Yin-Yang—Divine Green Slime—Biodesign

Posted on June 27, 2018 Leave a Comment

The two quintessential decisions that led to the birth of the Biodesign Class at St. Helena High School were adopting John Muir as our primary mentor and planning a six-day trip to Yosemite N.P. to explore what he was writing about. In preparation for each trip we pondered The Wilderness World Of John Muir (edited by Edwin Teale). In his introduction, Teal noted that although Muir belonged to no organized religion, he was deeply religious and boldly credited God for creating Earth and the universe. Furthermore, he wrote: “He was by turn a scientist, a poet, a mystic, a philosopher, a humorist. Because he saw everything, mountains and streams and landscapes, as evolving, unfinished, in the process of creation, there is a pervading sense of vitality in all he wrote.”

The two operative words were “evolving” and “creation.” Although beautifully written, Teale presented me with the dilemma of how to introduce public high school students to Muir’s philosophy without violating the spirit of the law separating church and state. The emerging class embraced the freedom to discuss all things biological, which included a thoughtful, unbiased, approach to the great evolution debate.

In a wonderfully ironic twist, a partial solution to our dilemma came from ancient China. The Chinese yin-yang philosophy describes how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Yin-yang philosophy can be applied to the great debate of creationism vs. Darwin’s theory of evolution. The Universe, including all forms of life, is in a constant process of evolving, yet everything that evolves had to be created.

Although most students grasped the yin-yang concept, understandably, many had difficulty visualizing any possible physical—spiritual interaction. Most were not satisfied with the current scientific explanation of evolution being the result of random chance and competition. In a perfectly timed synchronicity, while one class was pondering the Muir—Darwin dichotomy, S.F. Chronicle legendary columnist, Art Hoppe, wrote the following column.

Excerpt: Biodesign Out For A Walk, Chap. 11, Matthew. The Landlord’s Slime.

Scene: The Heavenly Real Estate Office.

The Landlord, humming to himself, is craning forward to hang a mediocre-sized galaxy of a hundred billion suns on the far edge of the cosmos. His business agent, Mr. Gabriel, enters, golden trumpet in hand.

Gabriel: Excuse me, sir. A noisy debate’s broken out on that planet Earth. The tenants are fighting over how the place was made.

Landlord: (frowning) Earth? Let’s see … Is that the one I patched together out of drifting stardust, rainbow wisps, and a few million snatches of birdsong?

Gabriel: No, that was Arcturus 4673-a.

Landlord: Good me! After a couple of zillion, it’s hard to recall exactly how …

What do the tenants say?

Gabriel: Well, the fundamentalists say that you created the whole shebang in six days with sort of a wave of your hand.

Landlord: (nodding) Yes, yes, I could have done it that way.

Gabriel: But the scientists claim that it evolved over 4 billion years.

Landlord: Six days? Four billion years? What’s the difference, Gabriel?

Gabriel: That’s easy for you to say, sir; you’re not in a hurry. But to their finite little minds, it’s an eternity.

Landlord: How do the scientists think life began?

Gabriel: The scientists say it could have started when some free- floating chemicals, perhaps in a tide pool, were zapped by a bolt of lightning.

Landlord: Ah! That sounds like me.

Gabriel: This created microscopic one-celled life-forms, which soon evolved into a thimbleful of green slime. Really, sir, why would you create green slime? It sounds sacrilegious.

Landlord: If it’s my green slime, it’s divine green slime.

Gabriel: Yes, sir. Anyway, you apparently told the green slime to go forth and multiply.

Landlord: “Go forth and multiply, green slime!” I like the ring to that.

Gabriel: Well, it certainly did multiply. According to the scientists, it multiplied into paramecia and sea worms and oysters and fish and great whales.

Landlord: How wonderful!

Gabriel: And at long last, the scientists say, the fish crawled up on the land to become the fowl of the air and the beasts of the field.

Landlord: How dramatic!

Gabriel: Finally the beasts stood erect as hairy, apelike creatures who …

Landlord: (thoughtfully) Perhaps I should have stopped there.

Gabriel: … in the end became man.

Landlord: What a lovely, lovely story, Gabriel. When I think of all the fish of the sea, the beasts of the land, the fowl of the air in all their shapes so singular and strange, in all their myriad colors, dappled and striped and iridescent, swimming and slithering and soaring … All this emerging from a thimbleful of green slime! I … What was that argument about again, Gabriel?

