A Tribute to White Pond
By Robert Gerzon
Falling in love
Soon after moving to Concord I fell in love...twice.
First I fell in love with my future wife, Christine. She introduced me to my second love, White Pond. I remember how happy I was to swim in those clear, refreshing waters that first summer.
Thoreau loved White Pond much as he did Walden, calling it a "gem of the woods" and a "Lake of Light." Like Thoreau, I quickly became enchanted with the pond near my home.
As I got to know the area better, I explored the conservation land at the western end of the Pond. I began taking frequent walks in the woods, discovering picturesque trails, magnificent views, a primeval swamp, and an abandoned railroad track that led me to other natural landscapes.
Sometimes I walk alone; at other times with companions. Four generations of my family have enjoyed the physical and spiritual rejuvenation of this natural sanctuary.
I am grateful to live near this Pond and experience its ever-changing beauty throughout the seasons.
In early spring on White Pond's bare brown slopes, nature begins to weave a delicate tapestry of tender green leaves and pastel blossoms. In summer, the pond wears a verdant wreath around her sky blue waters. In autumn, her slopes are aflame with orange and scarlet foliage, painting her rippled waters in multicolored hues. In winter, the pond freezes into a crystalline diamond, set into snow white slopes etched by the dark lines of trunks and branches.
A connection with nature
Like many Concordians, I have a deep need to spend part of each day in nature. Surrounded by residential areas, this small corridor of pond, woods and wetlands provides an essential connection to nature for humans as well as a refuge for local and migratory wildlife.
I learned more about the history of this area. I began to picture the English settlers from an earlier time, the surrounding farmlands and woodlots.
I became more aware of the Native Americans who once called this land their home. For thousands of years they swam in these waters, caught fish and grew corn and squash in nearby fields (as Verrill Farm continues to do today).
Like Emerson, I could almost "see the sachem in his canoe in a shadowy cove." The Native Americans inspire me as sustainable stewards who passed these lands and waters in their original purity to future generations.
Falling in love
Soon after moving to Concord I fell in love...twice.
First I fell in love with my future wife, Christine. She introduced me to my second love, White Pond. I remember how happy I was to swim in those clear, refreshing waters that first summer.
Thoreau loved White Pond much as he did Walden, calling it a "gem of the woods" and a "Lake of Light." Like Thoreau, I quickly became enchanted with the pond near my home.
As I got to know the area better, I explored the conservation land at the western end of the Pond. I began taking frequent walks in the woods, discovering picturesque trails, magnificent views, a primeval swamp, and an abandoned railroad track that led me to other natural landscapes.
Sometimes I walk alone; at other times with companions. Four generations of my family have enjoyed the physical and spiritual rejuvenation of this natural sanctuary.
I am grateful to live near this Pond and experience its ever-changing beauty throughout the seasons.
In early spring on White Pond's bare brown slopes, nature begins to weave a delicate tapestry of tender green leaves and pastel blossoms. In summer, the pond wears a verdant wreath around her sky blue waters. In autumn, her slopes are aflame with orange and scarlet foliage, painting her rippled waters in multicolored hues. In winter, the pond freezes into a crystalline diamond, set into snow white slopes etched by the dark lines of trunks and branches.
A connection with nature
Like many Concordians, I have a deep need to spend part of each day in nature. Surrounded by residential areas, this small corridor of pond, woods and wetlands provides an essential connection to nature for humans as well as a refuge for local and migratory wildlife.
I learned more about the history of this area. I began to picture the English settlers from an earlier time, the surrounding farmlands and woodlots.
I became more aware of the Native Americans who once called this land their home. For thousands of years they swam in these waters, caught fish and grew corn and squash in nearby fields (as Verrill Farm continues to do today).
Like Emerson, I could almost "see the sachem in his canoe in a shadowy cove." The Native Americans inspire me as sustainable stewards who passed these lands and waters in their original purity to future generations.
I head south from Sachem's Cove and walk through a quiet valley where glacial waters once flowed from the Pond. When I stroll through these woods I can feel the deep mystery of the natural world and my connection with Mother Earth and Father Sky. The quiet strength of the silent pines, oaks and maples calms my mind.
When I sit and watch the birds at the wetlands near the Town well, I sense the unseen intelligence that pervades this living web of algae, fungi, amphibians, insects, grasses, mammals, trees, clouds and humans. Like Emerson, I feel "the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me."
Reborn in sacred waters
This Pond is a natural baptismal font filled with sacred waters. The goddess of the Pond offers rebirth to her many worshipers. Her silky hands caress my body as I swim, massaging away tension and stress. She holds me in her liquid arms while I float, gazing up at the passing clouds.
Swimming in the summertime, I look up and see my winter self walking on the ice. Traversing the frozen surface of the pond in the winter, I look down and see my summer self swimming in the warm water.
Living locally
I aspire to think globally, yet my life is lived locally. I breathe air scented by pine and pond. In the summertime I eat food grown in our garden and nearby farms. I walk well-worn local trails. I sit down for coffee and conversation with local friends.
There is enough beauty here to last a lifetime. I have no need to travel to different climates. Every climatic zone comes to me through the magic of the seasons. February transports me to the frozen tundra and August takes me to the sweltering tropics.
Preserving this "gem of the woods"
Walden Pond is a sacred pilgrimage for people from all over the planet. In an alternate universe, Thoreau might have walked a few miles further and built his cabin at White Pond, which he referred to as the "twin of Walden." And White Pond might have been preserved in its natural state as a park.
Today the pond serves many functions with its well-maintained residential areas to the north and south, its popular swimming beach and boat access ramp at the eastern end. The remaining wild area at the western end of the pond offers us the opportunity to preserve what remains of this historic natural landscape. Let us affirm Concord's heritage of respect for nature and preserve this "gem of the woods" as conservation land for present and future generations.
