Cotton Reel

I was perhaps fifteen when I first heard of Henry David Thoreau. I wasn’t impressed. It sounded as if he was a self-satisfied grumpy old man – a hermit who shunned society, technology and progress. And a freeloader. Wasn’t he living rent-free on someone else’s land? I couldn’t see why anyone would view him as a role model. But then, another fifteen years later, I actually read his book. I’ve learned more about him since then. For one thing, I’ve been pronouncing his name wrong. When present-day family members say their last name, it rhymes with Zorro. His Walden home wasn’t in the wilderness; it was an easy fifteen-minute walk from town. Thoreau frequently entertained guests in town and at Walden pond. He built the little house with the consent of the land owner, and it was given over at the end of the experiment. Moral of the story: making assumptions about people you don’t know well can be a dangerous habit.