Gabriel: Basically, sir, it’s over whether children in school should be taught to believe in cold, scientific facts or you—ordained miracles.

Landlord: I know that, Gabriel (frowning), but what’s the difference?

Hoppe’s column was a brilliant allegory, which arrived at a perfect time. He not only used satire to illuminate the absurdity of the debate, but his “Landlord” aligned with Muir’s philosophy. I firmly believe that the column should be shared with every high school and university biology student.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

From John Muir To Social Injustice

Posted on December 3, 2017 Leave a Comment

In 1976, naturalist T. H. Watkins published, John Muir’s America. He must have felt that he knew Muir’s soul so well that he composed three imaginary conversations with the venerable old mountain man. The first dialogue began on the veranda of Muir’s home in Martinez, Ca. The two men discussed many ecological topics as they wandered up to Muir’s “scribble den.” After discussing some of his inventions, Muir rocked back in his chair and closed his eyes until Watkins innocently wandered into the controversial role that Thomas Huxley played in popularizing Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

“The old man exploded out of his silence, thrusted forward in his chair and slapped the flat of his palm on the desk top.”

‘Huxley—that bloodless coof! That fool! He and his kind took the work of Darwin and twisted it to fit their vision of the world. And damme, what a cold and heartless world they would have had it be. They called it survival of the fittest, but no matter what they might have called it, was a damnable theory, a dark and chilly reasoning that chance and competition accounted for all things. Oh it was a useful theory—that I canna deny. It justified all manner of cruelty just as my father’s piety excused all manner of cruelty to his children. Should a man be inspired to destroy his best friend in the marketplace, why, he could shrug it off as the natural consequence of living in the great soulless machine of the cosmos. But it was a damnable theory because it ignored the one real truth of the world, the truth that lives in every rock, flower, leaf, tree and animal—including man: it was all created by a loving God, and His love covers all the earth as the sky covers it, and fills it in every pore.’

Forty years later, Watkins’ words have become a fulfilled prophecy. On July 1, 2015, an undocumented immigrant discharged an illegally obtained handgun that resulted in the death of a young woman who was out for a walk in San Francisco. The trial was recently concluded with the jury rendering a verdict of not guilty.

Contrary to all the blather from media pundits, politicians and lawyers, the jury’s acquittal of the alleged criminal had less to do with ethnicity, immigration status or birth-origin, and more to do with socio-cultural, regressive de-evolution in an increasingly soulless society.

The positive proof of this emerged from the fact that in spite of the perpetrator admitting (KGO TV interview) that he pulled the trigger of the lethal weapon, the jury agreed with a scenario that the defense team presented as they “twisted it to fit their vision of the world.”

Tragically, events like these are going to become more common. In the name of “political correctness,” our public el-hi schools, colleges and universities are systematically sanitizing curricula, removing all references to spirituality. This will doubtlessly produce generations of morally bankrupt adults who are proponents of the Godless religion known as “situational ethics.”

Some of the fruits from this evil tree were recently borne for all to see in the San Francisco courthouse.

Of all the countless millions of words generated by this tragedy, two lines stand out. The day after the verdict was announced, the headline of a SF Chronicle editorial:

“Justice was not served.”

And one of the jurors anonymously commented; “I need to spend some time collecting my thoughts.”

Indeed, don’t we all?

In his classic book, Religions, Values and Peak Experiences, psychologist Abraham Maslow expressed concern for an increasingly spiritless US society. He suggested that the subject of “human spirituality” could be added to a suitably enlarged biology curriculum without breaching the wall that separates Church and State.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

“One Day’s Exposure To Mountains Is Better Than A Cartload Of Books.” John Muir

Posted on September 18, 2017 Leave a Comment

Excerpt: Biodesign Out For A Walk.

“He’s freakin’ nuts if he thinks I am going to sleep up there!” Although I think the student who muttered these words was half kidding, I was in good company. 130 years ago, John Muir was often regarded as a tramp, bum, social misfit and perhaps most demeaning, “a ne’er-do-well:” an idle, worthless person; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit, good-for-nothing.

