While it may at first blush (and preferably on a sunny day) appear rustic and charming, living on a country estate of 34 acres in an old house heated by a wood burning stove is not without alternative opinion. It does however have a compelling attraction to any of us who is not limited to a demonstrably cosmetic life free of domestic obligation. I for one would find it intolerable (as devoted as I am to the transcendental myth of Walden Pond).
The pond is protected as part of Walden Pond State Reservation, a 335-acre (136 ha) state park and recreation site managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The reservation was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 for its association with the writer Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), whose two years living in a cabin on its shore provided the foundation for his famous 1854 work, Walden; or, Life in the Woods.
The metaphor of sublime bliss in a quiet country setting is nonetheless a rock solid basis for the more insightful enquiry surrounding happiness; viz., the division of philosophic and terrestrial happiness. On the one hand the recognition of substantive happiness is indisputable (food, shelter and water being the preliminaries). Notwithstanding that conviction it is equally apparent that there is yet another source of contentedness which derives from sometimes unexplained origin.
The issue – if indeed there is any controversy – is not one or the other; rather it is the identification of the fact. The fact being, that no matter how delightful the surroundings, the wellspring may indeed be within rather than without. I grant you, as flagrant a materialist as I am, the digestion of physical accommodation is not high on my list of inventiveness. Though I rush to emphasize that my reservation is not the morning sunshine on a frosty meadow; or the glimpse of a soaring hawk in the azure sky. My distress rather is having to chop the wood or feed the sheep. I would much sooner meditate upon the logical construction of an inter vivos trust agreement. I presume you catch my drift.
The exposition of happiness is curiously as evident as wearing a new red dress; that is, the indicia are unmistakable. What it is that makes the nutrition thrive is both incalculable and undefinable. Yet it is an ethereal vision of the world, one which enforces similar duties and performances. It is a discredit to minimize the devotion of either a farmer or a lawyer. The agrarian texture is equally vigorous as that of the legal practitioner (and I say this without having considered the exemplary varieties of manure). It is likewise true that not everyone derives the same advancement from an identical source. And yet, when it happens whatever the pedigree, the alliance is well defined. Happiness is very much a biological condition, one which is as sensitive as a proper cup of tea; and just as mandatory.