Author: Nick Wyckoff

While walking through the woods on our class trip to Brown’s Bog my attention was drawn to the size of the trees. More specifically the smallness of the greater majority of them. When walking through Johnson’s woods during the past field trip, there were countless trees that were massive and could easily have been over 200 years old. Contrast that with the size of the trees at Brown’s Bog, and it is easy to see how different old-growth forests are from those which were clear cut at one point. While walking the kame trail there were only a small handful of trees which I would believe to be 200 years of age. The largest discrepancy which I noticed was the sizes of the beach trees. While nearly all of the beach trees at Johnson’s woods were quite large, I only recall seeing two small beach trees clinging to their leaves in the Browns Bog. The tree size discrepancy which I perceived allowed the group to experience variance in ecosystems processes in Northeast Ohio.

Thorough all of Thoreau’s writing, he finds ways to elaborate on his thoughts to an exhaustive extent. This often leaves the reader with little to imagine or picture. In the chapter Economy, this trend continues. To begin with, Thoreau has a self-dialogue on page 117 where he is talking about the weather in his region from the past up to the current time. He states those who knew about the history of weather wouldn’t be too surprised what was being encountered. While the people who didn’t have this knowledge would be quite surprised by it. This self-dialogue distracted my comprehension because of the shift in his dialogue to a self-discussion. In addition to the filler language which Thoreau uses he additionally uses language that creates strong imagery. Toward the end of Economy Thoreau talks about the way in which the priest rubs the sticks together to create fire in the town public square. Following that he describes the ways in which the people consume food and dance for the following three days. He states that people from different villages have prepared themselves in like fissions as each other. This all exemplifies the way in which Thoreau goes into detail about every aspect of his surroundings to ensure the reader can visualize what he is seeing. This while beneficial to the clarity of his writing can leave little to the imagination which can frustrate some audiences.

While reading the chapters from Wednesday readings written by Henry David Thoreau, I was fascinated at the level of detail in which Thoreau describes his surroundings.  In the chapter, The Bean Field, Thoreau tirelessly describes his field. Beginning with his description of the fields sheer size, which I believe to be an egregious exaggeration at seven miles, all the way to his observation of the rituals of the town. Thoreau leaves nearly nothing up for interpretation. Through his description, Thoreau allows the reader to in a sense to feel as though they are developing a connection to the land which he is describing. While reading, I felt as though I was on his farm in the bean field. I could surround my self with the vast field, which Thoreau describes surrounded by birds and other wild animals. That is until the serenity is interrupted by the gunshots from the direction of the village.

Description is essential to one’s ability to understand and visualize the landscape. One must strike a balance to most effectively interest the reader. While I felt as though Thoereaus’ description was thorough, I felt as if it detracted from my experience because it left nothing up for interpretation.  It is, in fact, important to note that not all readers like their content delivered to them in the same way. Some people may appreciate Thoreau’s description as it allows for the reader to not have to think about the setting and simply focus on the words in the text. The benefit of this is in fact what will allow people to experience the world from a different perspective from their own. 

While walking through the Johnson Woods it was impossible to miss the countless numbers of fallen trees. While most of these trees lay on the forest floor undisturbed decaying from decomposers, there were some which were disturbed. These trees were disturbed in a way that I found was disruptive to my ability to experience nature to its fullest es at the moment. Some of the largest treed which fell in close proximity fell over the boardwalk. In order to allow for the boardwalk to remain passable, the trees had to be cut up and moved aside. While I understand this action of clearing the boardwalk is necessary to continue to allow the public to access the preserves boardwalk. However, I found it extremely distracting to see a tree cut by what was likely a chainsaw. I felt as though I had been taken out of the location where I was and brought back to the artificial machine world outside this small patch of woods. While these fallen trees are inhabited by many smaller decomposers the larger animals which typically would be present in these woods were absent. Animals such as deer, rabbit, and fox which likely would inhabit these woods on a larger scale were absent. Possibly as a result of the past tree cutting noise pollution and the surrounding farm’s loud machinery.  In the summer months, I imagine the farm’s equipment will further detract from the serenity of nature.