Life, 1920-08-05 · page 14 of 48
Life — August 5, 1920 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct sections: **"Spindrift"** (top) is a poem by Adelaide Manola Hughes about transient natural phenomena—wind, sand, waves, snow—used as metaphors for human effort and artistic creation. The poem reflects on how much human work is forgotten or disappears like these ephemeral elements. The accompanying sketch shows an artist's studio with a woman and man in conversation. **"Recreation"** (bottom) is humorous domestic advice suggesting indoor activities to enliven dull evenings: having girls make fudge, helping children with homework, asking grandmother about modern art and fashion, playing phonograph records, and organizing a family charades game. The accompanying illustration shows a man with two children fishing at a riverside—a simple leisure activity. The overall tone is gently satirical about middle-class domestic life and entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Spindrift IND blowing dry sand over wet sand Myriads of swirls of dust Driving to the sea, Leaving nothing as they meet. Gentle waves, breaking over gentle waves Where trails of vapor mist Drift back like white lace veils On the sunlit water. Flurry of fragmentary snowdrops Swirling into millions of other snowdrops, Leaving no trace of themselves Where they light. A great love is born in a breath, striven for, Yet dies with the year. A golden Song, made from a heart and tears, Is forgotten ia a Universe of lilting cadence. A wise book, written by a very master, Is dog-eared by the few, And molders into nothingness om the shelf. So pitifully much of human effort, Driving forward against other human effort, Leaves nothing after it, Or only evanescent beauty Trails of lace veils On a gleaming world. “1 KNOW I COULD DO OPHELIA IN YOUR SHAKESPEARE REVIVAL.” Adelaide Manola Hughes. “n'M !—rR—AVE YOU EVER BEEN ON THE STAGE? HAVE YOU ANY TRAINING?” “NO, SIR; 1 AM NOT TRAINED. 1 AM SIMPLY GIFTED.” Recreation 'O enliven a dull evening in the flat, try any of these simple indoor sports : Inquire casually, “ Where shall we go this summer?” Let the little girls make peanut fudge. Help Tommy hunt for his home work, which he is sure he left “right there on the table,” and which ultimately turns up in the inside pocket of his coat Ask grandma how she enjoyed the exhibition of Symbolist paintings, and what she thinks of the modern dances. Also get her opinion on modern clothes. Unwrap the new Galli-Curci record, and discover that grandpa has been putting his cigar ashes into the little jar where you empty the package of steel needles Close the kitchenette window in the dark, and upset the cup of creamed peas left on the sill into the vegetable basket. Col- lect peas, and give the basket, the floor, nineteen potatoes and six carrots a warm bath. Get out the chafing dish and incite father to dash off that ench omelet he has been describing ever since he got home. Clear up afterwards. A SHADY SPoT comicbookskeonl