In 1975 my brother gave me a copy of

"In Wildness is the Preservation of the World"

A Sierra Club Book with photos by Eliot Porter

who also selected quotes from Thoreau to

accompany the text. I still have the book.

The cover had a photo of leaves

floating on water amid reflections. So this

fall I have been inspired to look for that

combination when out for a walk.

"The West of which I speak is but another name

for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to

 say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the

world. Every tree sends its fibres forth in search

of the Wild. The cities import it at any price.

Men plow and sail for it. From the forest and

wilderness come the tonics and barks which

brace mankind."

                       Walking

                         Henry David Thoreau