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Letter to a Friend

In 1868, JOHN MUIR, then a University of Wisconsin student, wrote to his 'spiritual mother' to tell her of his recent travels and his growing devotion to a joyous and reverent communion with Nature.
by David McGee
 

 
 
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Ladders to Heaven: A Legend

Famous as a children's book author in the mid-1800s, JULIANA HORATIA EWING was also devoted to 'the practical cultivation of flowers,' as is evident in her paaen to lilies in 'Ladders to Heaven: A Legend,' published in 1891, f...
by David McGee
 

 

 
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The Music of Nature

From his outstanding 1878 book MUSIC AND SOME HIGHLY MUSICAL PEOPLE, the distinguished African-American author JAMES M. TROTTER exults in 'the music of Nature'
by David McGee
 

 
 
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October Knowledge

In an exclusive seasonal essay, CHRISTOPHER HILL poetically, evocatively reflects on the passage from summer to fall to the cusp of winter, and the ghosts and dreams in the air along the way.
by David McGee
 

 

 
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Spring in Verse, In Romania and In Song

Nature’s Temple: we celebrate Spring with RUBY & THE ROMANTICS, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, e.e. cummings and others..
by David McGee
 

 
 
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Walking, Fully Walking, in Life

I not only saw, heard and touched “nature,” I even tasted it. It “tastes” beautiful. And I feel “rich.”
by David McGee
 

 

 
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To Ride an Avalanche in Yosemite

At the turn of the 20th Century, naturist JOHN MUIR, never one to shirk a chance for first-person experience in the wild, rode an avalanche down a mountain Yosemite National Park. And lived to tell about it, as he does here.
by David McGee
 

 
 
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The Music of Nature

Writing in 1878, author JAMES M. TROTTER, in his essay 'The Music of Nature,' observed what 'the great Author of harmony' had wrought in the natural world.
by David McGee
 

 

 
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Communicating With, and In, Nature

Through nature my mother found the strength to express herself, and the lei, this “art of communication,” gave her peace.
by David McGee
 

 
 
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The Emotional Lives of Wolves

From High Country News, a review of 'Wolf whisperer' RICK MCINTYRE's third in a series of novels centered on the emotional lives of the Yellowstone alpha wolves,
by David McGee