If you did not follow #5, you might not be able to adhere to #3 as well. In 1914, the modes of travel were by train, automobile at 30 to 40 mph tops, horse back, horse and light weight 2 wheeled cart, horse and buggy, or walking. School let out a 4pm and you were supposed to be in bed by 8pm. This is a 4 hr window to have a meal and make a trip out of town and get back to be in bed by 8pm. It was not advisable to travel on public roads after dark by horse unless you had a well lighted carriage. In those days, most owners of carriages did not have lighting gear. Apparently, these were sexist rules. When you read the full set of these rules, these were aimed at female teachers. I doubt that male teachers wore petticoats. I wonder how the city limit could apply to the popular country grade schools. There were no city limits in rural farmland. Also, school districts could exist partly in two counties crossing the county line. (I attended such a school.) This must have been a set of rules for a city school, and apparently, the school board was a controlling dingbat. However, there may have been a reason for placing a tight rein on female teachers. One problem did exist in those old schools and that was distrust of a possible romantic encounter of a teacher with a student. The teacher was the sole adult present all day. Early pairing of couples were common at that time. Some girls married by age 16 and boys by age 18. The normal age for a boy to complete the 8th grade was 14, but this did not happen in all cases in rural, 1914, farmland USA. Boys were needed in the fields as early as age 10. Depending on the circumstances of a family, a boy might use 3 years to complete the 8th grade, if he completed it at all. Therefore, it was possible to have a 17 yr boy in the 8th grade with an 18 to 20 yr old teacher. In 1900 in rural areas, the only requirement for a grade school teacher was to have finished 8th grade herself and be in good standing with the community. I believe that by 1914, most schools required that the teacher would have some schooling beyond the 8th grade. (I'd have to research this know the specifics. I'm quoting from some findings from my family's genealogy.)

Hi Rusty, I figured as much. I appreciate the importance of peace, joy, thankfulness and inspiration, which you reported as guideposts in your life. They've guided my life, as well. There's only one letter different, just three spaces apart in the alphabet, at the very end of the word, between "peace" and "peach". You can hold your outstretched, cupped hand up in the air as long as you choose and unless you're in Georgia or Niagara or a limited number of other locations, and even there, for only a limited period of time, each year ... no peach will ever show up there. Roots, a trunk, branches, leaves and blossoms (plus bees or other pollinators) are essential if one desires to produce a peach. Peace also does not appear by magic or as a result of wishing or hoping, however fervent. Roots of justice, a trunk of fairness, branches of kindness, leaves of cooperation and blossoms of love-inspired sharing are essential in developing peace. And some minds and bodies to provide the fertilizing (and in the situation of peacemmaking, to do a great deal of thinking and work along with that of many allies) to bring forth the desired result. Lacking those essential ingredients ... ... and major effort invested ... ... the cake of peace just ain't a gonna happen!! (Can you offer a comparison to throw in to symbolize the heat required to make that cake rise?) ole joyfuelled

When I leave for work every morning, it's a long goodbye. I kiss each of my seven cats and tell them to be a good boy or girl until I get home. DH works from home, so they're not really alone very often. And every evening when I come home, at least four of them are at the windows, their little bodies quivering and their tails waving. I feel so loved.

Sorry...I didn't mean to sound so harsh...perhaps I'm too tired and too testy with all the holiday stuff bearing down on me. It's all fine.