if my plans can be carried 

 out. 



Sincerely, 

 (Miss) Annie F. Meyer. 



[An important thought is in this city 

 stenographer's letter. She goes to the 

 country and there revels as a natural- 