During the formative years of the Biodesign program, I had some parents, colleagues and administrators who leaned in that direction. They were skeptical about taking students away from the educationally sacred ground of the St. Helena High School campus.

However, I was blessed to have had a university grad-school biology professor who took me to Yosemite. He kindled a dream that if there were ever a way to take my biology students to Yosemite, I would do it. The dream not only came true, but also exceeded my wildest expectations. Eventually, our annual Yosemite trip grew to 6 days, we added a 6-day trip to the Grand Canyon and a 5-day trip to the Mendocino Coast; totaling a whopping 17 days away from school.

As we immersed ourselves in the mountains, and Muir’s writing, we discovered that what he was preaching about was absolutely true.

“One day’s exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books.”

Muir nearly died, perhaps a dozen times, as he tried to get as close as he could to the heart of Nature. Although we did not intentionally plan to follow him that closely, sleeping on top of Half Dome always provided some thrilling adventures. Like many of Muir’s treks, this was not commonly done or, apart from very few avid rock climbers, even considered possible. Considering the world population, the odds for sleeping on top were about 1:14,000,000, which are higher odds than being struck by lightning.

Amazingly, I got to sleep up there with 19 classes. I led smaller groups up there 6 more times for a total of 25 trips to the top. Each time I arrived I communed with John Muir’s spirit and fully appreciated what he meant when he said, “finally, I was back in church again.”

It is little wonder that I feel supremely blessed. Also, it does not surprise me if some of the readers of Biodesign Out For A Walk think I am “freakin’ nuts.” ;o)

Yosemite NP banned camping on top of Half Dome about 20 years ago and so many of those students and chaperones, who got to sleep on top, hold precious memories of events that are no longer possible.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Dewitt Jones: “The Banquet Is Laid Though Nobody Comes.”

Posted on May 24, 2017 Leave a Comment

Although, as a little boy, I attended Sunday school at the little white church in Oakville, Ca., my spiritual search was low-key at best until I was 31 and Lettie asked her fateful question:

“Is memorizing all the parts of a fetal pig really important?”

(Biodesign Out For A Walk, chap. 1. “Genesis: Lettie’s Question.”)

She launched me on a journey that I have been on for over 45 years. This journey has taken me to thousands of wondrous physical, mental and spiritual places and exposed me to some of the greatest naturalists the world has known. One of those people was John Muir, who not only led me to Yosemite, but, coincidentally to the dawning of my spiritual awareness.

However, as a traditional biology teacher, I was intrigued, even a bit conflicted to learn that he kept a copy of The New Testament (plus the Psalms) with him on all of his meanderings. Although I never became a Biblical scholar, there were some puzzling passages that I reencountered over the years. Retrospectively, however, this should not have been surprising. During his trial for suspected heresy, the great scientist Galileo informed his accusers that the Bible contained many metaphors and parables that were often difficult for people to comprehend.

For me, one of those passages was:

The banquet is laid though nobody comes.

Somehow, the seven words were seven fragments that held little meaning.

Evidently, not unlike Dianna (Biodesign Out For A Walk chap. 28, Amazing Faith) I lacked the spiritual awareness of what the phrase meant.

And then recently an amazing synchronicity occurred. A Fb friend was struggling with the woes of modern society and I wanted to cheer her up. She is a Nature lover and so I Googled: Photos: Celebrating the joys of Nature.

The attached YouTube video, by Dewitt Jones, popped up and not only explained the cryptic Bible passage to my often-balky left-brain, but presented another wonderful mystery.

I thought his name was familiar, but I could not recall why. Finally, it dawned on me that I had met him on Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Meadow, 39 years ago. Well, his body wasn’t there, but his spirit was in a book, John Muir’s America, which he coauthored with T.H. Watkins. Watkins did a superb job with the text and Jones added spectacular photos. The book became one of the cornerstones of the Biodesign Class.

However, the intriguing part is that I may not have ever discovered it were it not for the loving members of Biodesign ’79. They purchased the book and presented it to me on the meadow as a birthday/thank you gift. And now, 39 years later, through a miracle of “I-T,” Jones reentered my life and completed the magnificent circle that he helped initiate.

I used to suggest to students that Biodesign was like a wonderful smorgasbord of concepts and ideas. I also assured them that, although some of the ideas may involve human spirituality, I was a biology teacher and not a guru; ergo they were free to agree with or disagree with all physical, mental or spiritual topics. I did caution them that some of the ideas (even John Muir’s) could be challenging, even provocative.

