Aug 1, 2009
Today, I’m going to read you an abridged version of another book by Thoreau, this one titled Walking, which Thoreau written in 1861. This was an essay that was presented as a lecture and published after his death in 1862, this essay, lecture and book has become one of THE most important written works in the environmental movement.
So why am I reading this on a podcast about running? Is it because I canoed up the Allagash River Waterway in the Maine North Woods where Thoreau himself spent time and experienced the beauty of the wilderness? Partly, yes. But it’s also because I think his message is important, especially today where technology is daring to alter the very nature of our tiny blue bubble in space. This Earth is all we have, the other celestial possibilities for distant continents such as the Moon and Mars are volatile places or rock and rust, deadly radiation and bitter cold.
Henry David Thoreau saw the beauty of nature and sought to impress upon his readers a desire to preserve it. “….In Wildness is the preservation of the World” he wrote. And on the Allagash River, in the wilderness that he so loved; I can think of no better way to tell you of his thoughts, opinions, observations and rambling diatribes.
You and I are fellow runners; and we run across the same blue bubble that Thoreau walked upon. Listen carefully to his message and think about how precious our world really is.
Show Links:
http://www.gutenberg.org
The song “The Wild Rover” was by the band Bill Grogans Goat
http://billgrogansgoat.com
http://www.worldwidefestivalofraces.com
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