Thoreau went to see the ocean - and shipwrecks

let your enthusiasm guide you through the world!

Henry David Thoreau went to Cape Cod to get a better look at the ocean - “which, we are told, covers more than two thirds of the globe, but of which a man who lives a few miles inland may never see any trace.”

He arrived two years after his years at Walden Pond, in October 1849, New England’s best month - “I never saw an autumnal landscape so beautifully painted as this was. It was like the richest rug imaginable spread over an uneven surface…”

I discovered this book at the little house on the Cape last week. Had I ever known Thoreau went to Cape Cod? I associate him so much with Walden - the only required reading in school - that I had either forgotten or never knew it in the first place. Either way, it was a delightful discovery!

We stayed where Thoreau did, in Eastham, and followed his route (by car and bike) to Provincetown (23 miles by road, 27 by wandering foot?).

Side note: if you ever have the chance to rent an e-bike, DO IT!!!! Long distances are oh so much more enjoyable, especially when you can pull right up behind your husband who is not on an e-bike and gleefully holler, chop chop!

The book begins with Thoreau’s writings of shipwrecks as he observed the dead being pulled from the watery deep (which he purposely and hurriedly went to observe).

I LOVE this idea (not necessarily the dead bodies and shipwrecks part) of following your curiosities, learning what you don’t yet know, and then writing it down. Who knows? Our enthusiasms could very well turn into the next book!

Have you ever had a teacher or a friend that speaks so enthusiastically about a subject that you can’t help but be excited, too? I mean, Catherine of Aragon’s (Henry VIII’s first and banished wife) birthday is on our family calendar due to my oldest daughter’s GREAT passion and enthusiasm! (it’s June 24, btw).

Thoreau’s Cape Cod enthusiasm and dry observations are striking and evocative (and I only just scratched the surface of this book) - and surprisingly funny. He is such a superb observer of the smallest things (like sand!), with the ability to focus his attention and stay there until he has the right words.

I admit, I’m jealous. And want to throw my smart phone into the ocean. I have allowed it to make me incredibly distractible and unfocused.

cape cod; so many details to observe

I shudder to imagine Thoreau watching Tik Tok videos as he walked the along seashores of the Atlantic. Instead he focuses, and describes the land’s sandiness:

The plowed fields of the Cape look white and yellow, like a mixture of salt and Indian meal. This is called soil.

Windmills looked like -

huge wounded birds, trailing a wing or a leg.

Thoreau’s hand drawn map:

“I have spent, in all, about three weeks on the Cape; walked from Eastham to Provincetown twice on the Atlantic side, and once on the Bay side also…but having come so fresh to the sea, I have got but little salted.”

I’m inspired to be curious and enthusiastic about the world, the “unwearied and illimitable ocean,” and the people around me.

Did you know? The etymology of the word enthusiastic is Greek for “possessed by a God”; a person believing he or she is divinely inspired (kindof love that).

On a more personal note -

Curiosity, and an enthusiastic interest led me to Laura and James, who inspired the characters of Vienna and Jed in my first novel, The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair.

I’m thinking a lot about Laura these days. She died this month, at the age of 51 from complications of a brain event that occurred when she was just 22-years-old and deprived her of oxygen for too long. When she woke up, she remembered nothing after the age of thirteen (she was married with two small children).

I’m thankful to Laura’s husband, James, who spent so much time with me, telling me their story, including so many personal details of the brain event and aftermath, all the anguish, suffering, and hope. The way I was led to the story, and James’ willingness to lay it all for me never felt coincidental - and it led to much more curiosities and learning about the brain.

There are illimitable things to be fascinated by in this world.

Thoreau went to the ocean to observe how the land meets the sea. His Cape Cod writings didn’t gain much appreciation until after his death (at the young age of 44!) but they have lasted, 150 years later…

“His is still the best book about the best part of the Cape - that great unbroken outer beach that runs from Eastham to Provincetown, and that still looks almost exactly the way Thoreau saw it when he walked it a hundred and fifty years ago.”

-Robert Richardson, from the foreward:

I hope you will enthusiastically go to the places that call to you. And then tell us about it. Write it down.

Amy

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Last Words:

Read: You can read Thoreau’s Cape Cod for FREE, HERE~

Thoreau for Kids: I want to buy all of these books, including the journal

Reading: Beach Read by Emily Henry

Eating: Cherries are in season! I love them so much I buy whole bags and consume quickly (potassium, fiber, Vitamin C, anti-oxidants!)

Playing: Summer soccer…I need a new pair of cleats. Do I buy a new pair at age 49??? I can’t seem to hang up this sport…

Pre-order: On August 6th, The McNifficents is out in paperback! Pre-orders are a really big deal and I REALLY appreciate your order and/or review.

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