I get very little time to write or think; for my working days have begun, and when school is over Anna wants me; so I have no quiet. I think a little solitude every day is good for me. In the quiet I see my faults, and try to mend them; but, deary me, I don't get on at all.
~Louisa May Alcott, Louisa May Alcott: her life, letters, and journals, edited by Ednah D. Cheney
Difference of opinion arises between son Robin and his father as to the nature and venue of former's evening meal, Robin making sweeping assertions to the effect that All Boys of his Age have Proper Late Dinner downstairs, and father Robert replying curtly More Fools their Parents, which I privately think unsuitable language for use before children. Final and unsatisfactory compromise results in Robin's coming nightly to the dining-room and partaking of soup, followed by interval, and ending with dessert, during the whole of which Robert maintains disapproving silence and I talk to both at once on entirely different subjects. (Life of a wife and mother sometimes very wearing.)
~E.M. Delafield, The Diary of a Provincial Lady
Here we are at Dr. Nolan's plantation, with Baton Rouge lying just seven miles from us to the east. We can surely hear the cannon from here. They are all so kind to us that I ought to be contented; but still I wish I was once more at home. I suppose it is very unreasonable in me, but I cannot help it. I miss my old desk very much; it is so awkward to write on my knee that I cannot get used to it. Mine is a nice little room upstairs, detached from all the rest, for it is formed by a large dormer window looking to the north, from which I have seen a large number of guerrillas passing and repassing in their rough costumes, constantly. I enjoy the fresh air, and all that, but pleasant as it is, I wish I was at home and all the fuss was over. Virginia Nolan and Miriam are already equipped in their riding costumes, so I must lay this down and get ready to join them in a scamper across the fields. How delighted I will be to get on a horse again.
~Sarah Morgan Dawson, from A Confederate Girl's Diary
Got a pass and visited Alexandria, Egypt. The shops, &c. were all so interesting, and the "beer" good. Went to a café, and had a big dinner, like good old times. Had photo taken. Visited the casino. After many weary hours returned to Camp at midnight, feeling very tired.
~Lt. Edwin Jones, Diary: France, Egypt, Mesopotamia 1915-1916
POSTED BY: Audra
