"Go now and then [to the wilds] for fresh life – if most of humanity must go through this town stage of development – just as divers hold their breath and come ever and anon to the surface to breathe . . . Go whether or not you have faith . . . Form parties, if you must be social, go to the snow-flowers in winter, to the sun-flowers in summer . . . Anyway, go up and away for life; be fleet.
I know some will heed the warning. Most will not, so full of pagan slavery is the boasted freedom of the town, and those who need rest and clean snow and sky the most will be the last to move. Once [during my childhood on the farm in Wisconsin] I was let down into a deep well into which choke-damp [carbonic acid] had settled, and nearly lost my life. The deeper I was immersed in the invisible poison, the less capable I became of willing measures to escape from it. And in just this condition are those who toil or dawdle or dissipate in crowded towns, in the sinks of commerce or pleasure."
The Contemplative John Muir, pp. 213-214
Photo: Nokhu Crags, Never Summer Range, CO, February 17, 2012. As this photo reveals, a subtle golden light suffused the Crags just before sunset.
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