On October 22, 1853 Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal, “As for the complex ways of living, I love them not, however much I practice them. In as many places as possible, I will get my feet down to the earth.” It sounds nice but isn’t this merely the rumination of a 19th Century […]
Read more "Crippling Complexity"Jim Payne writes in praise of curiosity itself in his most recent adventure travel book, Chasing Thoreau. Some might begin this volume thinking they’ll enjoy a fine adventure along with Jim on the waters of the Merrimack and Concord. Others might seek out the bits of religious enlightenment concealed within. But the common thread throughout these few days on the water, as throughout the life of Dr. James Payne, is certainly curiosity.
Read more "Book Review: “Chasing Thoreau” by Jim Payne"At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. H.D. Thoreau “Walden” Andrew and I started by taking the windshield wipers off then removed nuts and bolts […]
Read more "Diagnostics"“It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still […]
Read more "More on the Map to Trails Untried, Untrod"“It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still […]
Read more "The Map to Trails Untried, Untrod"My book is about getting back to reality, the story of one man who chose to live close to the natural, the elemental. It’s a story I think our society could perhaps use right now. Why do I love nature and wilderness? In a nutshell, it keeps me tied to reality. It offers a point […]
Read more "Back to Reality"
the dying fish 