FIELD-DAYS IN CALIFORNIA 



proof and sun-proof ; at the worst of times nei- 

 ther muddy nor dusty. For m3^self I have had 

 numberless good hours there, an'd not a few that 

 might truthfully be called exciting. 



If I had a bank full of money, I once in a 

 while find myself thinking (and perhaps wiser 

 men than I might own to the same sort of fool- 

 ishness), I could do this or that. But, after all, 

 what could I do so very much better, school 

 being dismissed, than to go idling up and down 

 this sightly beach, looking or dreaming — and 

 enjoying myself — as the mood befalls ? 



Happy is the man (I may have said it before, 

 but no matter), happy is the man who has ac- 

 quired an interest in the world out of doors. It is 

 an investment good for both body and soul. 



" Give a man a horse he can ride ; 

 Give a man a boat he can sail ; 

 And his rank and wealth, his strength and health, 

 On sea nor shore shall fail." 



For ''horse" write "hobby," and the rhythm 

 may suffer, but the sense will not be damaged, 

 but rather improved. 



And here in this favored region, where sea and 

 land meet, with a mockingbird singing his soul 

 out on one side of you and pelicans plunging into 

 the water with a mighty splash on the other side, 

 with the fairest and friendliest of sierras com- 

 8 



