Invocation : going to granite : Valerie and I walk to the Granite Lakes -- Human bodies : I experience granite by walking upon it -- Granite intrudes : what is granite and how is it formed? -- Up and down : mountains walking : walking as an incomplete narrative -- Glacial polish : what makes these rocks shine? -- Signs of exfoliation and change : granite comes apart! Fissures near and far -- Grace on granite : perceiving a granite landscape : why we all like rocks -- The transformation of things : becoming a voice of rock -- Out of bounds : mountain craft -- Rock and water : antiquarian interests : we live in a developed Yosemite -- Inside rock : why we go outside to visit rock -- Right and wrong kinds of rock : granite versus other rocks -- An Aristotelian mythology of geohistory : myth meets science in granite -- The purity of granite : is there such a thing as pure granite? -- A contingent earth : geologists' stories change, but earth does not repeat itself -- Myths of glaciers : imagining a glacial Yosemite -- Erratics, domes, and trundling : unmoved and moving rocks -- Iconic landscape : landmarks, large and small -- The sound of talus : can you run on broken rock? -- Fairview Dome : we consider the proliferation of domes -- Above and below : ghosts of glaciers : I go to Cathedral Peak to consider glacial polish -- Meandering around Matthes Crest : a walk around a hidden landmark -- The view from Pothole Dome : what is a dome and what can you see there? -- Granite at sunrise : granite as hieroglyph -- This is not a mountain : can the language of granitic rocks be simplified? -- Granite as enigma : things we don't know about granite and ourselves -- An edge of history : an edge of a continent : the Dana Plateau.
Summary:
"Granite and grace: seeking the heart of Yosemite reflects on Valerie and Michael Cohen's fifty-year encounter with the granite in the high country of Yosemite National Park, where they seek a sense of belonging in an era called the Anthropocene. By creating a dialogue between geological and literary representations, where the geological becomes metaphorical, while science turns mythological, these essays shaped by on-the-rock encounters with landforms, open up important experiential and pragmatic dimensions."--Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.