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Show 192. ceaseless change and direction, coming and going, expansion and contraction - that continues forever. When we understand the central place this Tao of Geology takes in Muir's conception of the world, we begin to see that the illustrations he drew for the Studies, crude as they may seem, have one continuous theme; with their smooth rocks, wavelike granite pavements, and arrows showing the direction of glacial flow, they are continual reminders of the cycle of Nature. The snow itself, offspring of sun and sea, is only a crystallizing of one cycle of life, as the wheel of sun power meets the wave of granite. The paths of the glaciers, the paths Muir travelled, represented only the earthly arc of this cycle. Where the ocean of air, carrying moisture from the Pacific Ocean, meets the ocean of rock at the crest of the Sierra, there Muir found the meeting of heaven and earth. So too, there at the crest of the Sierra was a place - only one of many places - where he could begin to trace the way of Nature. He could stand at the top of Fairview Dome, right at the top of Tuolumne Divide, and watch where the flow had gone. One can also appreciate Muir's seeming preoccupation with glaciers better while standing at the top of Fairview Dome or Mount Ritter. Around him, the landscape itself seemed to flow: rock, water, and air. "The winds that sweep the jagged peaks assume magnificient proportions, and effect changes of considerable importance," he said. Invisible though they may be now, ancient glaciers have shown how much more powerful this flow could be. Slower than the winds, hidden in darkness, |
