A Mothers Day Gift

A) Mother’s Day is right around the corner
B) Each year she receives the same exact gift
A) I know it’s Mother’s Day, weather is warmer
B) maybe we will give her something we craft

C) She said something about a certain ring
D) sometimes we play golf and go out to eat
C) i don’t understand why gifts are a thing
D) but each year we get them and they always repeat

E) I want to give her something that she likes
F) I am not sure what I have no idea
E) she definitely does not want a kite
F) She will never want a trip to Korea

G) Maybe she doesn’t want anything at all
G) I will think about this later, time for baseball

Thoreau’s View On Work And Money

Money isn't everything. Do you get married because of money? Do you have kids because of money? - Walter Payton

    Money isn’t everything. Henry David Thoreau believed that life was to precious to work all the time. He wanted only wanted to work as much as he needed. Thoreau writes,“For more than five years I maintained myself thus solely by the labor of my hands, and I found that, by working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living.” He found the concept of work to be set back and that it often slows people down. He said that in a race between a train and a man on foot, a man on foot will always win. He states this because in a race from Concord to Fitchburg a train ticket costs one dollar, which is about as much as a days work. So, instead of working a full day and riding the train later he argues that its faster to just walk. Thoreau writes,

“I start now on foot, and get there before night; I have travelled at that rate by the week together. You will in the meanwhile have earned your fare, and arrive there some time tomorrow, or possibly this evening. Walking may be more tiring and more painful, but instead of wasting money and waiting an extra day you can get there on time without wasting money.”

Thoreau is correct, the man had to get one days work of money to pay for the train ride. By the time he had got the money, Thoreau would already be in Fitchburg. This feeds off of the idea of money isn’t everything. People only need as much as they need to live. People may work hard to pay for a lovely vacation but of course this isn’t necessary. Going back to the first quote, six weeks could pay all of the expenses of living. Money and work can be done quickly and the rest of the time being free. People may choose to work more to buy fancy and cool things but Thoreau knows this aren’t a necessity and those things aren’t part of his lifestyle. Living like Thoreau is not a lifestyle that most will choose but it is a way of living. There is more to life than money and work.

The Bus

“You can't get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you're doing. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself.”
-Alan Alda

I am from the bus. The rides to hockey, lacrosse, football, class trips, and service projects. I have made endless memories from the fenn vans, although it may be an unexpected place it is a place I am comfortable with and one that is with all my friends and teammates. I usually take the bus from sports games and it allows me to connect with my teammates in ways I never could have before. The rides are always fun and memorable and I know I will miss them. I remember during the hockey season before practice we used to make a lot of noise and rock the bus before coach was on it and before we left Fenn. We would blast the music and start yelling to the song and singing with it, then Teddy would run from one side of the bus to the other rocking the bus. Another tradition we had was to always tape our sticks in an odd way that was unique to each of us. I remember Andrew Pesce had a tape job he called the mega sock and taped from the toe of his stick half way up the shaft. Nobody would show their tape jobs until they were done and when they were revealed everyone went crazy and it got us pumped for the game. Even though some people may not have had fun or disliked the bus rides I feel that it brought our team closer together. It made everyone on the team closer and they helped me get to know everyone on the team. These bus rides were important to our success and undefeated season because of how close we all were. They made us want to help each other in the corners and in battles all over the ice, we had each other’s back. The Fenn bus hasn’t always been an eventful place, but I look forward to it every time because I’m with my best friends and it makes me happy.

Nature

My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature.

Claude Monet

             I walked down the rocky path through the woods with one goal in mind, just get to the lake and relax. Just get their and fish, don’t worry about school or homework don’t worry about anything, just relax. I walked out onto the long wood dock and I noticed a tall oak tree leaning over the water looking like it may fall. I saw its reflection which pointed to directly at my rod and reminded me I came here to fish and relax. I sat down, dipped my feet into the ice water, tied my lure and casted, disturbing the perfectly flat water. I watched the ripples spread and it made me feel like i was home. My mind shifted and I wasn’t thinking about anything, i wasn’t worried about anything, and i wasn’t stressed about anything. I was just sitting on the dock waiting for a bite. It was just me and the beautiful scenery enjoying everything it has to offer. I had distanced myself from people, technology, work. I got a nibble and my rod shifted, a bigger bite and my rod bent toward the water, I yanked my rod back and I felt ahold of the fish, I knew I hooked it. I started to reel and I saw the fish surface about 10 yards out. I relied harder and noticed the fish was within an arms length, so I reached out and grabbed the line. I pulled up the fish and realized it was one the biggest bass I’ve ever pulled out of the lake. I quickly grabbed my phone and took a picture documenting it all. I was able to relax and enjoy one of the most peaceful days I have had in a while. 