Then along came Dewitt Jones, citing the Bible, suggesting that, for all those many years, we were actually at a spiritual BANQUET and not merely a smorgasbord. The suddenly illuminated passage became perfectly clear.

The countless visual images and emotion-filled moments offered at Yosemite, Grand Canyon and the Mendocino Coast, provided a spiritual banquet which offered food for our souls, far more nourishing than the finest caviar, escargot and champagne. With food like this, it is little wonder that Muir was content to throw a couple pounds of dried bread balls (and some tea bags) into a pillowcase, grab a single wool blanket and vanish into his beloved mountain-wilderness for a month.

I have remained in contact with a few members of Bio ’79. One of them is Lori Evensen, who could not have known that she would be partially responsible for this blog. 39 years ago, all of the students signed the Jones/Watkins book and she signed it:

“Mr. Young,

I hope your birthday will be as beautiful as Yosemite. (Be sure to read pg. 57, a great description of life). Thank you for being you.

Love, Lori.”

John Muir’s America: Page 57:

“No pain here, no dull empty hours, no fear of the past, no fear of the future. Drinking this champagne water is pure pleasure, so is breathing the living air…”

A virtual banquet indeed!

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Half Dome: Half Way To Heaven?

Posted on February 21, 2017 1 Comment

“What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above.” – Renee Daumal

EVERY HUMAN BEING should be fortunate enough to sleep at least one night on top of a mountain, under a starry blanket. John Muir exhorted his followers, “go to the mountains and get their good tidings.” He minced no words describing the potential power of mountaintop experiences to be transcendental, perhaps connecting hikers with heaven. Loren Eiseley noted that, although adventures like these may or may not connect hikers to God, they often result in hikers having a vision or seeing a marvel. Although results cannot be predicted, the limitless possibilities range from subtle to profound to sublime.

There are 1000s of mountaintops, tors, buttes and mesas in the US where a high school biology class could camp out for a night. However, few (if any) can compare with Yosemite’s iconic Half Dome. Twenty-four Biodesign Classes eagerly accepted John Muir’s challenge to climb Half Dome, perhaps in search of a “born again” experience.

In the 1970s, our idea of challenging students to stretch their physical, mental and spiritual wings closely paralleled the goals of the highly successful wilderness program called, “Outward Bound.”

Although each new class had seen countless images and heard numerous stories about the world-famous Half Dome, nothing could prepare them for the view they saw when they arrived at Glacier Point. The view was so extraordinary that it often rendered students speechless. On one trip, while looking up at Half Dome, a male student exclaimed to a classmate, “He’s freakin’ nuts if he thinks I am going to sleep up there!”

Although 20 Biodesign classes made it to the top of Half Dome, only 16 were fortunate enough to sleep overnight (before the practice was banned by YNPS).

I have to admit that, before each of those 16 trips, I questioned my own mental stability.

Those fortunate enough to succeed were offered an extraordinary spectacle that most will never see again. Typically, the Big Dipper loomed above to the north with Merak and Dubhe lined up pointing to Polaris (the north star). Those having trouble sleeping could watch the handle of the giant dipper slowly tick off the changing hours of the night.

Of course, each trip was unique and depended on countless variables. However, when the stars aligned favorably we were able to sit in a circle, read some passages from Muir and share what we were seeing, thinking and feeling. During these events, my role as leader shifted to the role as observer. I often marveled at the innate wisdom that the students exhibited.

On one particular occasion, the level of communication and spiritual camaraderie rose to such a height that it felt surreal. We were snuggled in a tightly bonded circle. The autumn air was chilly and the stars were so brilliant they appeared to be close enough for us to reach out and pick a basket of them.

And then suddenly “it” happened. As students shared their deepest reflections, without warning, they were presented with the dilemma of wondering whether the whole class mysteriously levitated upward toward heaven or if heaven mysteriously descended down to engulf them. The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the term, “mandorla,” (almond shaped design) to depict sacred moments which transcend time and space, including the overlap between heaven and Earth. I am not a religious scholar, but this experience seemed to match the Greek concept.

