" .. that we may not miss the unearthly pageant. "

from Yosemite Trails
_____________

Despite his brilliant writing and penetrating philosophy Chase was

never ' full of himself. ' He often pulled the rug out from

under his own musings with a sharp, humorous anecdote, secure enough
as a writer, and respectful enough of his reader to understand that the
result would be an even richer appreciation.
The passage that follows finds Chase musing about his sense that there may
be ' an actual force or presence, ' that unconsciously wakes us, at moments
' of unusual beauty...that we may not miss the unearthly pageant. "

______

      “ I remeber that I had at the time, and have had on similar occasions, a vivid impression of
       having been purposely awakened; and I sometimes wonder whether there may not be in
        circumstances of unusual beauty or impressiveness an actual force or presence, which in
    some mysterious manner passes the locked gate of the senses, and, laying upon us its
    thrilling hand, wakes us that we may not miss the unearthly pageant. Bodie, however,
    had a simpler explanation of my wakefulness. He “ guessed there was a rock sticking
   into me. “

_____________