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synchronisities

Ansel Adams-Horsetail Fall-Lori Evensen-Biodesign ‘79

Posted on March 13, 2017 Leave a Comment

Although I have never met Dr. Michael Adams, son of Ansel Adams, our spirits were recently engaged in a splendid synchronicity that began nearly 40 years ago. It involves a revolutionary advanced biology class that I was privileged to participate in at St. Helena High School in the Napa Valley. It was revolutionary because the students elected to eschew the traditional practice of memorizing all the parts of a fetal pig in exchange for exploring the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of Yosemite, Grand Canyon and the Mendocino Coastal area.

The class was dedicated to, “the illimitable freedom of the human mind.” Instead of pigs, we considered the great biological scholars, sages, poets, philosophers and artists, including world-famous photographer Ansel Adams. We kept two different coffee-table-format books of his photography in the biology classroom. The evolution of the class was the result of teacher-student collaboration as evinced by this blog.

The great biologist, Louis Pasteur, opined, “chance favors the prepared mind” and we spent much pre-trip time and effort preparing our minds. E. g, before the Yosemite trip, the students were expected to read, “The Wilderness World Of John Muir,” edited by Edwin Teale. Along with wonderful stories and ecological wisdom, the book includes an illuminating chapter on John Muir’s philosophy. Students were also required to select an appropriate topic for an expository essay.

The Class of 1979 included Lori Evensen, a very bright, very curious, highly talented artist. Not surprisingly, she chose Ansel Adams as the subject of her essay. At the end she credited Adams for inspiring her to continue her artwork. She also mentioned that it was now a dream of hers to meet him and perhaps attend one of his Yosemite photography workshops.

Her essay was so spirit-filled that I shared it with Mike Snowden, colleague, fellow-hiker and backpacker. As he read, he laughed out loud and exclaimed, “I know Ansel Adams! In fact, I have spent several weekends in his home and even helped him in his darkroom. My aunt Gerry (Sharpe) was his “Girl Friday” and served as his assistant for many years.”

He went on to say that his aunt and Mom (Jane Snowden) have several of Adams’ original prints, which are quite valuable. He also mentioned that Adams was very gregarious and would probably welcome a visit from an aspiring young photographer. I was astounded by the conversation, but doubted that it would yield any results. However, Mike called either his aunt or Adams and arranged a suitable time for a visit. Apparently, along with his willingness to share his artistic philosophy, he was planning to demonstrate some of his darkroom skills. A mutual friend of ours owned a small airplane and volunteered to fly Lori down to Carmel, Ca. for the day. All was in order. Sadly, however, a few weeks before the scheduled visit, Adams suffered a heart attack and all scheduled meetings had to be canceled.

Lori graduated and I taught for 20 more years until I retired. After several years of reflecting on the mystery, wonder (even small miracles) experienced during 63 trips into the wilderness, I decided to attempt to write a book and share a sample of the student discoveries.

Shortly after “Biodesign Out For A Walk” was released, we created a website to expand our reader base. A couple of years ago, I started writing blogs for the site. After a friend shared a photo of this year’s luminous reappearance of Yosemite’s mystical “Horsetail Fall,” I decided to write a blog about it. Of course, I had no foreknowledge that, while viewing a Youtube video on the extraordinary fall, Michael Adams would appear and complete this fantastic synchronicity.

I sent Lori a copy of that letter and assumed that the multifaceted synchronicity was complete. It was not! Recently, without knowing what I was thinking, she began sorting through a collection of her high school memorabilia. Much to her delight and surprise, she discovered a letter from Ansel Adams that she had totally forgotten. She was not alone. Even though the letter was addressed to me, I also had no memory of it.

Although the letter is intriguing, perhaps more importantly, it reveals the quintessence of Adams. He was facing a potentially life-threatening open-heart surgery, yet cared enough about a total stranger (high school student) to express his regrets and offer her hope for a possible post-surgery meeting. The meeting never happened, however, his spirit has become immortalized in both Lori and my hearts.

I sent a modified version of this story to Dr. Adams, expressing my deep appreciation and gratitude for the inspiration his father provided for our students and me.

Lowell H. Young
Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk

[email protected]

Posted in: Reflections | Tagged: Ansel Adams, Biodesign class, Horsetail Falls, John Muir, Lori Evensen, spirituality, synchronisities, Yosemite

God Moves In a Mysterious Way

Posted on May 19, 2014 Leave a Comment

Sharka and Mark

 

 

 

God Moves In a Mysterious Way

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”Albert Schweitzer

Readers who have read, “Amazing Faith,” in Biodesign Out For A Walk, might recall the story of John Newton, nearly drowning in a fierce storm off the Irish Coast. He survived the ordeal, eventually became a priest and wrote the lyrics for the hymn, “Amazing Grace.” He was the vicar of a small English church that William Cowper attended. Cowper suffered from manic depression (currently called Bipolar Syndrome) at a time when little medical help was available. One night, in a desperate state of depression, he tried to commit suicide, not once, but three times. He tried to hang himself and the rope broke. He tried to shoot himself and the gun misfired. He hired a hansom to take him to the Thames River to drown himself and the driver got lost in the fog.

Either in a state of frustration or exultation, he wrote the following famous poem.

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sov’reign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

…”deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

A little over a year ago, a publicist that I was working with asked me to gather some videos to use on our website. One thing led to another and some of the videos got lost in the shuffle. Prior to that, Sharka and Mark Waite (NatureIsUs) joined our little band of happy hikers.

Last week, we were having website issues and Sharka offered to do some site revamping.

Working with Don McCauley (The Authors Show) they modified the book cover and created a new home page. On the website, “The Book” category, Sharka included the video that she and Mark had done earlier, along with the video Andrew Murdock recorded. She recovered the “lost video” that Jeff Cook recorded as well as one our daughter Nicole did of her father/author, posted on “The Author” page…

The video Jeff Cook did is beautifully and thoughtfully done. I would have felt better if John Muir’s name had been substituted for mine because it truly was Muir who rekindled hundreds of flames within me.

God moves in a mysterious way indeed.

Posted in: Reflections | Tagged: Amazing Grace, God moves in a mysterious way, gratitude, inner light, John Newton, synchronisities

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