Shown: posts 1 to 22 of 22. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by gadchik on November 5, 2013, at 14:24:31
"I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite-only a sense of existence." Henry David Thoreau 1856
Posted by Partlycloudy on November 5, 2013, at 16:40:09
In reply to Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by gadchik on November 5, 2013, at 14:24:31
He was such a cool guy. And he got to live in the woods and have a pond named after him.
Posted by gadchik on November 5, 2013, at 16:45:51
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » gadchik, posted by Partlycloudy on November 5, 2013, at 16:40:09
And his writing makes me happy. Life can be simple & good.
Posted by Partlycloudy on November 5, 2013, at 17:26:21
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » Partlycloudy, posted by gadchik on November 5, 2013, at 16:45:51
My therapist is quite taken with his writing. I used to live a couple of miles down the road, which blows my mind now. To be able to follow his walks, see his simple cabin, and appreciate the gem of wilderness in what now a fairly dense sprawl of the suburbs. I was very fortunate to have seen that and experience it.
I treasure those moments.
PC
Posted by gadchik on November 5, 2013, at 18:32:14
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » gadchik, posted by Partlycloudy on November 5, 2013, at 17:26:21
That is so cool to have been in that area! I love that he was so taken with trees, as am I. My dream is to hike in the redwood forest someday & just hang out in northern Ca, Big Sur, all those areas where I can see huge trees! I feel so calm looking up into a tree, so protected. I remember huge pine trees from my childhood, the smell of them & running thru the pine needles!
Posted by baseball55 on November 5, 2013, at 18:58:31
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » Partlycloudy, posted by gadchik on November 5, 2013, at 18:32:14
I spent nearly two years in a state psych hospital as a young teen. This counselor brought me Thoreau's books. They helped me alot. I felt that I too walked to a different drummer and could be okay with that.
Posted by Partlycloudy on November 5, 2013, at 20:28:15
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by baseball55 on November 5, 2013, at 18:58:31
> I spent nearly two years in a state psych hospital as a young teen. This counselor brought me Thoreau's books. They helped me alot. I felt that I too walked to a different drummer and could be okay with that.
That is something I love about reading. It really can help connect people who feel alone.
Posted by Partlycloudy on November 5, 2013, at 20:31:33
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » Partlycloudy, posted by gadchik on November 5, 2013, at 18:32:14
I was on the east coast, near Concord MA, where Walden Pond is. (Though I have been in those cathedrals of trees as well.)
Did I mix up Thoreau and someone else? I am not well read...
Posted by sigismund on November 5, 2013, at 21:05:15
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by baseball55 on November 5, 2013, at 18:58:31
There's Thoreau, Emerson and Whitman and I get them mixed up. Thoreau (I think) features in (I think) Howard Zinns "A People's History of the USA", about abolition, but I am not sure now.
People seem to be dying all the time these days, and I read Keats's last words. He is dying in Rome, living with his friend the painter Joseph Severn.
"Severn - Severn - Lift me up for I am dying - I shall die easy - don't be frightened - thank God it has come."
26 years old.I sometimes feel where I live that people feel they will not exist unless they argue themselves into significance.
Posted by gadchik on November 6, 2013, at 5:16:46
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » gadchik, posted by Partlycloudy on November 5, 2013, at 20:31:33
Yes Waldon Pond and Thoreau go together, I just know he felt trees were magical, and I do too. I would love to see the largest trees I can find and the Redwood forest seems perfect.
Posted by sigismund on November 6, 2013, at 12:43:35
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » Partlycloudy, posted by gadchik on November 6, 2013, at 5:16:46
Trees are magical. We are so used to them it can be hard to see it. I like to think of them as a layer of growth, like a coral kind of, over the dead stuff inside, like this plastic (if you know what I mean) living stuff doing its patterns.
Posted by gadchik on November 6, 2013, at 14:51:40
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by sigismund on November 6, 2013, at 12:43:35
And don't u love that they have rings & can live soooo long & they r good to this earth? I could never look up in to the bough of a tree & not be filled with wonder & happiness. May sound sappy, that's just exactly how a tree entrances me, if entrance is a word! It's a feeling of being spellbound & in the moment. : )
Posted by gadchik on November 6, 2013, at 14:55:53
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by sigismund on November 6, 2013, at 12:43:35
en·trance 2 (n-trns)
tr.v. en·tranced, en·tranc·ing, en·tranc·es
1. To put into a trance.
2. To fill with delight, wonder, or enchantment: a child who was entranced by a fairy tale. See Synonyms at charm, enrapture.
Posted by gadchik on November 6, 2013, at 15:08:51
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by baseball55 on November 5, 2013, at 18:58:31
What a nice thing ur counselor did to give u his books & open ur mind to a different way of thinking. Reading Thoreau & others like him, can be a powerful way to see things(life) in a totally diff way.
Posted by sigismund on November 6, 2013, at 16:44:00
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » sigismund, posted by gadchik on November 6, 2013, at 14:55:53
One of the things I am trying to do before I die is to complete my tree garden. I do an hour or two a day. Australian rainforest trees are lovely. It is a couple of acres, some of it badly done, some better. You learn as you go.
Posted by gadchik on November 6, 2013, at 17:27:12
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » gadchik, posted by sigismund on November 6, 2013, at 16:44:00
I looked them up, stunning trees. What u r doing is wonderful, the forest must be lovely to see & it's so worthwhile to plant a tree. Have u seen this movie? The Tree http://youtu.be/bxMZxU1JUGo
I don't know if the link will work but it's the trailer of the movie on YouTube starring Charlotte Ginsberg
Posted by sigismund on November 7, 2013, at 18:21:01
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » sigismund, posted by gadchik on November 6, 2013, at 17:27:12
What a surprise! Yes, I have seen that film. That tree looks like what I call a Moreton Bay Fig (although there are many other figs) and the landscape is recognisably Australian.
Posted by sigismund on November 7, 2013, at 18:32:25
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom » gadchik, posted by sigismund on November 7, 2013, at 18:21:01
It is a Moreton Bay Fig and lives in Boonah. The landscape was so familiar, not that far from here, but drier. There was this mega volcano forever ago here. The lava stretched from around Boonah to down here, around 150km in diameter. This photo, in spite of what it says is a photo from, not of, the central core, now called Mt Warning.
The mountains in the distance to the south, that is called The Nightcap, behind to the north and north west is the Border Ranges. They create a rainshadow, so that Boonah to the north is much drier, around half the rainfall here.
Posted by gadchik on November 8, 2013, at 6:40:51
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by sigismund on November 7, 2013, at 18:32:25
So, you get to live in such a lovely area with mountains and trees like those? How nice that would be! I'd hike all over, and be in heaven! Pure bliss, nature inspires me more than any other thing. BTW, I misspelled the actress's name. The correct spelling: Charlotte Gainsbourg. And I think she's fabulous.
Posted by Toph on December 11, 2013, at 10:17:52
In reply to Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by gadchik on November 5, 2013, at 14:24:31
As a social worker he has always kept me grounded:
"If I knew as a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of going me good, I should run for my life..."
-Henry David Thoreau
Posted by gadchik on December 12, 2013, at 5:50:22
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by Toph on December 11, 2013, at 10:17:52
He's def someone I like to read. I wish I could come up with some wisdom, as he does!
Posted by sigismund on January 5, 2014, at 17:34:33
In reply to Re: Henry David Thoreau Wisdom, posted by Toph on December 11, 2013, at 10:17:52
>"If I knew as a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of going me good, I should run for my life..."
-Henry David ThoreauHey, that's really good.
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