“We need the tonic of wildness,-to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk , and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground. At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of Nature… We are cheered when we observe the vulture feeding on the carrion which disgusts and disheartens us and deriving health and strength from the repast” (344)

This passage discusses the desire for humans to be in Nature and how the coming of Spring reminds each of us of that desire. After dead and bleak winters we want to hear the chirping of birds and to be outside smelling that unique smell of Spring. We want to see the natural systems at play like “the vulture feeding on the carrion” because it reminds us that there is still a Nature out there. I think that this desire comes from our deep connection to the land. Like I just talked about in my last post- there are a lot of parts of humans that are more like things found in Nature than we think there are. We are so closely related to this Earth and that is why we desire to be a part of it.

However, we don’t want too much of Nature and like to think of the idea that parts of it are untouched by man. Humans think this way because though there are small parts of us that relate to Nature- we understand that we are so different from it as well. We enjoy pondering the mysteries of the natural world that we will never comprehend and want just that piece of Nature to stay untouched and unfathomable.

“Thus it appears that the sweltering inhabitants of Charleston and New Orleans, of Madras and Bombay and Calcutta, drink at my well…The Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges.” (Thoreau 322-323)

In this passage Thoreau discusses how the water that he drinks from his well connects him to different places around the world. He discusses how he imagines drawing water from his well and there is a servant of Bramin’s doing the same at the same well. This is because the water at Walden Pond is “mingled” with the waters of the Ganges. Although Walden is so drastically different in this chapter in terms of weather and space compared to Charleston, New Orleans and the Ganges– the water in these places connects them all. Water creates a braided stream that connects us all despite how different the places we call home are and the cultures that we practice.

“Still grows the vivacious lilac a generation after the door and lintel and the sill are gone, unfolding its sweet-scented flowers each spring, to be plucked by the musing traveller; planted and tended once by children’s hands, in front-yard plots,- now standing by wall sides in retired pastures, and giving place to new-rise forests;- the last of that stirp, sole survivor of that family” (286). 

“One evening one (lepus americanus) sat by my door two paces from me, at first trembling with fear , yet unwilling to move; a poor wet thing, lean and bony, with ragged ears and sharp nose, scant tail and slender paws. It looked as if Nature no longer contained the breed of nobler bloods but stood on her last toes.” (Thoreau 305)

I find that in a way this quote connects to the idea of nature wars. As our society expands into Nature we come into more contact with wildlife. This hare (which by the way I had to look up the translation from latin that Thoreau uses–embarrassing for me) seems to be timid and afraid. By expanding into this hare’s land did humans make this hare more afraid? Could we be making animals less “noble” as they are exposed to more man?  Or maybe this is because we are just intimidating because they have never seen a creature comparable to man.

For some creatures this instills fear but for others this could mean an attack on man. I think that humans would like to think that every animal will be as afraid as this hare but this is an ignorant thought to have. As we move deeper into animals’ land we must expect interactions and potential danger. So why aren’t we taught about how to handle these situations? Maybe it is time a class on wildlife scenarios be taught in our education system. I think that this would make for an opportunity for future generations to understand nature and that we are not completely separate from it and the creatures that live within it.

“As I was leaving the Irishman’s roof after the rain, bending my steps again to the pond, my haste to catch pickerel, wading in retired meadows, in sloughs and bog-holes, in forlorn and savage places, appeared for an instant trivial to me who had been sent to school and college; but as I ran down the hill toward the reddening west, with the rainbow over my shoulder, and some faint tinkling sounds borne to my ear through the cleansed air, from I know not what quarter, my Good Genius seemed to say — Go fish and hunt far and wide day by day — farther and wider — and rest thee by many brooks and hearth-sides without misgiving. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth.(6) Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures. Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night overtake thee everywhere at home. There are no larger fields than these, no worthier games than may here be played. Grow wild according to thy nature, like these sedges and brakes, which will never become English bay. Let the thunder rumble; what if it threaten ruin to farmers’ crops? That is not its errand to thee. Take shelter under the cloud, while they flee to carts and sheds. Let not to get a living be thy trade, but thy sport. Enjoy the land, but own it not. Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling, and spending their lives like serfs” (Thoreau 226).

I found this passage particularly interesting because in this moment Thoreau briefly reflects on his education and the activity he is currently doing. It seems to me, for a split second here he is second guessing himself. Here it appears that we are hearing his thoughts in reinforcing support of this lifestyle and these activities.

“and when some of my friends have asked me anxiously about their boys, whether they should let them hunt, I have answered, yes — remembering that it was one of the best parts of my education — make them hunters, though sportsmen only at first, if possible, mighty hunters at last, so that they shall not find game large enough for them in this or any vegetable wilderness — hunters as well as fishers of men” (Thoreau 231).

This passage struck me due to the strong biblical reference he uses. In this chapter where he seems to discuss this struggle between hunting and aiming towards spirituality. I think he puts this strong phrase into place, and it seems to express that if boys can hunt they will learn on their own it is not rewarding and they will become more spiritual or “fishers of men” in the process.

The other day for a bird watching activity in conservation biology lab we went to the Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary. While leaving our last bird watching site I was walking alongside one of my friends, and realized I had been so caught up in looking at the things around me that the conversation had trailed off. When I first made this realization I felt as though it was an awkward silence and that I needed to fill it with some sort of conversation, then I remembered a moment in Walden:

“Once in a while we sat together on the pond, he at one end of the boat and I at the other; but not many words passed between us, for he had grown deaf in his later years, but he occasionally hummed a psalm, which harmonized well with my philosophy. Our intercourse was altogether one of unbroken harmony, far more pleasing to remember than if it had been carried on by speech” (190).

After I thought of this moment in Walden I felt this silence was not awkward, but rather beneficial to the two of us. The silence that naturally occurred was necessary so that we could have “unbroken harmony” with this place. Without conversation the two of us could look at, connect with, reflect on, and think about the nature all around.

 Last weekend I ventured to Gollub Park with my dad. We went a bit off the main path, following a less traveled path along the ridge line. As we walked, we stumbled upon four cement posts that seemed to be the last remains of a building. My mind immediately connected to Walden and what now remains of Thoreau’s home. Did this person build a house here at the top of the ridge because they too wished deliberately?

Near the end of the walk, just before the Delaware comes into view, off to the left are many posted yellow signs that read: “wildlife refuge: no entrance.” This made me think about what is the difference between the two sides of that tree, making one side a wildlife refuge and this side not? And even though we may have this clearly posted to human ideas, what do the wildlife think of this boundary? Surely there is no difference to them either.