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Transcendentalists

Back to the road trip... on the way into Concord, we stopped at Orchard House, Louisa May Alcott's home. I love Louisa May Alcott. Of course Little Women is fabulous, but An Old-Fashioned Girl is one of my favorite books of all time.

Our tour there was one of the best house tours I've ever been on. The guides were exceptionally knowledgeable and it was clear that they loved her just as I. I won't bore you with all of the wonderful facts I learned, but I could have stayed there for ages, reveling in it all.We also drove by Emerson's home and Wayside House, which Nathaniel Hawthorne owned and where the Alcotts and Thoreau lived in for a time.

From there we headed to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and Author's Ridge. The Alcotts, Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne, and a few lesser knowns are all buried within feet of each other. As I knew I would be teaching Walden, I took lots of pictures for the PowerPoint I put together for my kids.Next, we headed to the place itself: Walden Pond!!! It's now a state park, with a man-made beach, which I thought rather defiled it. You can swim at any point around the pond though, so we jumped in on the far side. It was COLD!! Again, reveling in it. My kids loved the pics in my powerpoint- loved it in that "oh my stars Ms. Preston, you are insane" type of way. And, because my head was just barely sticking out the water, they jumped to the conclusion that I had been skinny dipping. Om, NO.The T commuter train runs right behind the pond where we jumped in and all I could think of was "We do not ride upon the railroad, the railroad rides upon us" and all of Thoreau's thoughts on the railroad and commerce in "Sounds." It truly was sublime.

We went to the site of Thoreau's cabin as well. There was a couple there and while they clearly felt there was some reverence due the place, they clearly had no idea why. It was pretty funny. I feel like I was blabbering on and on the whole time to Kate. Sadly, the camera battery died and I had to take a few pics with my cell phone.On the way out, we were ridiculously thirsty, plus we had to make the requisite stop in the gift shop. I picked up some sweet stickers and it turned out to be even more fortuitous because we passed by the replica of Thoreau's cabin which we did not know was there. It was really, really cool. Cool doesn't quite capture it.All in all, Walden was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I am in the middle of teaching it now and it just seems so much more real to me having been there. And I think the kids are more into it as well, which is always a plus.

I am totally not a transcendentalist at all, but I would love to have known Thoreau or at least have gotten to feast with him. Reading his works shows me how all people truly long for the same things- for truth, for meaning in life- and how there truly is a meta-narrative. He grasps such truth that I see in Scripture, he just doesn't understand the source of meaning and truth, Christ.

Labels: travel

posted by CP @ 6:38 PM 2 thoughts