NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
The blue 
from the 
valieys. 
By day and 
by night. 
shock, no jar, no clash ; there are no hidden 
spots of earth so silent as the depths where the 
stars lie buried. 
This perpetual violet-blue glow, unmarred 
and unspotted by high light or shadow or vary- 
ing tint, save such as it receives from the sun, 
might be thought monotonous, did we always 
have it before us. But humanity does not make 
its abiding-place on mountain-tops. It prefers 
the valleys, and there the vapors and earth 
mists and dust particles produce a different- 
looking sky from that which is seen from the 
height of Mt. Blanc. It is fortunate that it 
is so; yet, even in the valleys, people some- 
times complain (it is said that they do in South- 
ern California) of “the monotony of blue sky.” 
In reality the “‘ monotony” is not in the sky, 
but in the eyes that look at it. Seen through 
the lower strata of atmosphere, it is never the 
same for any length of time. Its form is con- 
tinually changed by clouds and cloud-flocks, new 
colors are being woven backward, forward, and 
across it, by shifting masses of atmosphere, its 
light is waxing and waning with the motion of 
the earth. There is a continuous weave and 
ravel of delicate-hued textures, and from dawn 
to dusk there is not a moment’s pause. Sun 
