Science & Nature
Walden Pond is considered the birthplace of the conservation movement.
The woods are still there, but the wetlands have been drained and developed.
Almost 2,700 acres of undeveloped woodland surround the reservation. Walden Woods includes the pond, which is more than 100 feet deep in places. It is called a kettle-hole pond, the melted remains of a massive chunk of ice that broke off a retreating glacier thousands of years ago.
However, more adventures await in my new neighborhood. A small strip of woodland borders my backyard. We’ve already had visits from hawks, crows, chipmunks, raccoons, possum, whitetail deer, groundhogs, squirrels, and a red fox. My wife’s plants and feeders attract birds of many colors. Just down the street the pond at Gormley Park is home to ducks, frogs, dragonflies, bass and bluegill. Watch this space closely for the results of my future observations.
Thoreau lived simply in a small shack at Walden Pond from 1845 to 1847. Some have described his writing in Walden as a testimony to self-discovery. Others consider the book as a guide to living the classical ideal of the good life. Written as a long poetic essay, some critics say Thoreau challenges his readers to examine their own lives and their relationship with the natural world. As a writer, I adopted “Stop. Look. Listen.” as a guiding mantra early in my career. Being a Boy Scout also helped me to build a foundation for appreciating the natural world. I’ve been blessed to have had the chance to live and work surrounded by the rugged, arid splendor of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. I’ve spent days and nights trekking through the Superstition Mountains. I had many adventures rafting the rapids and boiling whitewater of the Colorado River. I’ve backpacked amidst the indescribable beauty of the Grand Canyon. I also hiked and backpacked throughout Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Paria Canyon, Buckskin Gulch, and other amazing places in southern Utah. I kayaked and fished near the Grand Tetons in Wyoming and rode a horse high into Montana’s Lee Metcalfe Wilderness to camp and fish near Yellowstone National Park. Quiet time is important. I’ve enjoyed many a restful evening stretched out beneath the panoply of stars surrounded by New Mexico’s high desert mesas and near petrified logs deep in the vast Painted Desert wilderness. I’ve had mule deer a few feet away watch wide-eyed as I heated morning coffee beneath towering pines high in Arizona’s Mazatzal Mountains. A grey jay once perched on my fingers and ate trail mix from my palm during a rainy afternoon hike on the slopes of Mount Rainier. I learned early and often about the power of “Stop. Look. Listen.” Today, I’m back living in the little Northeast Ohio factory town where I grew up. As a kid, I loved to explore the woods and swamp near my parent’s home.
You don’t have to travel to Concord, Massachusetts or to the wild open lands of the West to enjoy and appreciate the wonders of the natural world. But you can, and should. Slow down. Take a deep breath. Your own personal Walden might be as close as your own backyard. All you have to do is take the time to stop, look, and listen.
•
Resources to learn more: Books: • Walden (Life in the Woods) by Henry David Thoreau • A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold • Sonoran Desert Spring by John Alcock
Websites: • Walden Pond State Reservation mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/regionnorth/walden-pond-state-reservation.html • National Park Foundation nationalparks.org/ • National Park Service – America the Beautiful Passes nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm
Conrad J. Storad The award-winning author and editor of more than 50 science and nature books for children and young adults, Conrad J. Storad expertly draws young readers into his imaginative and entertaining “classroom” to help them better understand and appreciate the natural world. StoryMonsters.com | Volume 4, Issue 10 | Story Monsters Ink
33