Jill's Journal: Yesterday afternoon (while I was still spinning from the torture machine of death), we made the 70 mile drive northwest of Plymouth to a little town called Littleton, not far outside of Boston. Our campsite is simply wonderful. It’s set back from the other sites and we’re surrounded on three sides by our own private little woods. It feels secluded and spacious and absolutely spectacular.
Inspired by this little piece of nature, we made the short drive today to Walden Pond. The very famous Walden Pond of Henry David Thoreau fame. The 1800s author and leading transcendentalist is best known for his book “Walden; or, Life in the Woods” and this is where he carried out the two-year social experiment on which he based the book.
With his own hands in 1845, he built a tiny one-room cabin for $28.12 on land owned by fellow author Ralph Waldo Emerson. The cabin is now reproduced near the pond. He went on a journey of self-reliance, simple living, and spiritual discovery. He isolated himself from materialistic things and even from society (although not from people) in order to gain a better understanding of the world.
In his own words, regarding Walden Pond, Thoreau said, “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. And see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Walden Pond is beautiful -- although not any more striking than all the other gorgeous ponds and lakes we’ve seen so far here in New England, which means it is of course an absolutely lovely spot. We took a half-mile hike along the bank of the pond to the actual site of Thoreau’s cabin and were lucky to catch a ranger’s fascinating lecture at the site. He spoke of Thoreau being one of the first very vocal conservationists and environmentalists, as well as someone who inspired everyone from Gandhi to Martin Luther King Jr.
There’s a large pile of rocks near Thoreau’s homesite, each brought in tribute to the man by admirers from all corners of the earth. The pile includes pieces of the Berlin Wall and the Great Wall of China. Clearly, he still inspires today.
Jill's Journal: Yesterday afternoon (while I was still spinning from the torture machine of death), we made the 70 mile drive northwest of Plymouth to a little town called Littleton, not far outside of Boston. Our campsite is simply wonderful. It’s set back from the other sites and we’re surrounded on three sides by our own private little woods. It feels secluded and spacious and absolutely spectacular. 
Inspired by this little piece of nature, we made the short drive today to Walden Pond. The very famous Walden Pond of Henry David Thoreau fame. The 1800s author and leading transcendentalist is best known for his book “Walden; or, Life in the Woods” and this is where he carried out the two-year social experiment on which he based the book. 
With his own hands in 1845, he built a tiny one-room cabin for $28.12 on land owned by fellow author Ralph Waldo Emerson. The cabin is now reproduced near the pond. He went on a journey of self-reliance, simple living, and spiritual discovery. He isolated himself from materialistic things and even from society (although not from people) in order to gain a better understanding of the world. 
In his own words, regarding Walden Pond, Thoreau said, “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. And see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Walden Pond is beautiful -- although not any more striking than all the other gorgeous ponds and lakes we’ve seen so far here in New England, which means it is of course an absolutely lovely spot. We took a half-mile hike along the bank of the pond to the actual site of Thoreau’s cabin and were lucky to catch a ranger’s fascinating lecture at the site. He spoke of Thoreau being one of the first very vocal conservationists and environmentalists, as well as someone who inspired everyone from Gandhi to Martin Luther King Jr. 
There’s a large pile of rocks near Thoreau’s homesite, each brought in tribute to the man by admirers from all corners of the earth. The pile includes pieces of the Berlin Wall and the Great Wall of China. Clearly, he still inspires today.
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