DIARY OF A HOUSEWIFE CONTINUED: Today we continue quoting Joyce Colony’s “Diary of a Glad Housewife,” from the Dec. 6 1981 edition of The New York Times Magazine.

Colony’s article details her life choices in a world where she is the last remaining housewife on the block. In contrast to her mother’s days, however, Colony finds freedom in the hours of the day.

“Housework need not be humdrum or predictable. In fact, flexibility is its best feature,” she notes, explaining her version is less focused on precision and dedication than her mother’s efforts.

Colony feels liberated by the fact she does not have to venture out of her home unless she chooses to on any given day, and she feels she has “the best of all worlds” because she can prioritize the work or opt to put on her favorite sweater and go for a walk to visit the geese.

Still, there are a few things she makes a priority that have been lost in today’s society. Letter writing, for instance, is a key part of her daily to-do list. Yet today, the art of writing a letter by hand and sending it through the post is almost obsolete. We live in the day of emails and text messages, typed and sent instantly with a response quickly to follow.

The article spans six pages, interspersed with ads selling pens, liquor, furs and a tuxedo. Fine china and luggage, along with women’s undergarments, also draw attention from the printed text.

At the end, Colony says, “Even as I write, I know this way of life is fragile and will one day pass from the world. The old ladies will die, their markets will become computerized and home cooking will be sought out in culinary museums. My own thinking may become as modern as my neighbors, I may go out and get a job, make a different kind of contribution to the world, have my capabilities recognized and bring home for all to see a paycheck.

“But for now, while my clocks are stopped between the old ways and the new, I still see that paycheck as an inadequate trade for the sights and sounds and tastes of home.”