Beaver works are of economical and educational value besides adding a charm to the wilds. The beaver is a persistent practicer of conservation and should not perish from the hills and mountains of our land. Altogether, the beaver has so many interesting ways, is so useful, skillful, practical, and picturesque that his life and his deeds deserve a larger place in literature and in our hearts.
I know the site has been a little Mills-heavy for the past few days, but I truly can’t help it. Look at this photo of him taking the national librarians association for a beaver walk. He’s even carrying a chewed branch! Now yesterday I found out that he wrote John Muir in summer of 1907 and said he’d been lecturing in 25 states (Roosevelt had appointed him chief lecturer for the Department of Forestry) and mentioned he was planning a trip to California in October and could he visit him? Muir wrote back in August to invite him to the house. (Which, by the way, you’re all invited to on Saturday to celebrate Muir’s birthday and Earth day!)
Did Mills come? Did he stay at the house and walk around the orchards with Wanda or play hide and seek in the attic with Helen? I haven’t found any record of it yet, but John Muir was his Enos’ grand hero and inspiration and I can’t imagine Mills turning down an offer like that. I will keep snuffling along until I find a photo of Mills and Muir under the giant sequoia or in front of the carriage house. It could happen.
In the meantime,we should all stay keenly interested in the beaver activities of our very own wunderkits, who have just about finished rebuiding a very reed-heavy primary. It’s rather beautiful and basket-like (just in time for Easter!), and hopefully cheryl will get us some photos soon, but we haven’t been able to visit at a photographable hour these past few days. I actually don’t have a clear idea why they’re rebuilding the primary, since there’s no longer any lodge to keep under water. But they are. So there. Maybe its habit. Maybe its the shortest distance between two banks and as good a place to start as any. You’d better go see for yourself.
Oh, and if you happen to have trimmed your non-toxic trees for spring cleaning, you might consider dropping off the cuttings as building materials. It’s hard work being a beaver.
