I picked lemons from the lemon trees on John Muir’s property in Martinez, California. Muir was an astute businessman who took over his father-in-law’s fruit business when he married into the family at 43 years old. In five years, Muir earned enough to support the family for the rest of his lifetime.
The property is open for visits and one can wander around the orchard and pick a few pieces of fruit. Inside Muir’s house is the desk where he wrote many of his books. I sat at this very desk and began my drawing of his house!
Wandering around Muir’s grounds and sitting at his desk, I felt a connection to his spirit. This is a man who died in 1914 and yet his words resonate strongly with us today. Even though we are intimately familiar with Muir’s writing, it is curious that he found the writing process extremely laborious. He would often edit and rewrite words, sentences and phrases. In 1872, Muir wrote, “No amount of word-making will ever make a single soul to ‘know’ these mountains. One day’s exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books.”
John Muir helped to found the Sierra Club in 1892. He campaigned for several new national parks and is often referred to as the father of our national park system. Muir asked, “Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation?” He believed in one community made up of equal companions.
Muir was able to maneuver and transcend both the business world and the natural world, but his heart remained wild. Muir felt that the orchard and his house were “a good place to be housed in during stormy weather, …to write in, and to raise children in, but it is not my home. Up there,” pointing toward the Sierra Nevada, “is my home.”
“Up there” is where we can “climb the mountains and get their good tidings.”
Leslie Rego is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, artist and Blaine County resident. To view more of Rego’s art, visit leslierego.com.