Blog | In Thoreau's Footsteps

March 28. Water trail discoveries in Artemis's wild - Downriver to Ball's Hill

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Mar 28, 20215 min read

March 28. Water trail discoveries in Artemis's wild - Downriver to Ball's Hill

March 28, 1859. P. M. Paddle to the Bedford line. As we were paddling over the Great Meadows, I saw at a distance, high in the air above...

March 27. Bald-headed raptors, both reviled & revered - To Fairhaven Cliffs

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Mar 27, 20213 min read

March 27. Bald-headed raptors, both reviled & revered - To Fairhaven Cliffs

March 27, 1842. Sunday. The eye must be firmly anchored to this earth which beholds birches and pines waving in the breeze in a certain...

March 26. Stoneflies, recurring avians & river scum - To Egg Rock & up Assabet River

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Mar 26, 20213 min read

March 26. Stoneflies, recurring avians & river scum - To Egg Rock & up Assabet River

March 26, 1853. P. M. Up Assabet to stone-heaps, in boat. A warm, moist, April-like afternoon, with wet-looking sky, and misty. For the...

March 12. Golden-lit, tawny & surrounded by blue - To October Farm waterfront and Ball's Hill

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Mar 12, 20213 min read

March 12. Golden-lit, tawny & surrounded by blue - To October Farm waterfront and Ball's Hill

March 12, 1854. P. M. To Ball's Hill along river. Saw some ducks, black and white, —perhaps teal or widgeons. This great expanse of...

March 10. A springlike rhapsody in blue, w/ a solo by a wild canine predator - To Nut Meadow Brook

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Mar 10, 20213 min read

March 10. A springlike rhapsody in blue, w/ a solo by a wild canine predator - To Nut Meadow Brook

March 10, 1853. This is the first really spring day. The sun is brightly reflected from all surfaces…. P. M. To Second Division Brook....

March 2. Invisible spirits playing water tag - To Lupine Hill and Sudbury River

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Mar 2, 20214 min read

March 2. Invisible spirits playing water tag - To Lupine Hill and Sudbury River

March 2, 1860. 2 P.M. Thermometer 50. …. There is a strong westerly wind to-day, though warm, and we sit under Dennis's Lupine...

Feb. 27. A winter freshet in sepia tones - To French's Meadow

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Feb 27, 20213 min read

Feb. 27. A winter freshet in sepia tones - To French's Meadow

Feb. 27, 1854. Morning. - Rain over; water in great part run off; wind rising; river risen and meadows flooded. The rain-water and melted...

Feb. 19. An otherworldly walk on water - Across White Pond

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Feb 19, 20214 min read

Feb. 19. An otherworldly walk on water - Across White Pond

Feb. 19, 1852. .... To White Pond. Considering the melon-rind arrangement of the clouds, by an ocular illusion the bars appearing to...

Feb. 16. Foggy atmospherics & brilliant lichens - To Walden, Emerson Cliff & Heywood Brook

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Feb 16, 20214 min read

Feb. 16. Foggy atmospherics & brilliant lichens - To Walden, Emerson Cliff & Heywood Brook

Feb. 16, 1855. Still rains a little this morning. .... Ground half bare, but frozen and icy yet. P.M. To Cliff via Spanish Brook. A...

Feb. 8. Ancient blueberry descendants - To Goose Pond

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Feb 8, 20213 min read

Feb. 8. Ancient blueberry descendants - To Goose Pond

Feb. 8, 1858. P.M. To Walden and Goose Pond. I walked about Goose Pond, looking for the large blueberry bushes. I see many which have...

Feb. 5. Fox ghost from the past - To J. Brown's Pond on Hosmer Land

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Feb 5, 20213 min read

Feb. 5. Fox ghost from the past - To J. Brown's Pond on Hosmer Land

Feb. 5, 1854. P. M. To walk. Begins to snow. At Hubbard's blueberry swamp woods, near the bathing-place, came across a fox's track,...

Feb. 2. Animal tracking in a Nor’easter snowfall wilderness - To Egg Rock

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Feb 2, 20213 min read

Feb. 2. Animal tracking in a Nor’easter snowfall wilderness - To Egg Rock

Feb. 2, 1855. Quite clear and colder, yet it could not refrain from snowing half an inch more in the night, whitening the ground now, as...

Jan. 31. Eponymous erratics, patterned ice & pitch pine progeny - To Thoreau Farm & Two-Boulder Hill

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Jan 31, 20213 min read

Jan. 31. Eponymous erratics, patterned ice & pitch pine progeny - To Thoreau Farm & Two-Boulder Hill

Jan. 31, 1860. 2 P. M. To Bedford Level. Thermometer 45. Fair but all overcast. Sun's place quite visible. Wind southwest. Went to what...

Jan. 27. Ice organ pipes, tinted clouds & duets' footprints - To Fairhaven Cliffs & Walden

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Jan 27, 20213 min read

Jan. 27. Ice organ pipes, tinted clouds & duets' footprints - To Fairhaven Cliffs & Walden

Jan. 27, 1855. Yesterday's driving easterly snow-storm turned to sleet in the evening, and then to rain, and this morning it is clear...

Jan. 21. The beauty of decaying stumps - Around Andromeda Ponds to Fairhaven Cliffs.

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Jan 21, 20212 min read

Jan. 21. The beauty of decaying stumps - Around Andromeda Ponds to Fairhaven Cliffs.

Jan. 21, 1855. 2.30 P.M. — The sky has gradually become overcast, and now it is just beginning to snow. Looking against a dark roof, I...

Jan. 16. Distant hues & busy sparrows - Down Minuteman Trail & around Smith Hill

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Jan 16, 20213 min read

Jan. 16. Distant hues & busy sparrows - Down Minuteman Trail & around Smith Hill

Jan. 16, 1860. P. M. Down Boston road around Quail Hill. Very warm. —45 degrees at 2 P.M. There is a tender crust on the snow, and the...

Jan. 14. Celebrating Half-way Day with withered flowers - To Lindentree Farm

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Jan 14, 20213 min read

Jan. 14. Celebrating Half-way Day with withered flowers - To Lindentree Farm

Jan. 14, 1852. When I see the dead stems of the tansy, goldenrod, johnswort, asters, hardback, etc., etc., rising above the snow by the...

Jan. 10. Winter cheer among lively catkins, a charismatic redhead & spectral purity - Up Assabet

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Jan 10, 20215 min read

Jan. 10. Winter cheer among lively catkins, a charismatic redhead & spectral purity - Up Assabet

Jan. 10., 1859. P.M. Up Assabet.... Cold weather at last; 8 this forenoon. This is much the coldest afternoon to bear as yet, but, cold...

Jan. 8. Reflective waters, orchard visitors & forgotten landmarks - To Estabrook Woods via river

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Jan 8, 20212 min read

Jan. 8. Reflective waters, orchard visitors & forgotten landmarks - To Estabrook Woods via river

Jan. 8., 1855. 7.30 A.M. To river. Still warm and cloudy, but with a great crescent of clear sky increasing in the north by west. The...

Jan. 7. Evasive species: muskrat, bobcat & owl - To Ministerial Swamp

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Jan 7, 20213 min read

Jan. 7. Evasive species: muskrat, bobcat & owl - To Ministerial Swamp

Jan. 7, 1854. Saturday. Thaw ended. Cold last night; rough walking; snow crusted. P. M. To Ministerial Swamp. The bare larch trees...