I sometimes like to go for a lunchtime
walk at Ramapo
Valley County Reservation in Mahwah. It makes me think of what
Walden Pond must
have been like, except at Ramapo Reservation you have walking paths
worn from too many suburbanites walking their dogs and carrying the
poop around in bags. Some are even wearing flip-flops while they do this! This is why no one writes a book about a place
like Walden Pond or Ramapo Reservation anymore. You can't have your
mind ascend to literary heights when you are carrying, or surrounded
by people who are carrying, bags of dog doo-doo and wearing flip-flops. Besides that little
difference, Ramapo Reservation is probably quite similar to Walden
Pond. Well, then there's another thing I just thought of. Maybe the
signage that prohibits horses, guns, swimming, etc. is another
important difference. I think I'd like to take it back. Maybe it's
not like Walden Pond after all. Maybe the progress of civilization
from traversing amidst raw, pristine beauty to people walking around
listening to music on iPods or talking on cell phones in
semi-pristine beauty carrying dog poop in newspaper bags is not at
all like Thoreau's Walden. But then again, I just looked at
the web site about Walden Pond and it looks like they have a gift
shop there. So much for pristine beauty.
My first book, Touching Other Worlds: A Collection of Poems , has now been published. This collection of poems was primarily inspired by my visits to Flat Rock Brook Nature Center in Englewood, New Jersey and a two-month special assignment for UPS commuting to New York City. (You can get a lot of writing done while riding a bus to and from New York City.) It is available online through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Click here to print version of Touching Other Worlds on Amazon Click here to Amazon Kindle version of Touching Other Worlds on Amazon Click here to see Touching Other Worlds at Barnes and Noble Click here to LIKE Touching Other Worlds on Facebook