Watercoloring and Reading Thoreau

“Twenty-three years since, when I was five years old, I was brought from Boston to this pond, away in the country, – which was then but another name for the extended world for me,  – one of the most ancient scenes stamped on the tablets of my memory, the oriental Asiatic valley of my world, whence so many races and inventions have gone forth in recent times. That woodland vision for a long time made the drapery of my dreams.”

Henry David Thoreau, Journal, August 6, 1845

I had learned from a Walter Harding lecture that Thoreau had first experienced Walden Pond as a five year old. This morning I finally came across these words while reading his Journal and enjoying my time at lakeside. I’ve been so busy with painting this summer that this quiet respite has brought soothing thoughts to my soul.