More Thoreau

knownWe have a picture of Thoreau as a hermit in the deep woods, but he lived just a mile from Emerson’s home in town, within hearing of Concord’s church bells. He also lived within close proximity of his mother, who did his laundry for him—in exchange, lest this seem a one-sided favor, for handyman jobs around Mrs. Thoreau’s Main Street home. He did odd jobs for other people in Concord as well, often in exchange for meals, and he set a good table himself, once, it’s said, hosting a supper party for twenty-five people in his small one-room cabin.

Thoreau’s notion of self-sufficiency did not involve standoffishness, then, and it made ample room for conviviality and company. Let’s not incorrectly remember him, on this anniversary, as a loner, but instead as an ardent student of simplicity, pleasure, and the best of the good life, dinner and drinks included.