So I went to Taco Bell with Nathan tonight around 10:30 because we were both feeling hungry and frugal. We ate our $2 meals in the parking lot and then I took him to pick up his car at Stephen's. When I got home, I realized that it took more than $2 worth of rice and tortilla to fill me up. As I was scrounging around the kitchen looking for food, it hit me.
And I commenced to do what was probably the most reckless and subversive thing I have ever done late on a Tuesday night.
I made myself the best M&M pancakes the world has ever known.
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I suppose I owe you guys more than an overview of my weeknight eating habits. AP's and various other school pressures have kept me from blogging the past couple of weeks. Since I have a bit of time now before camp starts, I decided I would ramble for a bit to keep the site alive.
I love Thoreau. Walden is probably one of the coolest pieces of non-fiction I've ever read. I was one of those kids who always dreamt of living out in the woods in a giant tree house - complete with trap door and rope ladder - spying on my enemies through a concealed telescope. I would have a complex pulley system of ropes and wheels to crank up food and supplies from below. My tree house would be large and efficient, interwoven among the tree branches like something out of a Stevenson novel. I think all boys have a certain fascination with living out in the woods, a ceiling of leaves and clean air for windows.
This is partly the reason Thoreau is such a big hero of mine. Off went Henry David, with an ax and a few supplies, chopped down some trees and lived next to Walden Pond for a good year. Largely without friend or company, he dug into the backwoods of New England and decided to find the purpose of life. Out of this came what has become known as one of the most boring and pointless required readings in higher education.
I loved Walden. Partially because I'm a pretty boring guy and partially because of what I already mentioned above. One of the things that's been coming to my mind recurrently the past couple of days is an observation Thoreau made at the end of his work, "Humility, like darkness, allows us to see the stars." As I've tried to unpack this brief yet weighty comment these past few days, I've come to the realization that Thoreau viewed the virtue of humility as simply letting go. We don't have to spend our lives trying to outshine something that is already beautiful and right. By simply stepping out of our perceived rights and needs, the beauty of life and of God are seen and cherished. I like that.
Enough for now,
McK
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5 comments:
Thoreau has some cool things to say, but I think (my memory is vague/almost full) I disagree with him philosophically (about existentialism at least).
A+ on the pancakes, wish I had been there for that as well!
Also, totally with you on the tree house thing. I still want one. But that would be a waste of time.
So much for romanticism.
Walden is delightful. (: Nathan's comment makes me sad. Build your treehouse.
mmmboy....m&m pancakes...and yes, Walden did make me like Thoreau as a writer....but only as a writer...
Go Treehouses. They are good. They make me think of the movie Swiss Family Robinson...haha...good movie (at least when I was like 5) haha
hey mckinney, I know I'm a little late on the commenting thing since your post was a week ago, but I just read this post for the first time.
1. m&m pancakes sound soooo good!
2. "Humility, like darkness, allows us to see the stars." Wow. Humility allows us to say that there is something bigger/better than ourselves. The stars are way cooler than darkness. That's my tak on it. haha.
3. Please build a treehouse.
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