"Leave It As It Is..."

That full quote reads: "Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only marr it." ~President Theodore Roosevelt~

During my time off, I have been catching up on some tv that has been burning a hole in my dvr. I finally hit 'play' on the 6 part PBS series by Ken Burns called, The National Parks: America's Best Idea. I have only one episode left to watch, but I must say now that it is an absolutely amazing series. I have always been impressed with Ken Burns documentaries mainly for his attention to detail. Burns does beautiful, beautiful work. The photography in National Parks, both still and moving, is stunning. I constantly hit the pause button just to take in the scenery for a few extra moments. The stories, writings and antidotes born out of the National Parks by those who visited them in the late 1800's and early 1900's are so engaging and re-told by voices you'd recognize: Tom Hanks, George Takai, Sam Waterston, John Lithgow, Eli Wallach and many others. They share these moments beautifully without upstaging the series. The spotlight is left right where it belongs--on the story and the scenery. The whole series is narrated by Peter Coyote, who is brilliant in the role as 'tour guide through history'. As someone who has done professional voice over work for many years, I bow to his seemingly effortless vocal mastery in this piece.

"God never made an ugly landscape. All that the sun shines on is beautiful, so long as it is wild." ~John Muir (1869)~

I was lucky that both of my parents held a big love for our National Parks and took my brothers and I to many of them when we were kids. We would camp and hike and fish and sit around the campfire late at night. I have scattered memories of these trips as I was a pre-teen for most of the trips. The memories I do have though, are vivid. I remember Mesa Verde National Park like I visited there yesterday. That Park, those ruins, that mysterious band of Indians who just up and disappeared one day....intrigued me so. I remember Yellowstone and watching Old Faithful burst skyward. I also remember some of the stinkiest sulfur blurps of mud bubbling there too. I remember the Grand Tetons and standing at a split-rail fence that bordered the valley that ran up to the base of those peaks. Imagine how silent we were, staring in awe....


Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, inciting at once to work and rest! Days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God. Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever.

~John Muir~

The National Parks: America's Best Idea is quite the history lesson, but unlike any history class I ever sat through. I've learned so much by watching this series. Not only the struggles our own nation went through to preserve these gorgeous areas, but those who helped spearhead the whole system. The one person who takes center stage for the first two episodes is John Muir. I have read more John Muir works and writings in the past week than I ever did in school. Pity, really, as Mr. Muir was a top-notch wordsmith. With a string of words, Muir could paint, not just a picture, but an entire panoramic landscape in high-def! Some of his writings, that I'm reading for the first time, have literally brought me to tears. Few contemporary writers do that for me.

If you haven't already, download, rent or buy The National Parks: America's Best Idea and watch it. And if you've already seen it--watch it again. And watch it with your kids. Maybe it'll inspire them to go see these wonders in person one day. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to take them!

"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. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail."
~from the book Our National Parks
by John Muir (1901)~

(thank-you Mr. Muir)