Editorial: Of Thoreau and Greenwich

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While looking for a break from heat and humidity and the occasional shower this week, we stumbled upon a wonderful display at the Bruce Museum. In celebration of Henry David Thoreau’s 200 birthday—July 12—the museum has a small but thought- provoking exhibit running through the end of the month.

Henry David Thoreau was the 19th century American essayist, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic and historian—an interesting combination that would be difficult to find in an individual today.

The exhibit was also memory provoking. When I was 14, in the late 1970’s, my parents sent me on a seven-week wilderness trip to follow the route Thoreau had traveled in northern Maine. In anticipation of the trip, my mother thought it would be good to read some of his writings so that I had an understanding of the essayist.

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth,” Thoreau wrote in “Walden,” his book about living simply in nature. Okay. I am not sure at this point what I have gotten myself into. Or more accurately, how my parents were getting rid of me for the summer.

The route Thoreau took in northern Maine was similar in mode to that of all early explorers. It took advantage of the natural connections of lakes, streams and rivers to canoe, portage and pole (pole?) from western Maine deep into the center of the state.

Unfortunately, Thoreau did not have a very good map, and there were some obvious (to today’s casual observer) challenges in the route he chose. Not far from where the St. John River becomes the border between Maine and Canada, the Allagash River enters from the south. Today the Allagash River Waterway is a beautiful destination for canoers, kayakers and fisherman alike. It is in a pristine part of the remote northern Maine wilderness.

Perhaps looking for a shortcut, Thoreau and his expedition decided they would pole up the Allagash River to its source, Churchill Lake. As Thoreau went, so must we! We too poled up the river. Poling is the old (and rarely used, even in the 1970’s) skill of using a ten-foot-long sturdy branch to propel yourself against the current and “up” the river.

My first indication that this would be an unusual way to travel the Allagash was the large sign as we began the adventure that said “Leaving” Allagash Waterway. We were just entering. Needless to say, the art of poling was lost on a 14-year-old kid from Connecticut in the 1970’s who was dreaming more of Coca-Cola and his friends back home than contemplating living simply in nature. It was the challenge of propelling yourself several feet forward only to see that progress evaporate when you picked the pole up to move forward again.

It took a while for us to reach the top of the Allagash and Churchill Lake, where we gleefully burned our poles in the campfire, vowing never to go the wrong way on a river again.

The entire summer was one of character building—at least that is what my father told me before and after… repeatedly. Looking back on it now, he was right. They were simpler and more carefree times, and we were more present in them.

My own children cannot imagine living in the wilderness for seven weeks. They are tied to their devices and friends and cannot imagine giving them up for even a moment. That is something we are going to work on this summer. A little more time outdoors.

We have such a variety of opportunities throughout our town for all to disconnect and enjoy the outdoors. Babcock Preserve. Long Island Sound. Mianus River Park. Live a slightly simpler life and enjoy the summer days and all that Greenwich has to offer. Be your own Thoreau. Go against the stream; building character can be fun.

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