In 1894,
Congress officially proclaimed Labor Day to be celebrated on the first Monday
in September. It was created following
several years of civic and regional planning by local labor movements that
swept across the United States. Their goal was to dedicate a holiday that
acknowledged the social and economic achievements of American workers.
Labor Day is considered by many to be the last
weekend of the summer season although officially the autumn equinox doesn’t
occur until September 21st.
I have
understood the noun “labor” to mean “HARD work”. Rett and I experience plenty of work at Merry
Mount, but it is seldom that we labor.
Perhaps, mucking the stalls, cleaning the chicken coop, or hoeing the
garden in high humidity verges on labor, but in general, the work that we do is
a “labor of love” -for we enjoy the nature of the goats, the taste of the eggs,
and the bounty of the harvest from the garden.
Results and Roses
The man [or woman] who wants a garden fair,
Or small or very big,
With flowers growing here and there,
Must bend his back and dig.
The things are mighty few on earth
That wishes can attain.
Whate'er we want of any worth
We've got to work to gain.
It matters not what goal you seek
Its secret here reposes:
You've got to dig from week to week
To get Results or Roses.
-Edgar Guest
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| Rett working in the garden |
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| Rett's "Elegant Lady" |
 |
| from Rett's rose garden |
Rett and
I have had the good fortune of “working” in a profession as college
professors. While the pay is
comparatively low, the “work” is couched in an art form of great beauty. We were and are able to share our knowledge
of music with students eager to learn. As
we approach retirement, we have gratitude for the jobs we hold, but look
forward to the time when we have more freedom to choose when we work and when
we rest. We currently have a saying
written on the blackboard at Merry Mount:
Dad had a
philosophy of how to live one’s life:
Work hard
for eight hours,
Play hard
for eight hours,
Sleep
well for eight hours.
Fortunately,
I have arrived at the place in my life, in which that balance can be achieved.
In
conclusion, on this Labor Day, we recognize the labor that people around us do
so that our lives are more comfortable.
Let us as a society support those whose work is indeed labor.
They Earned the
Right
I knew Ket and
Knudsen, Zeller, Zeder and Breer.
I knew Henry Ford back yonder as a lightplant
engineer.
I'm a knew-'em-when companion who frequently
recalls
That none of the those big brothers were too
proud for overalls.
All the Fishers, all the leaders, all the motion
pioneers
Worked at molds or lathes or benches at the
start of their careers.
Chrysler, Keller, Nash and others whom I could
but now won't name
Had no high-falutin' notion ease and softness
led to fame.
They had work to do and did it. Did it bravely,
did it right,
Never thinking it important that their collars
should be white.
Never counted hours of labor, never wished their
tasks to cease,
And for years their two companions were those
brothers, dirt and grease.
Boy, this verse is fact, not fiction, all the
fellows I have named
Worked for years for wages and were never once
ashamed.
Dirt and grease were their companions, better
friends than linen white;
Better friends than ease and softness, golf or
dancing every night.
Now in evening clothes you see them in the
nation's banquet halls.
But they earned the right to be there, years
ago, in overalls.
-Edgar Guest
Rest well
today.
CPW
