Emerson on Thoreau

He loved Nature so well, was so happy in her solitude, that he became jealous of cities, and the sad work which their refinements and artifices made with man and his dwelling.
The axe was always destroying his forest.
" Thank God," he said, "they cannot cut down the clouds!"

The Field of Arbol

sometimes i go to my driveway, in the middle of this cookie cutter nieghborhood, and lay down on my back and stare at the sky. since it is coming on Fall, i can see everything better. the stars are nice if i can cover up the glow of the streetlight. people drive by and wonder if a man has been shot and lays dead in a quiet driveway of a quiet house.

i dont think they realize what beauty stands above their heads.

p.s. i just wigged out on trent's website.

Centuries- Thomas Traherne
Dark Night of the Soul- St. John of the Cross
A Sand County Almanac- Aldo Leopold
The Fellowship of the Ring- J.R.R. Tolkein