The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1922-08-21
DAILY THOUGHTS
By r. l.. H.
A Day in the Woods

A day spent in the great outdoor
is indeed a day well spent. The ope
spaces of nature bring to one peact
q%uietude, and rest, refreshing, invig
Grating and inspiring as no othe
thing in life al
lust why the great mountains hav
such an attraction for the individual
is hard to determine. 1t may be tina
one has a tendency to go back to tn,
scenes Of countless millions Of year,
ago in the evolution of man when hi
was a mountain animal, or it may b,
that the best and most delightful mo,
ments of life come when or
the mountain peaks where one car
look back and view the way he has
come.
A day spent away from the scene
of daily activities is memorable II
that day be spent in the woods. Man
is essentially natural in his makeup
and inclinations and the voice Of ma
lure speaks to him where the arti-
ficiality of the world is dropped inso-
far as possible.
Mankind originally belonged to The
great outdoors. Perhaps it's is the
unconscious call of this former state
of being that prompts the individual
to seek respite and rejuvnation in
the mountains.
Maybe man derives his boundless
pleasures of the outdoors by climb
ing over the mountains where he can
turn and look back over the vistas
he has traversed to reach those maun-
tains. Such IN atmosphere awakens
in one a spirit of retrospection that
1riy,o haforn tho ou0c tho no pnro ~ a
of yesterday and the mileposts of
.endeavors, strivings, mistakes and ac-
complishments that mark the path of
every life.
1t may be that something even more
subtle and e%nthralling in is grip upon
human being takes possession "
the individual who seeks the open
spaces for rest and recreation. 1t
is a delicate but powerful psycholog-
ciaI action upon the individual that
unknown as it may be is one
Of the most powerful influences in
life.
A day in the outdoors is an event
Of great value to the individual be-
cause it casts a weird spirit Of rest
UPON lin that soothes his nerves and
lakes away the dull cares of the wori1.
1NO AlotLCl CIV Il wi VI
the week may have been, no matter
now much OF the discord of struggle
md strife may have ent the very
soul of one, a day in the great out
loors soothes the tired spirit and
brings all elements of ones being into
/ perfect harmony of ease and rest.
The very quietude Of the mountains
S refreshing and ~invigoratiug. The
pines, the whispering leaves
the happy babbling brooks fill
ne with a deep satisfaction and COM
'ort. The sonambulant voices of the
woodland Iull to sleep the echoes Of
lull care and implant within the heart
lew joys and new hopes, such as make
he morrow a thing Of b,essendness
nd not a curse.
Though all the things Of the out
loors fill the secret places Of the be-
ng with peace and quietude and rest,
here is nevertheless something about
atmosphere hat animates and en-
the most sordid heart. The at
losphere bespeaks invigoratiol ami
efreshment and the quality is con-
agious in the extreme.
No one can listen to the voicing of
forest and not feel a iebirth OF
and an infusion Of energy in
is veins. There may be all the
and tokens Of peace, yet rhe
reenness of the grass and foliage,
lie bigness Of the trees and the pro-
,undness of the ~all-pervading atmos-
here, all speak OF a gigantic force
nature that is a constant rejuve-
alton of power and energy.
Though each fall the leaves. the
and the brush Of the forest
away, the forest remains through
me by virtue Of the great healing and
forces of nature that each
,ring sends forth new life from the
life that has passed away to
build the woodland and to increase
majesty OF the woods.
When that famous poet said: This
the forest prfmeval, the murmurlng
and the hemlock," he catalogued
a very few words the profound elo-
ence of the forest rea that speak
unimpeachable words a sermon
e ever made by man.
the outdoors has a great sermon
bring to every human heart ard
e individual who cannot rea that
rmon. in the gigantic pine, the flut-
ing leaves, in birds and squirrels,
the thousand things of beauty and
in the woods-if there
an Individual who does not get a
from such an environment, he
truly unfortunate.
rhe voice of nature and the powers
1t impe1l the world in it's manifold
atoms are all hidden in the heart
one tree, in the blade of grass, in
throat of the warbler who ronrs
tn his sou in song, in all there
The mystery of all time and all
is here fmbedded.
man who can gaze upon such
inspiring. scene and. not become
of his nearness to nature,