Pond in Winter

While reading Thoreau’s Pond in Winter I kept thinking of my father’s side of the family who resided in the upper peninsula of Michigan during from the mid-1860’s on. The community in which my Dad resided was declining during his childhood but was once a large and productive fishing/logging/hunting community. Ice fishing was not just a past time but was a requirement. One of my uncles iced fished up until he died (mid-70’s) and loved the long and cold winters. In addition he loved to sleigh, skate and toboggan too. I really don’t know how he kept at it, life in the Upper Peninsula isn’t a piece of cake for anyone but it seems like it would be really rough on the older among us. But anyway, the ice fishing was what Thoreau would call “basic needs”. You want to eat? Then fish. Or hunt. Either way it took skill, time and patience. In this chapter Thoreau expressed a certain awe at the skills of the ice fisherman. Thoreau compares these men, who instinctively follow other fashions and trust other authorities than their townsmen to another group he later observes; a group of ice cutters who stockpile layers of ice for export and then watches it melt back into Walden Pond. He notes the difference between functional labor performed on behalf of our basic needs and those that are based on greed.
While reading sections of this book, my mind kept wandering back to my last trip to Michigan. There is something about being in the woods and observing nature that is really spiritual to me. And this book has struck a similar chord for some reason. The next time I go to the UP, I’ll remember to take this book.