The next morning during breakfast, it was clear to me that the students had changed. The countenance of many of the girls was subtly radiant, not unlike da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The mood of the guys was unusually quiet, more contemplative; some looked a little spooked. I didn’t comment, but imagined some of their private conversations included questions like: “What the heck happened during our circle last night?”

They were in good company. Muir cautioned us that there were no Earthly words that could adequately describe spiritual events.

The students were not the only ones with a beguiling mystery. I too pondered over the event. It was only after returning home that it occurred to me that, aside from my wedding day and assisting with our youngest child’s birth, my star-struck experience on Half Dome was the most intense spiritual awakening in my life.

So, Muir came down from Yosemite’s mountains with, “Thoughts and deeds that moved the world.” Each year, our students came down from Half Dome having seen wonders, marvels, even little miracles or perhaps being gifted with a glimpse into heaven.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Happy Valentine’s Day from John Denver

Posted on February 13, 2017 1 Comment

Lori Evans Pugh (Biodesign ’79) shared this rare video of a John Denver song that I had never seen before. Not surprisingly, it conjured up a cornucopia of latent images and memories.

The Gift You Are – John Denver 1991

It is not an over-reach to describe Denver as a modern-day, wandering minstrel who was an incarnation of the spirit of John Muir. Muir came down from the mountains like a bearded prophet, preaching about the healing, inspiring, and transforming powers of God’s creation.

Denver came down from the mountains, like a whirling dervish, and wrote over 300 songs celebrating his love of Nature. His overflowing exuberance for life was contagious, on TV, but especially during his hundreds of live performances. Not shy about sharing his beliefs and feelings, his songs included many poignant thoughts and precious “poems, prayers and promises.”

In a wonderful, double synchronicity; John Muir and John Denver became huge influences in the emergence and evolution of The Biodesign Class. Muir became our guide into the wilderness (and converse inner journey) and Denver encouraged us to celebrate the music of life.

Denver’s songs have “gone viral” throughout the world; crossing seven seas and reaching all seven continents. His music has been translated into over 200 languages and been shared in some of the world’s most remote areas and beyond.

Some of his songs have been played on various space stations, scientific research centers on Antarctica, Inuit villages, Mongolia, Australia’s “Out Back,” across Africa and the vast Patagonian wilderness.

Some musicologists have suggested that the song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, which he tri-authored with Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert may have exceeded the status of the hymn, “Amazing Grace,” as the song that the most people in the world have listened to. For a multitude of stunningly mysterious reasons, the melody and lyrics have combined to transcend race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, economic and political barriers.

Denver did not align himself with a formalized religion, however, his songs often evoked a universal appeal of faith hope and love of man and Nature. Like Muir, he saw the mountains as metaphors for reaching higher and striving to lead purer, simpler lives. It seems to me that, whether he knew it or not, by reflecting his musical interpretation of Nature, he was encouraging people to approach the possibility that they were created by an amazingly mysterious power, even if they were unable to describe it. This would surely qualify people as extraordinary gifts to those around them.

Valentine’s Day is a day for lovers to proclaim their love for those whom they love. I think Denver’s song, “The Gift You Are”, is a perfect Valentine gift and I encourage you to share with your family and friends.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

Heaven and Earth

Posted on November 16, 2016 Leave a Comment

“I used to envy the father of our race, dwelling as he did in contact with the new-made fields and plants of Eden; but I so no more, because I have discovered that I also live in ‘creation’s dawn.’ The morning stars still sing together, and the world, not yet half made, becomes more beautiful every day.” John Muir

Like so many of Muir’s power-packed-paragraphs, there is a cartload of wisdom in this one. In two simple declarative sentences, he is acknowledging, thanking and communing with God. Furthermore, he is tacitly suggesting that the words “evolution” and “creation” are one and the same.

Darwin’s, “The Origin of Species,” was published in 1859. Muir was 21, but after 50 years of researching his works, I have not found one reference to Darwin. I suspect that he would have regarded the so-called “great debate” of Creation vs. the theory of evolution a superfluous waste of time.

I find it intriguing that often, when John Muir lovers discover that he carried a pocket version of “The New Testament and Psalms” with him on his excursions, they become vexed, even defiant. I suspect, that in an effort to conform to “political correctness,” even USPS “interpretive naturalists” religiously ignore Muir’s depth of Christian spirituality (pun intended). Perhaps they do not know (or care) that, as a mechanical engineer, Muir regarded Yosemite as nothing less than one of God’s most “glorious” creations.

