A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed

An argument for leaving city routines behind opens W. C. Bartlett's collection of California essays. Five companions plan three weeks outdoors with horses, a covered wagon, blankets and fishing tackle. Their aim is rest and ordinary pleasures among the Coast Range woods, where redwood paths and mountain streams offer relief from work and crowded streets. Bartlett mixes practical arrangements with jokes about fashionable holidays and the habits that make leisure difficult.

The volume also turns toward Mendocino, Los Gatos, St. Helena, gardens and suburban life. A passage on the road from Harbin's to Calistoga brings together madrono berries, robins, noisy company and a view across the Napa Valley. Originally written largely for magazines, these pieces combine local observation with personal reflection. Readers interested in California's landscape and nineteenth-century outdoor recreation will find a conversational record of how one writer valued country living.