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Nature Journal With John Muir
Edited by Bonnie Johanna Gisel
(2006)
Nature Journal with John Muir
Edited By: Bonnie Johanna Gisel
Publisher: Poetic
Matrix Press
Available in both hardcover and paperback.
hardcover $20.00, ISBN 0-9714003-7-7
paperback $16.00, ISBN 0-9714003-5-0
ISBN: 1-55963-640-8
160 pp, Introduction,
How to Begin Writing and Sketching
in Your Nature Journal, Blank pages with quotes from John Muir including
watermark of Resurrection Fern Polypodium polypododiodes.
Poetic Matrix Press
P.O. Box 1223
Madera, CA 93639
poeticmatrix@yahoo.com
Phone: 559.673.9402
Publisher's Press Release (2006)
These journals are perfect for workshops,
classes, writing, hiking, and sketching groups; for youth groups and
adults. Please contact the publisher for quantity discounts.
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
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 pouring
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.
About the Author
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.
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