1st Journal Entry

In early December, my parents and I took a trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania. Even though I have lived in Pennsylvania my whole life, this was the first time I have ever been to Hershey, and the first time I have seen Harrisburg. Obviously, Pittsburgh and central Pennsylvania are very different. On the Turnpike, we drove past quite a few farms, and saw cows, horses, and sheep. At one point – I think it was on the way back – my mom started counting silos, and I think she got up to around 20. Farming is probably not as common of a way to make a living as it was in Thoreau’s day; and even in his day, Thoreau did not see it as a viable way to live a fulfilling life. For example, he says, “I was more independent than any farmer in Concord, for I was not anchored to a house or farm, but could follow the bent of my genius, which is a very crooked one, every moment. Besides being better off than they already, if my house had been burned or my crops had failed, I should have been nearly as well off as before” (41). Like we discussed in class, Thoreau did not have to worry about money because he had friends in high places; anybody who must earn a living to support themselves and their families does not have the same opportunity as Thoreau did to not worry about their house burning down. And in today’s world, being a farmer seems, at least to me, to be an occupation much closer to nature than that of, for example, a businessman. And to be honest, driving past the farms on the Turnpike was rather isolating, so perhaps Thoreau would not be completely against it. At least coming from Pittsburgh and the parking lot outside the Subway, miles of farmhouses and snow seemed quite far removed from civilization. Of course, there were billboards the whole way, and huge trucks, which I am sure Thoreau would not have appreciated. But we were still trying to get to more civilization; we were not there yet. Some of the billboards were for hotels – a promise of civilization, instead of civilization itself.

As was mentioned in class, Thoreau was not a huge fan of connecting the country – with the telegraph, for example (39) – so he probably would not have been a fan of highways. We also discussed how he seemed to not like the Irish, who were building the railroads. But it is funny how nature can be a part of the highways. On our way to Hershey, we had to pass through 3 tunnels, which took us through the mountains – which, obviously, had been there first. And it had snowed; if the snow had been too bad, the highway would have been closed, and we would not have been able to make our trip. On our way back, we drove into a snowstorm; pulling in at a rest stop, the ground was covered in slushy snow.

I was very glad to take that trip with my parents. If I had taken it alone, I do not know that I would have had even half of the fun that I did. I think Thoreau is missing that: Yes, you can live alone in nature and leave society behind, but it is not always rewarding to be alone.