"There are precious treasures and oil in the dwelling of the wise,
but a self-confident and foolish man swallows it up and wastes it."
(Proverbs 21:20)
on their Ozark farm near Mansfield, Missouri
My neighbor who came from a city where her husband worked for a salary
said to me, "It is difficult for anyone who has worked for wages to get used to
farming. There is a great difference between having a good paycheck coming
twice a month or having only the little cash one can take in on a small farm.
Why we have scarcely any money at all to spend!
"You spent the paycheck for your living expenses did you not?" I asked.
"All of it," she answered. Every bit! We could never save a cent of it."
And you have your living now, off the farm," said I.
"Yes, and a good one," she replied, "with a little left over. But it was
great fun spending the paycheck. If we'd had a little less fun,
we might have had more left."
All of which brings us to the question the little girl asked:
"Would you rather have times or things- good times to remember
or things to keep, like bank accounts, homes of our own, and such things?"
Things alone are very unsatisfying. Happiness is not to be found in money,
or in houses and lands, nor even in modern kitchens, or a late model motor car.
Such things add to our happiness only because of the pleasant times they bring us.
But times would be bad without some things. We cannot enjoy
ourselves if we are worried over how we shall pay our bills,
or the taxes, or buy what the children need.
And so we must mix our times and things, but let's mix'em with brains,
as the famous artist said he mixed with his paints, using good
judgment in the amount we take.
"Times And Things"
(July 1922)
Laura Ingalls Wilder
(1867-1957)
American writer
Taken from the book,
"Little House In The Ozarks"
A Laura Ingalls Wilder Sampler
The Rediscovered Writings
Edited by Stephen W. Hines
Guideposts Edition
(1991)
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