Henry David Thoreau and 50 years ago today

 

On PBS - watch it!

A few nights ago, I watched the new short series from Ken Burns on PBS -- Henry David Thoreau.  I learned a lot from that show, and as in all Ken Burns docu-series, it's well researched, edited, and presented.  In today's world where many young (and old) people do not read books, this might be the closest thing to actually reading Walden.  It was no surprise that the people presented in the show saw that much of Thoreau's writing was equally applicable to today's world.  I highly recommend giving it a watch.

After I finished watching, I went downstairs to my library and pulled out my copy of Walden. I was astonished to find that I bought it on April 5, 1976.  That's 50 years ago today.  At the time, I was a 19 year-old in his second semester of freshman year at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, NY.  I do not know where I purchased the book -- possible at a used bookstore, as it has $3.00 written in pencil.  

How did I manage to keep this book all these years?  Through college, many moves, and I still have it. Obviously it meant more to me than I know.  I know that I read it thoroughly once, because I wrote this at the very end of the book:

For a 19-year-old me, that's a,pretty good statement.  What the hell did I know of the human condition then? Was I just being a pompous college student?   However, it's true.  Thoreau was a philosopher, a naturalist, and while I may disagree with some of his ideas about divinity, I know what he meant.  The fact that I wrote it in the book then, is a message to the future.  In 50 years, we have gone from the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, to a country fraught with many problems, most of which have originated from our own incompetent and largely illegal Trump regime.  1976 was just two years removed from the downfall of Nixon's presidency, with Gerald Ford as president.  Jimmy Carter was elected POTUS that November, and I'll wager that had he won again in 1980, we would be in a better place today.  He would have understood Walden.  

So much has happened in the intervening years, and now we need more Thoreau's words more than ever.  I'm not advocating that we all go live in a cabin in the woods for 2 years,  but there are lessons from Walden that we should take to heart.  Be kind. Appreciate nature. Live simpler. Grow your food if you can. Embrace the uniqueness of our humanity.  Be authentic.

I'm going to go and read Walden again, and maybe it will still resonate within me, like it did a 19-year-old wannabe environmentalist.  I think I'm still that same person inside, but with fifty years more experience.

Dogwood, April 3, 2026. Intrepid 4x5, CatLabs 80 film.