What We Need VS. What We Don’t 

Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth

- Henry David Thoreau, Walden

           Not everyone needs what they have. In Henry David Thoreau’s first chapter of Walden, “Economy”, he considers life’s necessities and how people spoil themselves. To him, necessities other than, food, water, and shelter, shouldn’t be clothes we don’t need or house we work extremely hard for when it’s not worth it. I agree that people shouldn’t work and slave themselves for half their life to have a fancy house. I also agree not everyone needs clothes to just have and let them sit in their closet. We shouldn’t work extra hours or put in extra time just to waste money on things nobody needs or things we may never use more than once.

Most Valuable Parts Of Life

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

Dalai Lama

Food, water, and shelter are the necessities of life, but there is more to it. Sure, you may be able to survive and function, but your life wouldn’t be any fun and you couldn’t do anything. On my list of life’s necessities, imagination is right behind food, shelter, and water. My imagination can take me to millions of places and has no limits. Our imaginations can create fun when we have nothing to do and they can keep us entertained for hours and hours each day. Just last week I was playing street hockey in my drive way when it turned into game seven of the Stanley cup final. I was the heart and sole of my team and I was carrying us through the playoffs and we were closing in on a Stanley cup. I was out there for hours just playing and using my imagination to put in a position in which I could have more fun and enjoy my time even more. This is just a small example and experience, but I was able to stretch a couple of misuse of playing around in my drive way into hours of fun playing in the NHL. Our imaginations are overlooked and we use them more then we actually think. It is one of our greatest skills and are a lot fun when we use them. Food, water, and shelter are life’s key necessities, but without an imagination you would end up driving yourself crazy and not enjoying yourself. Our imaginations open up endless opportunities and can take you places nothing else can. 

Seasonal Haikus

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
― Albert Camus

Spring Haiku

When I wrote these Haikus I was thinking about what happens in the spring and how I could translate it into a haiku. For example I wrote about nature and animals returning from hibernation. I wrote about this because I feel it sums up spring in an accurate way and would make a nice Haiku. 

The afternoon light

sun was shining ice melting

The birds start chirping

The flowers blooming 

The leaves begin to grow

Spring is in the air

Mud begins to soften

Water ruins the yard 

But it means springs here

The squirrels running

The acorns begin to fall

Winter is over

Summer Haiku

For my summer Haiku I thought about what I do during the summer and what the summer is like. I wrote about baseball, the ocean, and my alone time out on the water. I felt like these were great Haikus because I wasn’t always talking about summer, just what I like to do durning summer. 

Warmer weather

Ocean breeze and sand

Fun and memories

Popcorn fills my nose

The crowd shouts and roars

Baseball’s back and so is summer

Boats humming

Friends laughing and screaming 

Water splashing sun shining 

The smell of fresh air

Fishing alone and savoring the alone time

The best part of summer

Fall haiku

Fall is my favorite time of year. It means hockey is beginning to start, the leaves are changing color, and it’s the most exciting time for sports. Fall is a pretty season and I wanted to portray that in my Haikus. 

Baseball postseason

Footballs opening day

Means fall is here

The leaves change color

Cool air hibernating animals 

Fall is here

Water freezes

Leaves fall grass turns brown

The best season

Winter around the corner

Hockey season in full swing

Bare trees and brown yards

Winter haiku

For me, Winter is one of the most fun times of the year. There are so many possibilities for fun, like making snow forts, sledding, and making hockey rinks our on the pond. I have so much fun in the winter and I wanted to express that is these Haiku. 

