"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." -- conservationist and Sierra Club co-founder John Muir (4/21/1838 - 12/24/1914), from his "Our National Parks", 1901. Called "Father of the National Parks", Scottish-born Muir took classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, taking botany, chemistry and geology classes but never graduated. He was instrumental in establishing Yosemite National Park, and advocating for a national park system in order to preserve the natural beauty of the wilderness.
Tomorrow, coincidentally, is Earth Day, an annual commitment to preserving our national and global natural resources, and to fight the growing threat of climate change.
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