The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

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Hyde Park, N. Y., Sunday—Friday afternoon was really a big day for receiving people at the White House. The Daughters of the American Revolution with all their charming, young, white-clad pages, made the White House look very gay. We started in with a group of Children of the Revolution, but as some of these were very young there were really more grown people than children in the group. The tiniest little girl presented me with a basket of lovely flowers, so much bigger than she was that they completely hid her. I had about a half an hour between the children's reception and that given their elders, who also brought me a beautiful old-fashioned bouquet, which later decorated the mantlelpiece in the Blue Room. Afterwards, I took the plane for New York City and arrived a little late because it was a rainy day and planes were somewhat delayed.

However, I was in the apartment in time to greet my two dinner guests. Miss Thompson and I took the 10:00 o'clock train up here yesterday morning, but the rain still persisted. No sign of spring, so far as I can see, but certainly our water supply should be plentifully replenished. Some of us have almost forgotten that we did have a drought in these parts last summer and everybody was gloomy about filling up of the springs last autumn.

There is an old tradition that it never freezes really hard until the springs have been replenished, but I saw many shaking heads last autumn. Now they are shaking again because we have too much rain and we shall never got our planting done. Nature never does perform according to the rule that we mortals like to lay down for her.

There was plenty to do in the house yesterday when I reached here, for there always is when you haven't been home for a long time. There were books which I had sent up to decide on placing, and some new linen to be put away.

There are disadvantages in keeping one's belongings in various places. I have searched high and low for certain things which seem to have completely disappeared. It was discouraging to wake up this morning to find the rain still coming down. No riding, and, even though I like to walk in the rain, unless it lets up a little, I doubt if any of us will feel like getting soaked.

Well, there is always work to be done and, though I had hoped for some exercise this week-end, I can at least appreciate the green of the young grass on the lawn and the fact that some of the shrubs show signs of coming to life. The weather is giving me a chance, too, to find out what has to be done in our cottage before we really move up for more frequent visits in the later spring and summer.

E.R.

(COPYRIGHT, 1940, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Geographic
  • Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, April 22, 1940

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

  • Brick, Christopher (Editor)
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  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
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Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project

Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.

XML master last modified on: June 9, 2017.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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