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Description:

If you really want to let your hair down, Walden Pond is the place for you...unless you like that hair to be clean and full of volume, because there isn't a working shower around for miles.

Author:

Author / Thoreau - Henry David Thoreau

Language:

English Language

Subjects:

Tags:

Form / Biography

Common Core Standards:

Transcript

00:01
Wild, Wild Walden, a la Shmoop. <<In style of Dateline, special report type
00:05
video; narrator is anchor on show>>
00:06
Welcome back to… Inside the World’s Most Famous Ponds. I’m your host, Kelp McEvoy.
00:12
Tonight we explore Walden Pond. We will take a no-holds barred look at this… very reclusive
00:18
body of water.

00:19
In fact, it hasn’t made a single public appearance… ever.
00:26
What is Walden Pond, and why do we care?
00:29
Well, it is the subject of a work of classic literature. And there haven’t been too many
00:33
great books written about pond scum.
00:35
Unless you include Oliver Twist. That Bill Sikes was a baddie.
00:36
The author Henry David Thoreau spent two years living out his dream of relying on no one
00:42
but himself… and nature…
00:45
…by holing himself up in a little cabin right next to Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.
00:51
Rumor has it that he did have the occasional pizza delivered, but we cannot confirm those
00:57
reports. Located at 42.4 degrees north, 71.3 degrees
01:03
west…
01:04
…Walden is an unassuming little pond.
01:07
It is buried out in the middle of nowhere…
01:10
…and it has no desire for fame, or accolades, or attention.
01:14
It’s fine just chillaxing out there in the woods, enjoying the peace and quiet…
01:19
…and hanging with its good friend, Henry. The weather there is gorgeous…
01:25
…it never gets too terribly cold, and never gets too hot.
01:29
Like the baby bear in the famous fairy tale, it’s just right.
01:33
It does get its fair share of rainfall, but…
01:35
…being a pond, it doesn’t much worry about getting wet.
01:39
And what about its neighbor… Thoreau’s cabin?
01:41
It’s a tiny little thing… only ten by fifteen feet.
01:44
But Thoreau never needed that much room.
01:46
Besides, his butler could sleep outside. If you’re as fascinated by pond-living as
01:51
Thoreau was…
01:52
…and are feeling inspired to build your own cabin… you’ll have to look elsewhere.
01:57
Thoreau borrowed the land from his pal Ralph Waldo Emerson…
02:01
…and the site is now a state reservation.
02:04
Even the deer need to show proper identification just to get anywhere near it.
02:09
Yes, Walden is not your run of the mill pond.
02:11
We may never know all of its secrets…
02:13
…and perhaps we aren’t meant to. Thank you for joining us for this first edition
02:18
of Inside the World’s Most Famous Ponds.
02:21
Sadly, this will also be our final episode, as we could not think of another famous pond.
02:26
Ah, well. Thanks for the memories, everyone. Signing off.
Full Transcript