New England and Massachusetts are famous, among others, for two things – the fall foliage and the author Henry David Thoreau. The former is the annual tourist attraction during the Fall when the leaves of the forest turns brilliant red, yellow, brown amid the evergreens. The entire landscape becomes a multicolored carpet against blue skies and white clouds (see http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/index.htm) . I wrote about this in my last blog article.  The latter’s poems and writings are world famous. Not long after he graduated from Harvard, he lived for 2 years alone (1845-47) in a primitive shed on the shores of Walden Pond where he wrote Walden, which is credited with helping to inspire awareness and respect for the natural environment and the birth of the conservation movement. The place is now a National Heritage historical landmark and in the state park system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Pond ; http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html

The Harvard Retiree Association sponsored a walk around the Pond this year on 10/14 to enjoy the fall foliage. We all brought our own lunch and took a leisurely walk around this Pond (about 3.2 km) and visited the replicated shed where Thoreau lived. I have done this several time before. But this time amid all of Nature’s glory, I cannot help but recall Thoreau’s poem "October is the month for painted leaves. Their rich glow now flashes round the world. As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year nears its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight” Henry Thoreau, Autumn Tints  which rivals and is more descriptive than the Chinese phrase  夕阳無限好, 只是近黄昏 and is an apt description of my own late life stage.

Professor Wang Hong Fei expressed regret that he did not have a chance due to time pressure to visit this famous landmark (http://www.sciencenet.cn/blog/user_content.aspx?id=6302 ) the last time he was here. Well, Hoingfei, here to your next visit. I promise we’ll go there together.

Below  are some photos taken at Walden

http://www.sinovision.net/newspaper.php?act=details&col_id=124&news_id=59880 )