Happy Birthday John Muir

John Muir, 1838-1914 (Image from Sierra Club, History and Archives).

John Muir, considered by many to be the "Father of the National Parks", was born on the 21st of April, 1838.  It is important during National Park Week to celebrate his life and legacy.  John Muir co-founded the Sierra Club in 1892, and was instrumental in the creation of Yosemite as a national park in 1890.  Muir fell in love with Yosemite, and it is easy to understand why.  John Muir, writer, activist, environmentalist, philosopher, and explorer died in California in 1914 at the age of 76.  His legacy lives on, in the Sierra Club, and in Yosemite National Park, a very special place.  These are unsettled and difficult times, but maybe also a good time to think about the words of John Muir.
"Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the deep green woods. Here grow the wallflower and violet. The squirrel will come and sit upon your knee, the logcock will wake you in the morning. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill. Of all the upness accessible to mortals, there is no upness comparable to the mountains." ("John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir", 1938) 

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