Muir, Helen, Page 7

sometimes stirring up a cottontail or a bob eat. Some of the Latin names of the plants are s oill in my poor ol^L, head, but many are forgotten unless I read of them and then they are familiar again. Papa had a perfet memory and expected me to remember all I learned in those young yea.rs, I. wish I could. Other lessons. I dont know if Wanda has told you of our other studies or if you are interested. In case you are, both Wanda and I from the time we could read, were given daily lessons to commit to memory. First such easy poems as Shelly\u27s Cloud , Scott\u27s Lady of the Lake, or rather selections from the latter, Tennyson\u27s Claribel,Lillian, The Owl,The Lady of Shalott,parts of Locksley Hall. Later selections from Shakespeare*s plays, and selection2 - from the Bible, many of the Psalms, and poems of K.eats,^iU(/-\u277\u27i and Longfellow and Burns. His belief was that these beautiful words learned at an early age were literally stored in our minds, to be drawn on and enjoyed all through life. (Turn to page 30 in vol.1 of Dr Bade\u27s Life and Letters for Papa\u27s own words in regard to these lessons). Neither Wanda nor I attended public school till we went to High School. Wanda attended Miss Head\u27s School in Berkeley and then went on to the University.There was no High School in or near Martinez untill 1902, and I entered it that fall at it\u27s begining. As I was then 16 years old I felt I must hurry so tried to cover the four year course in two years. There were no school buses in those days and I usually rode the two miles on uorseback, sometimes in a buggy. My health broke and that was the begining of the years of poor health that v/orried my mother and father the rest of their lives. More of this later with another question. Our first real schooling begam when Miss Katherine Graydon came to our home and taught us, just how long I dont remember out it must have been from 1891 to \u2792 or part of \u2793. She was a teacher and we had regular school books in use at that time. For more about Miss Graydon I again refer you. to the Life and Letters, vol. 2, page 126. After Miss Graydon left us we had another teacher, Miss Edith Blaisdell. She lived in Martinez but part of the time she boarded with us, returning home weekends, and part of the time riding back and forth on her saddle .pnnyy so she could help her mother evenings ^-A, at home. I think she took m up to the sixth or seventh Wf gSB - grade. When she had to leave us on account of death in H *\J r^L***- ~ her family and the care of an invalid brother, Wanda b gave me daily spelling, reading, History, etc for about , a year. Of course English was easy as I knew by heart so ^jlJij^ many things from the best writers, and I read in all JtJoA\u27^\u27\u3e my spare evening time. The Memorized lessons recited ^ , %b- at toj^ttj-c evening uihjc, juie meniurxzicu xtsaauuts recitiea uq y. Papa\u27s arm chair continued till I was fifteen. After - , vr^U\u27- 6 A ^xJfi that I chose selections from the Poets mysell and ^ ^f learned them. Some of it has oeen with me during long °7\a illnesses and trying times, but alas,so much did not .stay stored- Again I regret my faulty memory. Though Sucn can be blamed on the fact that for so many of my 09ischttps://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmr-all/1173/thumbnail.jp