Blog Archives
Snowy Walden Pond
…nature is one and continuous everywhere.
Walden Pond shoreline wall in winter.
Walking at Walden on New Year’s Eve back then felt so right. It is a grounded space, a grounding place that I like to revisit around the start of each new year. Our sudden blizzard this week has preempted this year’s traditional sojourn to Walden physically, but not in spirit. You’re welcome to join me there through some photos.
Cabin at Walden Pond.
Snowpilgrim at Walden Pond at sunset.
Henry David Thoreau contemplating snow in front of his cabin at Walden Pond.
Walden Pond reflection – New Year’s Eve.
.
.
Thanks to Ese for her Weekly Shoot & Quote: Continuous challenge.
Thanks to Ed for the Sunday Stills: White challenge. (Winter white brings forth edge details in a landscape that are otherwise obscured, like the sinuous curve of the stone wall along the shore. It’s unremarkable in summer, but stands in stark relief after the snow.)
Thanks to Ailsa for her Where’s My Backpack: Winter challenge.
Thanks to Dawn for her Lingering Look at Windows challenge. (Surely the windows in the cabin where Thoreau lived for two years must count as worthy windows. After today’s blizzard, thoughts turn to Thoreau in his cabin in such a storm, perhaps a passerby might see his candle or lantern aglow looking in from the outside, and feel warmed.)
Thanks to the kind folks at SkyWatch Friday.
.
.
A selection of my heron and flower photos is now available at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area.
Five Crows is on FaceBook. To give the gallery a visit, please click here.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2013 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau
Pilgrim at Walden Pond
I weathered some merry snow-storms, and spent some cheerful winter evenings by my fireside, while the snow whirled wildly without, and even the hooting of the owl was hushed… For human society I was obliged to conjure up the former occupants of these woods.
Snowpilgrim at Walden Pond in the waning light.
Henry David Thoreau contemplating snow in front of his cabin at Walden Pond.
Did Henry David Thoreau also conjure up a snowman for company at Walden Pond when in a whimsical mood one day?
Perhaps, perhaps not, but someone did.
My intention that New Year’s Eve was a solitary sojourn at Walden Pond. (I have posted about it before, here and here, in case you’ve missed those earlier mentions.)
It was sublime that day, wandering the pond’s shoreline in solitude, totally alone except for the lone snow pilgrim that had settled on the snow-covered beach. And of course the statue of Henry David in front of his cabin.
This week Michelle W. has asked us to show “one.” The solitary snowman on the shore at Walden that day was striking. It had melted somewhat and seemed to have taken on a more sentient posture, perhaps as though in meditation. Or maybe I’m mistaken and it never was stacked like a classical snowman at all, perhaps it always was in this pose, gazing out over the waters, thinking mysterious things?
.
.
Thanks to Michelle W and WordPress for the Weekly Photo Challenge: One prompt.
Thanks to Ailsa for her Weekly Travel Theme: Still prompt. (The snowpilgrim sat perfectly still like that for hours. I believe she was meditating. What better place to be that day than Walden Pond!)
.
.
A selection of my heron and flower photos is now available at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area.
Five Crows is on FaceBook. To give the gallery a visit, please click here.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2013 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Walden Pond, Snowpilgrim, snowman
Walden Revisited: Thoreau and Contemplating Snow
The one thing which we seek with insatiable desire is to forget ourselves, to be surprised out of our propriety, to lose our sempiternal memory, and to do something without knowing how or why; in short, to draw a new circle. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. The way of life is wonderful: it is by abandonment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Essays: The First and Second Series
Henry David Thoreau contemplating snow in front of his cabin at Walden Pond.
Ralph Waldo Emerson owned the property on which Thoreau loved at Walden Pond.
.
In an earlier blog entry, I mentioned a memorable New Year’s Eve spent in solitude at Walden Pond. (If you missed that post, please click here to view the photo.)
I wrote about that very special New Year’s Eve:
It was sublimely peaceful that New Year’s Eve at Walden Pond. I was alone save for a sculpted snowman watching over the shore.
The snowman and, of course, the statue of Henry David Thoreau next to his small cabin.
Someone earlier had placed a carved piece of snow in his hand, and it was amusing to see Thoreau staring at it intently, as if contemplating snow.
The setting sun cast wintry golden light through the trees on the far shore, reflecting the sky and horizon on the softly frozen water.
For Paula’s “Thursday’s Special,” I wanted to share my photo of Henry David Thoreau “contemplating snow.” It was New Year’s Eve and closing out the year at Walden was a deeply moving experience. Historical and symbolic meanings aside… Well, let me stop and take that back because those concepts can’t really be cast aside at Walden…
On top of the historical and symbolic aspects, and the peace, tranquility, and solitude at Walden that day, the statue of Thoreau contemplating snow made for a perfect light-hearted grace note.
This week, WordPress has tasked us with speaking about habits, hence the Emerson quote.
Whomever placed the block of snow in Thoreau’s hand “drew a new circle,” with enthusiasm.
One of my habits shows through the great blue heron photos: they are a passion, one I pursue with adandon and intensity. That’s a trait, a habit of mine, especially it comes to my enthusiasm with various subjects for photos. I have taken more than 100,000 heron photos. When Comet Hale-Bopp was visible here, I photographed it almost nightly for months until it vanished from our skies.
An old lover, when asked once by a mutual friend what I was up to, replied, “I don’t know, but whatever it is, she’s doing it intensely, passionately.”
Emerson got it right: “The way of life is wonderful: it is by abandonment.”
.
.
Thanks to Paula and WordPress for the Thursday’s Special Non-Challenge Challenge.
Thanks to Michelle W and WordPress for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Habit.
Thanks to the kind folks at NaBloPoMo for the National Blog Posting Month challenge this November.
.
.
A selection of my heron and flower photos is now available at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area.
Five Crows is on FaceBook. To give the gallery a visit, please click here.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.™
(This took place December 31, 2004)
The Tao of Feathers™
© 2013 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson
On Walden Pond
I have my horizon bounded by woods all to myself; a distant view of the railroad where it touches the pond on the one hand, and of the fence which skirts the woodland road on the other. But for the most part it is as solitary where I live as on the prairies. It is as much Asia or Africa as New England. I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little world all to myself.
Henry David Thoreau
Walden
Walden Pond reflection.
It was sublimely peaceful that New Year’s Eve at Walden Pond. I was alone save for a sculpted snowman watching over the shore.
The snowman and, of course, the statue of Henry David Thoreau next to his small cabin.
Someone earlier had placed a carved piece of snow in his hand, and it was amusing to see Thoreau staring at it intently, as if contemplating snow.
The setting sun cast wintry golden light through the trees on the far shore, reflecting the sky and horizon on the softly frozen water.
.
.
This week, Sara Rosso has asked for our perspectives on horizons. This photo of the Walden Pond horizon reflected on ice at sunset is my favorite horizon photo (even though there are no great blue herons about).
.
.
Thanks to Sara Rosso and WordPress for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Horizon prompt.
Thanks also to Sue for the Word a Week Challenge: Favorite.
Thanks to the kind folks at Skywatch Friday.
.
.
A selection of my heron and flower photos is now available at the Five Crows Gallery in Natick, MA. Drop in and see the work of the many wonderfully creative artists who show there when you’re in the area.
Five Crows is on FaceBook. To give the gallery a visit, please click here.
Remember: Walk softly and carry a long lens.
(This photo was taken December 31, 2004)
© 2013 Babsje. (https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com)
Babsje Heron 