Two] SELECTING A HOME 
course not,” you say; “it is absurd to suppose it.” 
It is absurd, sure enough; but I am confident that 
most people in the country do not see, or hear, or 
even smell adequately. They know almost nothing 
of what is going on about them. Any bird is just a 
bird. An apple tree is an apple tree, and nothing 
more. They have no intimate acquaintances 
among the bushes and the animal creatures. “ Yes,” 
said a visitor, “this is fine; but it must be awfully 
lonesome.” I said, “I had forgotten that. It is 
indeed lonesome until you get acquainted. Do 
you hear that tree toad? He is an acquaintance of 
mine. Do you hear that catbird? He is a close 
friend of mine. Then do you see that every bush 
and every tree I myself have planted, and I know 
its life-thought and purpose? Lonesome? The 
city is the place in which to be all alone.” 
The day laborer, the lawyer, the merchant, the 
school teacher are all seeking country homes for dif- 
ferent reasons. I have a letter from a Philadelphia 
schoolma’am who says, “I am dead tired of this 
treadmill work. If I could have a school and carry 
out my own ideals I would enjoy it. So far Amer- 
ican education has looked out for the individuality 
of the pupils, but has forgotten that the teacher 
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