It was a warm day. After the long conversation with Mr. Smith, who impersonates Henry David Thoreau for seventeen years, I entered the reconstruction of Thoreau’s austere cottage. It is impressively modest and simple, which greatly exhibits Thoreau’s advocation for simplicity and transcendental spirit.

After reading his notable works and doing research about his experience at Walden, Massachusetts, I eventually fostered a feeling of empathy with Thoreau at the moment I stepped into the woods. Guided by Mr. Smith, we remained silent as we sauntered through the woods. I believe that I am following Thoreau’s footprints as his words recurred ceaselessly in my mind. Sunlight passed through the luxuriant trees. I closed my eyes, and the only sound I heard was formed by the interaction between leaves and the breeze. I imaged about Thoreau’s mood when he entered the woods centuries ago as I stepped on those crumbly fallen leaves on the path. I might be an interrupter in the wood, but I also felt that I am an insider who is integrated with the nature and history. I felt that I am living in Thoreau’s age.

My eagerness to discover the site of Walden Pond increased as I walked across the woods. Walden is definitely not that far from Concord. However, at the moment I reached the end of the woods and glanced at the Pond, I was convinced that Walden is definitely isolated from the civilized society in Concord. The original location of Thoreau’s cottage grants an opportunity to overlook the pond, which is clear and in absolute tranquillity. The surface of the pond is calm like a stainless mirror, and I did not dare to disturb this harmonious scene. I neither put off my shoes to step in water nor swim in the pond to feel the nature intimately. I only touch the water quietly with my fingers as I believe that the subtle ripple was already strong enough to prove my connection with the vast nature. A strange current passed through my body from my fingertip, and it seemed to infuse new energy into my soul.

I left the Walden Pond soon. As I stepped out the woods, the dazzling sunlight reminded me that I was back in the modern society.