ARBORS AND OTHER 



times a pleasant thing to be lazy — frankly, un- 

 blushingly lazy. It is a healthy indication in 

 our American life when so many persons go in 

 for getting all the comfort they can from out- 

 doors in summer. Every home whose grounds 

 are large enough to accommodate them ought to 

 have benches here and there, made for comfort, 

 rather than looks, garden-seats, summer-houses 

 —all suggestive of rest and relaxation. In this 

 chapter I propose to briefly describe a few such 

 home-made features, hoping that the man or boy 

 who has the " knack " of using tools to advan- 

 tage, actuated by a desire to make home-environ- 

 ments pleasant, may be led to copy some of them. 



Let me say, right here, that the work de- 

 manded in the construction of rustic features 

 about the home is just the kind of work I would 

 encourage boys to undertake. It will be found 

 so enjoyable that it will seem more like play than 

 labor. There is the pleasure of planning it — the 

 sense of responsibility and importance which 

 comes to the lad who sets out to do something 

 " all by himself," and the delightful conscious- 

 ness that what is done may result in making 

 home more home-like, and add to the comfort 

 and pleasure of those whose love and companion- 

 ship go to make home the best place on earth. 



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