Feeling a little thoughtful tonight…
_________________________________________________
The physical domain of the country had its counterpart in me. The trails I made led
outward into the hills and swamps, but they led inward also. And from the study of things
underfoot, and from reading and thinking, came a kind of exploration, myself and the
land. In time the two became one in my mind. With the gathering force of an essential
thing realizing itself out of early ground, I faced in myself a passionate and tenacious
longing— to put away thought forever, and all the trouble it brings, all but the nearest
desire, direct and searching. To take the trail and not look back. Whether on foot, on
showshoes or by sled, into the summer hills and their late freezing shadows—a high
blaze, a runner track in the snow would show where I had gone. Let the rest of mankind
find me if it could.
john haines,the stars, theSnow,THE FIRE: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE
NORTHERN WILDERNESS
_________________________________________________
Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only
offered an escape from society but also was an ideal stage for the Romantic individual to
exercise the cult that he frequently made of his own soul. The solitude and total freedom
of the wilderness created a perfect setting for either melancholy or exultation.
roderick nash,wilderness and the american mind
_________________________________________________
two years he walks the earth. no phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. ultimate
freedom. an extremist. anaesthetic voyager whose home is the road. escaped from
atlanta. thou shalt not return, ’cause “the west is the best. ” and now after two rambling
years comes the final and greatest adventure. the climactic battle to kill the false being
within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution. ten days and nights of freight
trains and hitchhiking bring him to the great white north. no longer to be poisoned by
civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to becomelost in the wild.
alexander supertrampMAY1992
_________________________________________________
Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human
eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so
inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music,
or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!
_________________________________________________
I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for
happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to
people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to
them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music,
love for one’s neighbor—such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you
for a mate, and children, perhaps—what more can the heart of a man desire?
