d an image, still potent today, of the sensitive nature lover living simply, and in harmony with the environment, be- yond the edge of civilization. Thoreau wasn't actually much of an outdoorsman, and his cabin was closer to the center of Concord than to any true wilderness, but for many Americans he r

and musk. Concord's many historic sites include Old North Bridge, the site of the first battle of the American Revolution, and the homes of Emerson, Thoreau, and the Alcott family. As a result of generous investments in conservation land and protected open space, the Town offers miles of trails over the

rowing up summers in Wellfleet, people said that there couldn't be sharks in the water, because the water was too cold. They had apparently not read Thoreau. In "Cape Cod," published in 1865, he writes that he saw "the relics of a human body, mangled by sharks." A wrecker—someone who scavenged shipwreck

tional and Material Baggage Walden (384 pages) BY HENRY DAVID THOREAU This is considered by many to be the masterpiece of reflective simple living. Thoreau lived on the edge of a small lake in rural Massachusetts for two years, building his own shelter and living alone, as an experiment in self-reliance