The Commonplace 45 



Yet it is to be feared that many persons see 

 too many mountains and too many great land- 

 scapes, and that the " seeing " of nature becomes 

 a business as redundant and wearisome as other 

 affairs. One who lives on the mountains does 

 not know how high they are. Let us 'have one 

 inspiration that lifts us clear of ourselves: 

 this is better than to see so many mountains 

 that we remember only their names. 



The best objects that you can see are those 

 in your own realm ; but your own realm becomes 

 larger and means more for the sight of some- 

 thing beyond. 



It is worth while to cherish the few objects 

 and phenomena that have impressed us greatly, 

 and it is well to recount them often, until they 

 become part of us. One such phenomenon is 

 idealized in my own memory. It was the 

 sight of sunrise on Mt. Shasta, seen from the 

 southeastern side from a point that was then 

 untouched by travelers. From this point only 

 the main dome of the mountain is seen. I had 

 left the railway train at Upton's and had ridden 

 on a flat-car over a lumber railroad some eight- 



