In the mid 1840's, Henry David Thoreau moved to a cabin in the woods to search for the necessities in life and seek how he could achieve them. He then recorded his observations about life and society in his book "Walden." Here, he argues that "our life is frittered away by detail" and urges us to cut back on the frivolous to obtain essential "Simplicity" (73).
Each year, my family embarks on a similar endeavor by venturing to our cabin in the woods of northern Canada. Here, my family and I escape from "reality" for 10 days or so while we take a step back from our structured, bustling lives to the serenity and relaxation of nature. Our log cabin is small and simple, consisting of 2 bedrooms (to sleep 4 people and 1 dog), a kitchen, a screened in porch, and a bathroom. Our life here is very remote. We just got indoor plumbing 5 years ago, do not have air conditioning, heat, TVs, computers, or even phones. We try to provide for ourselves and many of our meals come from the fish we catch.
With the secludedness of our surroundings, it's impossible not to become one with nature. Our cabin is on 6 acres of land, overlooking a beautiful lake and in the midst of a thick forest. Our neighbors are bears, moose, wolves, and beavers who often times drop by to say hello.
Since the day time temperature can differ up to 40 degrees from the night's, we pack what we need to stay comfortable. Sweatshirts, sweatpants, jeans, rain jackets, t-shirts, and shorts fill our suitcases. A "fashionable" item has yet to make the cut.
This trip my family considers a vacation may seem unbearable and boring to some. Although it may not fit the standards of a "common" north shore family vacation, my memories from Canada rank among the best of my life. Since there are very few man made distractions, I'm able to spend time with my family as we go hiking up mountains, fishing while the sun sinks into a gilded sky at sunset, or swimming in the rain. As we are immersed into nature, we become one with its rejuvenating powers and its beauty.
It today's world, it seems unthinkable to be happy without the Internet, our cell phones, ipods, and 3 story houses. However, from experience, I can agree with Thoreau when he claims "Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind" (10). To reiterate an echo from the past-one should take a dip in Walden Pond, and see what it's like to live without unnecessary clutter. There they will find what's truly important in life.
4 comments:
Jaqueline,
Nice personal connection to Henry David Thoreau, it's awesome that you had a similar experience to him! I guess it's a lot easier to take Thoreau's extremes for truth when you've been in his place.
Amazing blog girl! That sounds like an amazing experience. Similarly in eighth grade my middle school took a backpacking trip to North Carolina. Separated from technology and are bustling lives that main goal was bonding and finding a kinship within our community of eighth grade. To this day I do not think there is any place more genuine to bond with peers and spend time with others for there are no distractions and everyone is themselves. It is pretty cool how much serenity nature can bring to the mind. Thoreau was totally right on target hah
Nice post! Relating those kind of experiences really do help in understanding Thoreau. We have a condo in Colorado, and while we have a TV, it only has a couple of bad channels, so my family's forced to find other ways to actually interact with each other, and 90 percent of the time, board games are a lot more fun than watching TV! I also completely agree with Cristina's comment that the best way to bond with people is at a place with no distractions.
Nice post Jacqueline!
While I have never experienced anything to the extent of this family vacation of yours, I do have a cottage on a lake in Wisconsin. When we first bought the cottage, my family installed a TV. We used this for only a few visits until we realized that the vacation would be more fun if we spent time bonding instead of doing the things that always we do when we are home. So instead of watching TV at night, we play card and board games. I find that it is much more fun to look back at my times spent at the cottage when I am actually doing something as opposed to watching TV or playing on the computer. It seems that when people spend time away from modern day technology, they have fonder memories of their lives.
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