Unlike me ;o), Muir knew all of the Psalms by heart and I cannot help but think that he was the superb embodiment of Psalm 8. I know of no other naturalist who approached this level of perfection and therefore it is not surprising that many consider him the world’s greatest naturalist.

To that point, watching the ecological destruction of Planet Earth, if Muir were alive today, I am not so sure he would still think:

“The morning stars still sing together, and the world, not yet half made, becomes more beautiful every day.”

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

“Let The Children Walk With Nature” John Muir

Posted on October 24, 2016 Leave a Comment

For the last few years of leading the Biodesign Class, I had a longing to participate on a trip, but not be the leader. I fancied that I would enjoy being the camp-cook and dish washer, as long as I could observe the young adults interacting with the wilderness. It never happened! However, 20 years after I retired, I was gifted with an experience that would parallel my past activities.

Our oldest daughter Maureen, teaches 3^rd grade at Mark West elementary school in Santa Rosa, Ca. Adopting John Muir’s theme, “going out for a walk is really going in,” she organized a study unit on the redwood forest and planned a field trip to nearby Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve. The students were required to prepare for the trip by becoming familiar with the plants, animals and environmental factors; basically, they were becoming junior ecologists. Furthermore, she included discussions designed to encourage her students to get as close as they could to the heart of Nature.

Christie and I gladly walked at the end of the line of hikers and I was only asked to clarify a few details. It was a pure joy for us to watch her interact with 23 budding biologist/thinkers. As Pierre Lecomte du Noüy described in, “Human Destiny:”

“The quality of a child’s memory is surprising and is rapidly lost. The coordinating power between his ears and organs of speech is prodigious and rarely lasts beyond the age of ten.”

We watched them stand in awe as they unsuccessfully tried to see the top of the “Parson Jones” redwood tree that towers over 300 feet tall. It had a huge poison oak vine, with a 4-inch-wide stem, climbing up its bark. We saw them exult over a bright yellow banana slug, inching along a stump, just at their eye level. They saw mushroom caps and understood that they were recycling organic nutrients into the thick humus. California bay trees, sword ferns, tanbark oaks and wood sorrel were spotted. Two very young deer caused them to stop reverently on the trail and silently try not to disturb them.

Maureen and I showed them how to use an isosceles triangle to calculate the height of a tree. It was a stretch for 3^rd graders, but several hands shot up and students shouted, “I get it!” Archimedes would have been proud. They marveled when they formed a circle with a 25-ft. diameter, to see how wide some of the virgin trees were.

They talked about how John Muir was one of the first men to call for a halt to cutting down redwood trees and began to understand the battle over money vs. saving the trees. The fact that one giant redwood tree could provide enough lumber to build five homes was astonishing to them and they were grateful that without Muir’s vision, the park they were enjoying might have been destroyed.

The 3.5 hours flew by too quickly and for me, concluded with two miraculous events. In preparation for departing, I walked 100 yards to use the restroom. I thought I saw a familiar face approaching from the other side. As it happened, we arrived at the door at the same moment. We both froze and he looked like he had seen a ghost. After a silent pause, I said, “So,” and mysteriously paused. He smiled knowingly and completed my pending question, “Yeah, what are the odds that we are here at this precise moment?” It was an often-discussed theme of Biodesign. His name is Brandon Amyot and he was in the Biodesign Class 20 years earlier. He continued, “I live in Chicago now, but my wife and I are out to attend a wedding. I just mentioned to her that we should post a “selfie” of us on your Facebook page, wondering if you had been here before.” We laughed, hugged and said our good-byes.

He doesn’t know it, but I have come to think there are zero odds for moments like ours. They are humanly impossible to create or comprehend and I suspect that the reason that he paled was his realization that we were experiencing a sacred moment of supreme perfection.

The final miracle occurred at the “Redwood Forest Theater.” Christie and I had gone ahead to carry two guitars. On the way, we met an older gentleman who asked if we were going to perform. We laughed and said that a group of 3^rd graders were coming to sing some camp songs. He asked if he could attend.

