Author: Ellison Zupan

This trip for me was very similar to our trip to Johnson’s Woods. I was expecting to see some wildlife there, but only saw a lone woodpecker. There was an abundance of trees, who had all lost their leaves except for a few juvenile beech trees. This left me with very little to look at besides moss. Just like Johnson’s Woods, there was also a boardwalk that made the bog very accessible, though it had some water covering it and at times I thought it might break. However here we had the opportunity to explore an area with just a footpath. I think I liked this part of the trip more because I felt more involved with the nature as I had to really watch where I was stepping to make sure I wouldn’t slip and fall in the mud. I think it would be interesting to visit the bog in the warmer months to see the difference the season has on it.

One passage from this chapter that I found interesting was near the beginning when he talks about how hard people work, and how they basically are working their life away. I think that he is implying that he believes that you do not really need to work to obtain the life that you want and that just because you have money does not mean you have happiness or the life that you may want. On page 109 Thoreau says “It is a fool’s life…”, which to me follows along with his ideas that are seen throughout the entire book. I also think this strengthens the argument that Thoreau see society as odd sometimes for doing things such as working your life away when you could be doing better things with your life.

Thoreau talks very highly of the pond and nature surrounding in which leads me to believe that he enjoys spending time by it. On page 235 I find it particularly interesting when he says “The scenery of Walden is on a humble scale, and, though very beautiful, does not approach to grandeur, nor can it much concern one who has not frequented it or lived by its shore…”. To me Thoreau is saying that he sees the beauty of Walden pond but to someone who has never been there or spent any sort of signifigant time there, they will not see its beauty. I think this aligns with Thoreau’s attitude towards nature and society. I say this because he seems to love being out in nature by himself but does not believe that society can see his love for nature and just thinks he is strange for being out in nature by himself. Iwould tend to agree with Thoreau here because for some people they can see the beauty in nature while other can’t and would just think that it’s just a tree or in this case it’s just a pond of water.

For me I was a little surprised when we first got to Johnson’s Woods because it wasn’t necessarily what I had expected. One of the first things I noticed was that there was not very much wildlife around, except for the starlings when we first got off the bus and one grey squirrel that I saw. I was expecting to maybe see some more squirrels or even a few deer. This was surprising because I guess when I think about nature and the woods I also think about the animals that live in the environment. It also makes me wonder though if it was because it was so cold out that day and maybe if it would be different if I had visited when it was warmer.

The second thing that was surprising to me was the boardwalk path that looped around the woods. Usually when there are paths in nature areas they are just cleared paths of dirt. I think this boardwalk type path is helpful because it accessible for many different people and can help you stay on track so you don’t get lost, although the woods are not relatively big. I also was surprised by all of the fallen trees, as humans living in a city we are accustomed to as soon as a tree dies and falls down we have to clean it up to make the scenery pretty again but here the fallen trees remained. Overall I had a good time in the woods and would be interested in visiting them during either the spring or summer to see how it changes with the seasons.