Thoreau was a surprising fellow—he is not easily grasped—is elusive: yet he is one of the native forces—stands for a fact, a movement, an upheaval: Thoreau belongs to America, to the transcendental, to the protesters: then he is an outdoor man: all outdoor men everything else being equal appeal to me. — Walt Whitman as told to Horace Traubel

The wonder is, that Emerson—so delicate—so simple—so fine—should have been heard at all. The significant things are quickly told—that he lived at all—that he worked, wrote—and the world listened. And I always feel of Emerson as I do of Christianity: the acceptance of Christianity was not a credit to Jesus, but to the human race, that it could see, and seeing, welcome; as now with Emerson, the tribute, testimony, not to him but to the modern man, that he can compass so much.

             Walt Whitman as recorded by Horace Traubel

Now, methinks, the autumnal tints are brightest in our streets and in the woods generally.… Stand where half a dozen large elms droop over a house. It is as if you stood within a ripe pumpkin rind, and you feel as mellow as if you were the pulp. Thoreau – October 6 1858

There is no plateau on which Nature rests at midsummer, but she instantly commences the descent to winter. Thoureau – August 23, 1858

“Live in each season as it passes—breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, & resign yourself to the influences of each. Thoreau– August 23, 1853

Cool reading.

This put a smile on my face ; ) Some good first lessons drawn from Walden with a contemporary focus.

One farmer says to me, “You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with;” and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle.   Thoreau, Walden