As the students approached the clearing, their eyes widened and their happy chatter yielded to whispers of “wow” and “cool.” Maureen prepared them for possible moments like these and they could not have been more reverential if they were entering a cathedral; perhaps they were. She and I got out our guitars and led them in songs that they had learned in the classroom. However, this time, their voices sounded like a choir of heavenly angels as love and joy radiated out of every precious face. They inspired me to adapt a phrase from Loren Eiseley:

They sang because life is sweet and the sunlight streaming through the redwoods into a natural temple filled them with unspeakable joy of being alive.

If John Muir had been there, I am certain that his heart would have overflowed with joy by the inner and outer discoveries the 8-year-olds had made. He was keenly aware that no words (including his own) could help a single soul to know these woods. “You must go there,” he preached and understandably wrote:

“See how willingly Nature poses herself upon photographer’s plates. No earthly chemicals are so sensitive as those of the human soul. All that is required is exposure, and purity of material.”

As we left the theater, the old man approached us with tears in his eyes and mentioned that he had never heard more beautiful music.

There is no diagnostic tool to measure what Maureen’s students learned on their walk into Armstrong Redwoods. However, if Muir was correct, she exposed them to “purity of material” and the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feels of the redwood forest were imprinted on their little souls and “Parson Jones,” offered them a silent sermon that they will not likely ever forget.

“Let the children walk with Nature,” indeed!

Brava! Maureen, Brava!

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

John Muir’s High Altar

Posted on October 3, 2016 1 Comment

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Many of the older Scots claim that they can communicate spiritually with deceased family members and friends by a process they call “kything.” If this is so, I am guessing that John Muir recently did the Scottish version of the “dance of joy” in his heavenly habitation (“God And The Angels Be True”).

Muir believed that Yosemite’s Half Dome was a high altar, appropriately situated at the east end of what he regarded as a natural cathedral, seven miles long by one mile wide. Altars are natural or man-made shrines that have been consecrated by the hearts of men for the purpose of religious or spiritual ceremonies or events. Muir expressed deep concern that many have forfeited their God-given gift of spiritual celebrations at these altars. Although regular church attendance in the US may be declining, for those who make the 5,000 ft. climb up to the top of Half Dome, it is not uncommon for them to triumphantly raise their arms.

With this being so, Mark Salvestrin recently committed a personal rite of sanctification by simply raising his hands (and a book) to the heavens. The book was inspired by John Muir and written by over 700 very curious and very courageous high school students. In the letter previously posted he wrote:

“Some of the concepts we learned and the ideas we shared took shape as threads that would be intricately woven into the fabric of my life.”

Following John Muir (and a plethora of mentors) Mark has immersed himself in Nature, evinced by the recent pilgrimage that he and his wife made to the top of Half Dome. Two weeks later, they doubled up with a hike to the top of El Capitan. The views from “El Cap” are as impressive as those from Half Dome and can be reached without experiencing “Disney Land” throngs of people crowding the trails.

My best guess is that Mark chaperoned at least 10 Biodesign trips. He will deny it but, in a splendid irony, the book he is offering to the cosmos would not have been possible without his loving support and guidance.

Furthermore, what he did not mention was that he, and over 700 other students, added threads that were woven into the fabric of the author’s life. Soul building was part of what we were about, along with accepting Muir’s challenge to get as close to the heart of Nature as we could.

The photo of Mark holding up a summary of 24 years of wilderness adventures gave me goose bumps. None of the adventures would likely have happened without a very perceptive girl asking a simple yet profound question. As Muir feared, I could have missed over 30 celebrations at his High Altar and spent my career dissecting fetal pigs.

It is my sincere wish that some of the lessons that Mark and I and hundreds of others experienced on our wilderness excursions, will be shared to lift the spirits and gladden the hearts of readers.

Thanks, Mark.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com

SHERPA GUIDES AT YOSEMITE?

Posted on September 11, 2016 1 Comment

After Biodesign students explored Yosemite, Grand Canyon and the Mendocino coast, it was not uncommon for them to vow publicly (or privately) to return to one of the areas when they became adults. I have no record of how many achieved that goal, but I do know of one ex-student who has climbed Half Dome 8 times.

Therefore, I was not surprised when an ex-Biodesigner mentioned that he was joining a group that was going to retrace the hike that his class took over 20 years earlier.

