The beginning?

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
----- Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Conclusion, 1854

In high school all the girls had a thing for Bon Jovi. I had a thing for Henry David Thoreau. What can I say? I have always marched to the beat of a different drummer.

Henry David Thoreau was a poet, philosopher, carpenter, and teacher. He loved books, nature, simplicity, and ate dinner with his mother once a week. He was intelligent and noticed the details that everyone missed. Not only a transcendentalist, but a man who lived what other great men talked. He coined the idea of civil disobedience and willingly made risks with the underground railroad and spent time in jail for what he believed in.

I was always amazed that he never married.

At 18, I met a modern day Thoreau. An artist, philosopher, carpenter, and teacher. He loved books, nature, simplicity, and visited his father every week. He was intelligent and noticed the details that everyone missed. He could take something old and worn out and turn it into something beautiful. He made me laugh and we could share a comfortable silence.

What can I say? I found my missing half and my heart found its home.

I am amazed that he married.

Walden: with Wife and Kids is much more complicated.