Word: muir
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...spring of 1872, the naturalist John Muir was asleep in a small cabin in the Yosemite Valley. "At half past two o'clock," he wrote later, "I was awakened by a tremendous earthquake . . . the strange thrilling motion could not be mistaken, and I ran out of my cabin, both glad and frightened, shouting, 'A noble earthquake! A noble earthquake!' feeling sure I was going to learn something...
...would be delightful to think that he actually uttered those words, looking for sermons in the shaking stones. In any case, Muir was alone in the moonlit mountains, and so he could indulge his charming 19th century awe. When the earth turned in its sleep, it crushed much landscape in the folds, but somehow the event could keep its innocence. When nature does something awful, after all, is it part of the electrical display of God the Father, or merely geography rearranging itself, obeying an impersonal agenda...
When the earth cracks open to dismantle a city, then metaphysical questions come boiling up. What would Muir learn? What does the cataclysm have to teach? That the earth retains its genius for the wild surprise? Or that some profound principle of disorder and annihilating wrath has been set loose in the world...
...case in most small and midsize American cities, combining them is technically easy. The swamp substitutes for some of the high-cost stages of sewage treatment. But take caution from weary Arcatans: skip the politics. The city's sewage saga sounds more like Gilbert and Sullivan than John Muir's diaries...
ALTHOUGH campaigns would prefer to sit on the upper part of the polling spectrum, the campaign of former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt has found some strategic advantages at the bottom. Mike Muir, Babbitt's campaign manager for New Hampshire, claims his candidate has gained "tremendous recognition" speaking his mind on controversial issues since he does not have to worry about his place in the polls (mainly, because he barely has one), while other candidates are restricted by the fear of jeopardizing their rank. "The governor's stand on the deficit has received more play simply because of the contrast offered...