The Ladies World – October, 1895

There is no disputing or denying the fact that work is the best friend of all mankind.  That, provided with a congenial occupation, a person can almost do away with diversions, and unless overtaxed, continue in the pursuit of the chosen avocation for an uninterrupted term of years.  The artist who earns his living by his pencil or brush almost never gets away from his working tools in his hours of recreation, but finds more subjects for his canvas, more food for his fancy when drifting about on limpid waters, when noting the playing muscles of the horse he drives, or when lying upon his back on the sweet summer grass and looking up into the divine blue above his head.  The worker among machinery finds in his recreation pleasure in new combinations of wheels and motive power, and does not even care to get very far away from his life’s calling.

But to him who is tied to the “grind” that grinds “in” as well as out, the hours of leisure must provide complete relaxation or change, the old proverb that “a change is as good as rest” proving true in nearly every case.

There is no more universal panacea than out-of-doors.  It is a well-known fact that farmers seldom suffer from either apoplexy or nervous prostration.  The farmer’s wife, however, is not as exempt from all ills to which flesh is heir as is he.  Even the man whose occupation is all in-doors usually has the going and coming from his business, which in a measure restores his system, while his wife, with her everlasting and eternal baking, dish-washing and sewing, with the accompaniment of the wear of the care of young children, has no similar restorative, but must go to bed and awake to an endless routine which remains unbroken until the very end.

Though the world is full of the talk of the new woman, yet there are millions of the old style who will continue to lead the lives that seem to be their portion, and according to the light given them will toil and strive in the family, at the sewing machine, the loom and the mill.  But all along their dreary pathway there comes from time to time a sudden turn, a blessed shady spot, or a golden opportunity, that if accepted, can give a little piece of the pleasures of life that come in abundance to the unwitting and undeserving multitudes in the next strata of society.

The little dressmaker takes advantage of a few evenings of leisure to learn to ride a bicycle, hopeful for the time when she may be where one can be hired or loaned.  The summer homes for working girls often provide opportunities for rowing, a straw ride, bathing, all the delights of the country in summer.  There is no occupation more wholesome and pleasure-giving than the culture of flowers.  The woman who seeks recreation among growing plants finds much that brings her “near to Nature’s heart” and to her Maker, who so “clothed the grass of the field” that in its up-springing every blade tells the story of unending life.

The bicycle has become a recognized factor in life, as is the horse and the locomotive, and the swarms of riders, young and old, stout and thin, that are to be seen on highway and byway, show that this enchanting exercise is on the increase daily.

It only seems a few years ago that the writer received the news with great pleasure that a woman’s wheel was her own, and after a few lessons she went forth to enjoy her new accomplishment, to receive varied remarks from her circle of friends.  Some thought it a little daring, this woman who rode a 44-pound wheel – a little mannish.  One said it was “well enough for young girls, but married women, looked out of place.”  It was only a short time since that this person who was so scandalized was heard planning her ride with her husband as if she had always thought bicycling the most delightful thing in the world.

Croquet and tennis have long been charming out-of-door games and well worth study and skill.

Boating – rowing and sailing, have always been favorites recreations, and the woman who is skillful with the oars is sure of good chest development and strong wrists.

There are things to be learned about walking, riding, driving, mountain climbing, camping, swimming, skating, tobogganing.  Hardly any woman is an adept at all of the sports, yet they are all akin, and the athletic woman can enjoy them, each and all, and keep her gray hairs few in number, her adipose tissue within bounds, her heart and lungs strong and well, and her spirits in such a condition that she shall not grown old.

We are bringing up our girls to take part in all of these sports, rather than see them become the weak, long-suffering mortals their mothers have been through a false education.  Our daughters are allowed to fill their lungs to the limit of their capacity.  They are put into gymnasium clothes and taught to jump and climb and pull themselves up  hand over hand as their brothers have long done.  Our girls can drive and swim, and row and sail, and thus they strengthen all the organs which must be healthy, or there is no happy future for them or their offspring.  We are building a new race on almost the ruins of the old, and it is well that we have done it before it was too late.

Let us seek this out-of-door life.  Let us gather up our work or our book and eat our simple supper by the running brook or the mighty ocean, and meditate on the Giver of this good.  Let us leave carking care in the confines of our four walls and seek the mountain-side, where reigns a heavenly peace and calm.  When we return, our shoulders have been strengthened to bear the burden.  There is nothing like it for mind and body and spirit here, and when we come to turn away from the duties and responsibilities of life, the burden and the pain, the unsatisfied longings and the vain ambitions, and pass on to the Great Out-of-Doors, we shall find that our little knowledge of the beauties of Earth has helped us to better understand the glories of Heaven, and has brought some of its joy into our lives below.

Reference:

Moore, Myra Drake (1895, October). Out Of Doors. The Ladies World, XVI(10), 10. Retrieved from http://victoriantimes.us/health/out-of-doors-october-1895. ^

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