Creator
John Muir
Recipient
Mrs. [Jeanne C.] Carr
Transcription
[4]colors giving still greater pledges of happy life to every living creature of the spring but a loud energetic snow- storm possessed every hour of yesterday. Every tree & broken weed bloomed yet once more, All summer distinctions were leveled off All plants & the very rocks & streams were equally poly- p[illegible]. - This morning winter had everything in the valley. The snow drifted about in the frosty wind like meal & the falls were muffled in thick cheeks of frozen spray. Thus do winter & Spring leap into the Valley by turns each remaining long enough to form a small season or climate of its own or going & coming squarel in a single day. Whitney says that the bottom has fallen out of the rocks here (which I most devoutly disbelieve) [(Well?] the bottom frequently falls out of these winter clouds & climates. It is seldom that any[in margin: long transition [slant?] exists between dark & bright days in this narrow world of rocks] 00504[1] Yosemite Apr 5th 70Dear Mrs Carr, I wish you were here today for our rocks are again decked with deep snow, Two days ago a big gray cloud collared barometer dome,-the vast booming column of the upper falls was swayed like a shred of loose mist by broken pieces of storm, that struck it suddenly, occasionally bending it backwards to the very top of the cliff, making it hang sometimes more than a minute like an [inverted bow?] edged with comets - A cloud upon the dome & these ever varying rockings & bendings of the falls are sure storm signs, but yesterday morning sky was clear, & the sun [hovered?] the usual quantity of[5] I know that you are enchanted with the April [illegible] of your new home. You enjoy the most precious kind of sunshine & by this time flower patches cover the hills about Oakland like colored clouds I would like to visit these broad outspread blotches of social flowers that are so characteristic of your hills but far rather would I see & feel the flowers that are now at fountain lake, & the lakes of Madison Mrs Hutchings thought of sending you a bulb of the Cal' lily by mail but found it too large -she wishes to be remembered to you. Your Squirrel is very happy. She is a rare creature I hope to see you & [illegible] soon in the [illegible] have a
[2]the balmiest spring sunshine into the blue other of our valley gulp[illegible]. But ere long ragged lumps of cloud began to appear all along the Valley rim, coming gradually into closer ranks, & rising higher like rock additions to the walls; From the top of them cloud- banks, fleecy fingers orchid out from both sides & met over the middle of the meadows, gradually thickening & blackening untill at night big confident snowflakes began to fall. We thought that the last [illegible] had been withered & reaped long ago by the glowing sun, for the blue- birds & whins sang spring, & so also did the bland unsteady winds, & the brown meadow opposite the house was spotted here & there with blue violets, Ca[illegible] spikes were shooting up through the dead leaves[3]& the cherry, & brier rose were unfolding their leaves; & besides these spring [note?] may a sweet mark & word that I cannot tell, but snow fell all the hours of today in cold winter earnest & [now?] at evening there rests upon rocks, trees, & weeds, as full & ripe a harvest of snow flowers as I ever beheld in the stormiest most opague days of mid winter Apr 13thAbout 12 inches of snow fell in that last snow storm. It dis- appeared as suddenly as it came snatched away hastily almost before it had time to melt, as if a mistake had been made in allowing it to come here at all A week of Spring days bright in every hour without a stain or thought of the storm came in glorious[6]great deal to say to you which I will not try to write Remember me most cordially to the Doctor & to Allie & all the boys, I am much obliged to you for those [botanical?] notes etc. & I am ever most cordially yours John MuirApril 5.1870.00504
Location
Yosemite
Date Original
1870 Apr 5, 13
Source
Original letter dimensions: 20 x 25 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to Mrs. [Jeanne C.] Carr, 1870 Apr 5, 13." (1870). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1332.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1332
Resource Identifier
muir02_0243-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 02, Image 0243
Collection Identifier
Online finding aid for the microform version of the John Muir Correspondence http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0w1031nc
Copyright Status
Copyrighted
Copyright Statement
The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission to publish or exhibit them, see http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections/Fees-and-Forms-.html
Owning Institution
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Copyright Holder
Muir-Hanna Trust
Copyright Date
1984
Pages
2 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
