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Wild, Wild Walden, a la Shmoop. <<In style of Dateline, special report type

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video; narrator is anchor on show>>

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Welcome back to… Inside the World’s Most Famous Ponds. I’m your host, Kelp McEvoy.

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Tonight we explore Walden Pond. We will take a no-holds barred look at this… very reclusive

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body of water.

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In fact, it hasn’t made a single public appearance… ever.

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What is Walden Pond, and why do we care?

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Well, it is the subject of a work of classic literature. And there haven’t been too many

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great books written about pond scum.

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Unless you include Oliver Twist. That Bill Sikes was a baddie.

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The author Henry David Thoreau spent two years living out his dream of relying on no one

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but himself… and nature…

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…by holing himself up in a little cabin right next to Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.

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Rumor has it that he did have the occasional pizza delivered, but we cannot confirm those

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reports. Located at 42.4 degrees north, 71.3 degrees

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west…

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…Walden is an unassuming little pond.

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It is buried out in the middle of nowhere…

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…and it has no desire for fame, or accolades, or attention.

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It’s fine just chillaxing out there in the woods, enjoying the peace and quiet…

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…and hanging with its good friend, Henry. The weather there is gorgeous…

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…it never gets too terribly cold, and never gets too hot.

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Like the baby bear in the famous fairy tale, it’s just right.

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It does get its fair share of rainfall, but…

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…being a pond, it doesn’t much worry about getting wet.

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And what about its neighbor… Thoreau’s cabin?

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It’s a tiny little thing… only ten by fifteen feet.

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But Thoreau never needed that much room.

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Besides, his butler could sleep outside. If you’re as fascinated by pond-living as

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Thoreau was…

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…and are feeling inspired to build your own cabin… you’ll have to look elsewhere.

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Thoreau borrowed the land from his pal Ralph Waldo Emerson…

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…and the site is now a state reservation.

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Even the deer need to show proper identification just to get anywhere near it.

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Yes, Walden is not your run of the mill pond.

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We may never know all of its secrets…

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…and perhaps we aren’t meant to. Thank you for joining us for this first edition

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of Inside the World’s Most Famous Ponds.

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Sadly, this will also be our final episode, as we could not think of another famous pond.

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Ah, well. Thanks for the memories, everyone. Signing off.

Full Transcript