On an impossibly beautiful summer morning, Kristina and I decided to take a walk around Walden Pond, made famous by 19th century environmentalist and thinker Henry David Thoreau.
When we got to the parking lot, we were surprised to see how many cars were already there at 7:30 — people coming to walk, swim, snorkel, sit on the beach, and just enjoy nature.
Kristina was an ideal guide as she had just been to the pond the week before with other Thoreau fans celebrating his 200th birthday. She also has done a lot of art and writing and diving there over the years and was friends with the man who found the site of Thoreau’s small cabin, Roland Robbins.
On our walk, we noticed temporary signs from an alphabet book about Thoreau written at the Thoreau Farm Writers Retreat. The book is just one of many examples of the ways people make the venerated promoter of civil disobedience their own. Kristina mentioned there is even a Swedish Thoreauvian from Göteborg studying the soil around the cabin site, including the outhouse soil!
Thoreau’s friend Bronson Alcott started the tradition of leaving memorial stones at the site. Today the pile is testimony to the many thousands of visitors who wanted to pay their respects.
Be sure to go early at this time of year. The parking lot does get filled up.
I went to Walden Pond once . . . about 40 years ago (how can I be old enough to remember things 40 years ago?!). I like that HDT can be relevant today, and inspire devoted study.
There is something deeply American about marching to a different drummer. Hence Thoreau’s enduring appeal to Americans — and others who value quirkiness.