I'm wondering how different Walden Pond was back then. Concord must have been a mere village then, don't you think? When I moved to Cape Cod 23 years ago, my mother's old house was completely surrounded by forest. Since then, people sold lots and houses were built. Now we hear leaf blowers and lawnmowers and diggers and the quiet we originally enjoyed is gone. The new residents are refugees from the city and think they can make as much noise as they want. Sometimes, loud music, loud parties. So, strangely enough, we are preparing to move to the city where neighbors tend to be quieter.
Oh, I'm sure it was way different back in Thoreau's day, but I'm looking at it as far from the wilderness we 60s pseudo-hippies wanted to imagine. It came as a bit of a shock when I read how close he actually was to civilization. His mother brought him lunch every day. It wasn't even close to 'roughing it'. LOL
I'm sorry you're having to move back to the city to seek quiet. The noisy crowds haven't found us yet up here in the boonies, but we're baffled by those people who long to live in the north woods and then proceed to cut all the trees down around them when they get here.
BTW, it's inspiring that you have so much enthusiasm for and dedication to writing even after retirement. I am set to retire next year, and I have your zest, but I despair of age catching up and creativity waning ;) I guess I am wrong -- we can be creative right into old age, right?
LOL. I'll do it as long as my brain lets me, but I admit I think about how much time I have left and get a little panicky about getting everything out there before the curtain closes!
good one / i also read thoreau at that formative time of my life (early twenties) when the idea of simplicity and civil disobedience was very compelling / recently i borrowed a copy of the illustrated thoreau from the library and it was a delight / i actually live in that simplicity / a hermit in my own house and my own pond even though i live in suburbia : )
Although his solitude was incomplete, I think he was always there with me after I first read his work as a teenager, and I am grateful. It made me more comfortable with my own personality, which when viewed from the outside comes across as a bit too standoffish. I just require less human interaction than most people. Anything that makes people stop and think about following the crowds and fads of their era is a good thing in my opinion.
I came to Thoreau through The Dead Poets Society (like many, I suspect). I tried reading Walden at the time, but, for whatever reason, my much younger self couldn't get through it and so, again like many, embraced the odd quote.
I like the idea that what he wrote about wasn't his actual experience. That has inspired me to take Walden from my book shelf and add it back to my pile of "to-read" books.
I also live on an island, but LOL only if you face a certain direction, cover your ears, and squint, it's hard to mistake it for solitude. That said, it's a lot quieter and less busy than the city, as long as you stay off the main drag up the island on summer weekends.
when I first moved here there was a traffic light at the ferry landing, then not another one for 25 miles when you got to Coupeville. Now there are 4 more on the south end and you couldn't make a left turn with out them.
I thought I liked solitude, until the pandemic imposed it on me. I guess modified solitude is not a bad thing.
I'm wondering how different Walden Pond was back then. Concord must have been a mere village then, don't you think? When I moved to Cape Cod 23 years ago, my mother's old house was completely surrounded by forest. Since then, people sold lots and houses were built. Now we hear leaf blowers and lawnmowers and diggers and the quiet we originally enjoyed is gone. The new residents are refugees from the city and think they can make as much noise as they want. Sometimes, loud music, loud parties. So, strangely enough, we are preparing to move to the city where neighbors tend to be quieter.
Oh, I'm sure it was way different back in Thoreau's day, but I'm looking at it as far from the wilderness we 60s pseudo-hippies wanted to imagine. It came as a bit of a shock when I read how close he actually was to civilization. His mother brought him lunch every day. It wasn't even close to 'roughing it'. LOL
I'm sorry you're having to move back to the city to seek quiet. The noisy crowds haven't found us yet up here in the boonies, but we're baffled by those people who long to live in the north woods and then proceed to cut all the trees down around them when they get here.
I have never read any Thoreau; maybe it's time to start.
It's a bit passive and dull by today's standards, but much of it is worth reading. He was a bit of an odd curmudgeon!
he’s great / try the illustrated thoreau from your library
Todays answer to Thoreau's yearning: living off the grid!
Yes, there are many people living off the grid now as a matter of choice. Thoreau may have inspired it but he certainly didn't live it!
BTW, it's inspiring that you have so much enthusiasm for and dedication to writing even after retirement. I am set to retire next year, and I have your zest, but I despair of age catching up and creativity waning ;) I guess I am wrong -- we can be creative right into old age, right?
LOL. I'll do it as long as my brain lets me, but I admit I think about how much time I have left and get a little panicky about getting everything out there before the curtain closes!
good one / i also read thoreau at that formative time of my life (early twenties) when the idea of simplicity and civil disobedience was very compelling / recently i borrowed a copy of the illustrated thoreau from the library and it was a delight / i actually live in that simplicity / a hermit in my own house and my own pond even though i live in suburbia : )
This is lovely, Ramona. And if you want to share some grief feeling more privately, do email me!!
Thank you, Susan.
Although his solitude was incomplete, I think he was always there with me after I first read his work as a teenager, and I am grateful. It made me more comfortable with my own personality, which when viewed from the outside comes across as a bit too standoffish. I just require less human interaction than most people. Anything that makes people stop and think about following the crowds and fads of their era is a good thing in my opinion.
Yes, for sure. I think a big part of Thoreau's universal draw is that he articulates so well our need to be our own selves and to do it our way.
I came to Thoreau through The Dead Poets Society (like many, I suspect). I tried reading Walden at the time, but, for whatever reason, my much younger self couldn't get through it and so, again like many, embraced the odd quote.
I like the idea that what he wrote about wasn't his actual experience. That has inspired me to take Walden from my book shelf and add it back to my pile of "to-read" books.
Thanks.........
I also live on an island, but LOL only if you face a certain direction, cover your ears, and squint, it's hard to mistake it for solitude. That said, it's a lot quieter and less busy than the city, as long as you stay off the main drag up the island on summer weekends.
when I first moved here there was a traffic light at the ferry landing, then not another one for 25 miles when you got to Coupeville. Now there are 4 more on the south end and you couldn't make a left turn with out them.
I thought I liked solitude, until the pandemic imposed it on me. I guess modified solitude is not a bad thing.