Animals in hibernation 

The ponds begin to freeze 

Warm smells fill the air

Snowflakes start to fall

None similar to the others

All are unique 

Plows guard the streets

Kids begin make to make forts

Sledding season in full swing

Frozen ponds 

Makeshifts hockey rinks

Endless fun for the whole season

Hidden Meanings

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

The meaning of something isn’t always on the surface, sometimes it’s buried. This is the case for most sentences in Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. Walden is filled with sentences that make you think and cause you to look for a deeper meaning. It’s a book filled with knowledge and important lessons hidden inside each sentence. It’s hard to find these hidden meanings but, if you slow down and try to understand each and every word they are there and can be noticed. You have to look past the literal meanings and look for a deeper meaning. If you do, you will be able to understand why Walden is so famous and you will come out with new knowledge and lessons that can be carried over to our own lives. If you find the deeper meanings your experience reading the book will be much more enjoyable. 

Throughout the first few pages it is easy to notice the constant metaphors and messages Thoreau is trying to relay to us, but not everyone is able to notice the other pieces of knowledge he’s trying to convey. On the first page Thoreau writes about how young men he knows have had a misfortune in which they inherited farms, houses, barns, and cattle. This forces them to live a certain life. Then he goes on to ask a series of questions, one is, “Why should they begin digging their graves as soon as they are born?” Literally, this question makes know sense, and it’s not supposed to. We need to look for a deeper meaning and if we do we could understand that Thoreau is asking why we care so much about our legacy. Even at a young age we think about what we want our life to be about instead of living in the moment and creating our own path based on what we are given. It could also mean that even when we are given something or we inherit it, it shouldn’t change our lives and we should live how we want to. This is a pretty obvious example and is just one of many throughout the book. It’s a lesson that’s easy to understand, but can easily be passed over if it’s not looked for. 

Later in the same chapter he wrote about his elders and how they have never been able to teach him anything and how life is always changing and their teachings are no longer relevant to him. These thought cause him to consider life itself and when he does this he comes across this point: “Here is life, an experiment to a great extent untried by me; but it does not avail me that they have tried it." This makes no sense literally, but if we look deeper we can understand that it’s obvious he is saying that life itself is an experiment where people find new things and come up with new ideas which he hasn’t tried yet and he doesn’t think his elders haven’t tried it either. He’s trying to tell us that people can say what ever they want, but they don’t truly know what they are talking about until they try it themselves. 

Walden isn’t just a story it is a book filled with pieces of knowledge and advice. Theses pieces of advice and knowledge aren’t always visible, but if you take the time to look for them and try to understand each sentence you come out with key information that can help us in our personal lives. Each sentence is more than what the words make it out to be, they all have deeper meanings that are powerful, but not always noticed. 

“Poetry comes from the highest happiness or the deepest sorrow”
-Abdul Kalam 

When I stumbled along the poem, I Wish Life Was As Simple, it immediately clicked with me. I was able to relate with it right away because I too wish life was a simple as fixing an old lawn mower and we didn’t have all the secondary school stress, homework, or struggle to get back into the school routine after break. This poem clicks with me because I was thinking about how complicated life is right before I found it was the perfect poem for me during that moment. 

The next poem I read was, A Poem Begins In A Silky Wiry Mesh, When I saw the title I thought this would help spark me with my own poem, but I reviled it was a big metaphor for how complicated life is and the wiry mesh is referring to confusion and how complicated life can be. This poem really clicked with me because not everything comes easy and sometimes it can lead to a bunch of confusion that can be turned into something beautiful. 

The next poem I read was Yesterday, Did Not Become A Poem, this Poem made me think back to summer and how easy life was. The days where and how I was able to just sit back and relax without doing anything. There was no pressure on me to do anything and I could just relax and not do anything important or interesting without a care in the world. 

The wall created a frame

The trees gave it texure 

The grass set the time of year 

The water opened up my imagination 

The sky made it pretty

But it’s a one time thing 

Leaves will grow

The grass will become green

The water will be filled with life

The sky will change from pink to blue

But the window I’m looking out of will never change

Who is this kid in the mirror  

Staring back at me

With green eyes and brown hair

A look of sadness of his face

Unsure of what to do next

Who is this kid in the mirror 

Run down and tired from all his long days

And chasing his goals

No time to waste 

He just needs a relaxing place

Who is this kid in the mirror 

The innocent boy

Caught up in life’s complexity 

Wishing he could go back to when times where easy

Who is this kid in the mirror 

It doesn’t seem familiar 

I look deeper then I realize it is really me

The door slammed

The engines turned over 

The radio buzzed

I clicked my seatbelt 

I was ready for yet another car ride

To school and back Monday through Friday

They all started and ended with a car ride