His class rode a bus from Yosemite Valley to Glacier Point and as the bus approached Washburn Point, Half Dome loomed into view. I have seen that view approximately 40 times and each time it has left me breathless. The student responses were predictably gasps, oohs and aahs, however, on one occasion a student blurted out, “He’s freaking crazy if he thinks I am going to sleep up there!”

An orientation discussion included the major landmarks; Muir’s description that glaciation was the primary force that created Yosemite Valley and the current theory that Half Dome did not have another half, but was an atypically formed “pluton.”

After allowing time to absorb the sublime beauty, the group headed south, 1.4 miles to Illilouette Fall. Turning left at the waterfall, they ascended the Panorama Trail to Panorama Ridge.

[I agree with many veteran Yosemite hikers who regard the Panorama Trail as the most dramatic, and thus inspirational, trail in the entire Park. The trail is mostly level and the easier walk provides the opportunity to better appreciate the stunning new perspectives that appear around every bend.]

After approximately 2 miles the trail descended steeply downhill and joined the John Muir Trail, which originates in Yosemite Valley. A short walk to the top of Nevada Fall provided a great place to remove backpacks, relax and eat lunch. After a leisurely lunch, the students donned their backpacks and trudged 1.8 miles to their first trail campsite in Little Yosemite Valley.

The next morning, after breakfast and a briefing of the day’s activities, backpacks were hoisted and they began the challenging, 4-mile-hike up 2700 ft. to the top of the 8800 ft. Half Dome.

[A very dramatic narrative of climbing Half Dome can be found in, “Biodesign Out For A Walk,” chapter 6, “Cindy.”]

After sleeping on Half Dome, the group made the 10-mile descent back to their basecamp at Yosemite Valley.

After the ex-student returned, I contacted him with a request to hear about his adventure. He gladly obliged and filled me with wonderful stories and images. His group left their backpacks at Little Yosemite Valley and they hiked up Half Dome in time for a gorgeous sunset.

“It was a hard hike,” he said, “I don’t k now how our whole class made it with backpacks on.”

However, when I casually asked him how they handled the trail meals, he looked a bit sheepish and said, “Our guides took care of all of that.” I was not aware of such services, but quickly connected the dots and blurted out, “I HATE YOU!” Of course he knew that I was kidding and we shared a hearty laugh.

He obviously had not forgotten that a major chore for the Biodesign trips to Yosemite was preparing trail meals for a group of 30. Rather than packing 15 small backpack stoves, we took three MSR Rapidfire stoves. Each one sounded like a small jet airplane, but could get six quarts of water boiling in about 10 mins. We carried 3, 6-qt. pots and each pot provided enough hot water for 10 hikers.

He continued, “Only some of us had some equipment and rather than spend a lot of money on equipment that we would probably never use again, we hired two guides. They supplied all the equipment, cooked all meals on the trail and filtered all the water we needed.”

When I shared this with Christie, not unkindly, she burst out laughing and said, “I didn’t know that Yosemite had “Sherpa Guides!” LOL

My curiosity was piqued and so I went on-line to research “Yosemite Sherpa Services” (just kidding) and found a plethora of options available. The guide service that I Googled charged $900/per person for a three-day backpack trip similar to the one we took. At first, I was a bit shocked, but quickly recovered and concluded that the price was reasonable for what most participants would call, “a-once-in-a-lifetime-experience.” The $300/per day for guide, food and equipment seemed like a bargain compared to the $450/per night for a room at the Ahwahnee Hotel. Furthermore, it pleased me that our 6-day Yosemite trip cost our students $50. (with confidential scholarships readily available.) When I apologized to parents about the cost, they frequently dismissed my concerns and said their kids cost them more than that when they were at home. ;o)

John Muir hiked mostly alone at Yosemite and was happy with a single wool blanket and pillowcase with some dried bread balls and some tea. However, I truly believe that he would both approve and marvel at the evolution of the latest backpacking equipment and trail techniques, including professional guides. After all, he himself guided many Yosemite visitors, including President Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt was so impressed with Muir’s wilderness that, after returning to Washington D.C., he ordered 230 million acres to be protected and formed the foundation for the US National Park Service and the US Forest Service.

Sherpas in Yosemite? Why not?

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

young.lowell@gmail.com