Skein Lane – IN THE LOOP

Well….we did knit for a bit. Tonight was scattered…many of us were traveling or had other commitments. One of us, Marsha, had a commitment  to hear Robert Hanna, the great, great grandson of John Muir, speak at REI.  Along with my knitting I joined Marsha for the presentation. I knit but only until the lights went out…I was on a design row and I couldn’t proceed without the lights. The truth of the matter is that the speaker and his presentation were so great that he captivated his audience of 50 people or so for an hour and a half. We “traveled” through John Muir’s biographical timeline. It was meaningful from a historical perspective as well learning more about his love of Yosemite and the outdoors. I was one of those who did not know about his very creative mind for invention in his early years.  And John Muir walked many miles in his youth. Did you know that he walked through Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Canada on one walk? Another one of his walks took him from Wisconsin to Florida traveling though country that been wounded by the Civil War. When he arrived in San Francisco in 1868 he was over come with the density of population and immediately asked for directions to Yosemite. Along the way – he walked – he worked at ranches.

As a family historian of my family, I so enjoyed the family history style presentation…..photos through the generations and the life works of John Muir. I can hardly believe I’ve lived all these years in the Bay Area and have not seen the historic Muir Mansion in Martinez. Guess what I will be doing soon?

Many thanks to Marsha for mentioning her plans for the evening. Now I need to make those needles click. I realized a couple of days ago how long my purple poncho/shawl has been on the needles!