Colors at Walden Pond

“Blue Water” (oil on canvas), by Patricia Crotty, in her show “Sky Water: Reflections on Walden Pond”, at Walden Pond State Reservation Gallery, Concord, Mass., through April 30.

The gallery says:

“The colorful abstract paintings and collages of local artist Patricia Crotty are inspired by the connection with nature that Walden Pond {made internationally famous by Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden} provides visitors. They celebrate the beauty of nature in all of its forms and seasons. Co-sponsored by Friends of Walden Pond. The exhibit is free; parking fees apply.’’

Turtle kingdom

Back end of a snapping turtle

“I have very fond memories of swimming in Walden Pond (in Concord, Mass.) when we lived in Boston. You'd swim past a log and see all these turtles sunning themselves. Slightly disturbing if you thought about how many more were swimming around your toes, but also rather wonderful.’’

— Mark Haddon, English novelist

'Eaten far in Concord'

Walden Pond, in Concord, Mass., most famous for its association with Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), whose two years living in a cabin on its shore provided the foundation for Walden; or, Life in the Woods.

Comestible, comprehensible.

  Heaped up in digestible portions

Thoreau had eaten far in Concord

   And still this knoll

With its floor of puce-colored leaves

under May’s green mist

feeds the visitor….’’

-- From “Walden Once More,’’ by Robert Siegel (1939-2012), American poet and novelist. He spent much of his life in his native Mideast but in his later years he lived in South Berwick, Maine