ROUND ABOUT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 156, 6 May 1940, Page 5

ROUND ABOUT

(By Aitchcl) "Procrastination is tlie tliicf of time/' Isn't that the proverb? So true. A certain resident of this fair city practised procrastination for some time. These are the facts. Resident's house is situated on the slopes and there is quite a substantial drop from" his back yard. In the back yard is the garage, ffrotigh that fact is really immaterial. There is an old tree stump near the edge of the cliff and resident made up his mind' that he would remove same as it constituted an eyesore—more or less. He made up his mind but he never could summon up the necessary energy. "Was always 'Going to do it,''' Have to do it,* 'Will do it.' In other words; lie procrastinated, He was an acccssory of the thief of time. Came a day when resident and his wife went fishing, which fact is incidental to the story. The fishing was good and resident and wife finished the day wi'tli several bundles of the best and mixed. They had too much for their own requirements. Bht to complete tlie picture. They ran up to their home and stopped the car in the usual place —which was not in the garage. They both alighted and swept up armsful of fish. Their hands were tied with fish and so they could but gaze fife horror as the car moved towards the cliff edge. Nothing could be done and the car gathered speed. But what happened? The car suddenly stopped when it seemed" tliat all was lost. What made it stop? Why! The old tree stump, of course. To-day, that old stump bears an inscribed plaque. Moral: Procrastination may work out for the best. * *• Somet.imess..beauty is a vain- boast as in golf and other activities of mischance. But, on the whole, tli» life of civilised man, whether lie admits it or not, is a non-stop quest for beauty. Whichever way you look at it. Beauty is the goaf at which he kicks the ball of effort. He pulls up his socks and makes money to secure security, dispel anxiety, and achieve ultimate leisure. Each of these aims is an alias of Beauty. But the quest for Beauty has ncf beginning and no end for those who have no need for the spectacles of synthetic culture. If the Parthenon were demolished to make room for a chain store, if the Mona Lisa had stuck to knitting'instead" of" sitting* if Reubens had taken up bakery and Corot greengrocery and all the art- 1 ists had put their efforts to coalmining, there would still' remain enough beauty between the kitchen sink and the back gate to nourish the souls of all men.

No need to seek where Sappho There's beauty ih the common things. A light reflected ih a puddle, Tired sparrows resting" in-a- huddle, A scarlet crayfish, proud and vaiir, A lighted window in the rain, A row of rain drops on a wire, The painted caverns in the fTre r A string of washing on the line, Whipped into patterns- subtly fine, A tap, a barrel 'neatli a tree, A blade of ryc T a horse's- knee, A new-baked loaf, like ingot gold* A pungent' clod of garden mould, Wet asphalt streaked with bars of light", A bunch of chimney pots at night, A smoky- billy smelling" sweet Of willow twigs and glowing peat, A cabbage growing firm and stout, All common things without a doubts A broken fence, the clouds that skim. Like wadding on the sunset's rim„ A peeling door, a moulding roof, The pattern of a horse's hoof, These are the things that artists crave, Not riches from Aladdin's cave. The beauty of simplicity, Which every common jnari can see, Is there for every mortal eye. So cheap that many pass it by. « * * « I make no apology, but would add: A policeman, patrolling on his beat* A pair of number twelves upon his feet; A new-built wharf, a rubbish-heap with rats; The taste displayed by women for the latest styles in hats; The siren, the peace of home disturbs; The water now no longar hissing down the city curbs. 1 was going to say something about the Ohopc swimming pool but struck a snag in the matter of rhyming, and, anyhow, they haven't got 't yet. I can't think of anything else simple, yet possessing beauty—un-* | it's this