Nature Journal with John Muir
edited by Bonnie Johanna Gisel
Paperback — 160 pages, price $16.00
ISBN 0-9714003-5-0
Available at Amazon.com
Description
The Book
From the editor
Selections from the two-hundred articles written and published by John Muir are
offered here to provide stepping-stones for inspiration and thoughtfulness for your
writing and sketching journey. Considered to be one of the great mountaineers and
one of the earliest plant ecologists, Muir saw with clarity the world he sought
to preserve for all time. He was one of Nature's visionaries. As you walk your own
pathless journey of discovery in Nature and wilderness may you find that the gentleness
of Muir's spirit and the keenness of his sight provide a guiding light as you seek
to find ways to draw yourself nearer to the goodness and greatness that abounds
upon mountain tops, in warm sunny meadows, and near cool streams.
— Bonnie Johanna Gisel
Bonnie Johanna Gisel
Bonnie Johanna Gisel is a naturalist, artist, nature writer, and historian who has written extensively about the life and work of John Muir. Presently she is at work on a book on John Muir and his life as a botanist. She is the author of the introduction to John Muir: Family, Friends, and Adventures and the author and editor of Kindred & Related Spirits: The Letters of John Muir and Jeanne C. Carr. She has published articles and lectured on John Muir and her own journeys in wilderness, including "A Song in Several Keys. Yosemite Journal," that appeared in California Tour and Travel. Bonnie is the curator at the Sierra Club's LeConte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite National Park, where she designs environmental education programs including the "Nature Journal," the Wilderness Quilt Project, Words for Wilderness Around the World, and Green Shoes.
From Nature Journal
Excerpts from John Muir's writings that head each page in this writing and sketching
journal.
Then came evening, and the somber cliffs were inspired with the ineffable beauty of the alpenglow. A solemn calm fell upon every feature of the landscape. All the lower portion of the canyon was in gloaming shadow, and I crept into a hollow near one of the upper lakelets to smooth away the burrs from a sheltered spot for a bed. When the short twilight faded I kindled a sunny fire, made a cup of tea, and lay down with my face to the deep clean sky. Soon the night-wind began to flow and pour in torrents among the jagged peaks, mingling its strange tones with those of the waterfalls sounding far below....
Perhaps you have already said that you have seen enough for a lifetime. But before you go away you should spend at least one day and a night on a mountain top, for a last general calming, settling view....
I made up a bundle of bread, tied my note-book to my belt, and strode away in the bracing air, full of eager, indefinite hope....
I never before saw a plant so full of life; so perfectly spiritual, it seemed pure enough for the throne of its Creator. I felt as if I were in the presence of superior beings who loved me and beckoned me to come. I sat down beside them and wept for joy. Could angels in their better land show us a more beautiful plant? How good is our Heavenly Father in granting us such friends as are these plant-creatures, filling us wherever we go with pleasure so deep, so pure, so endless....
These journals are perfect for workshops, classes, writing, hiking, and sketching groups; for youth groups and adults. Please contact the publisher for quantity discounts.
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