Journal of First Class at The Clearing in Door County, Wisconsin 1957
October 11, 2015
which would lie close to the ground and, through the alchemy of wind, rain, time and mushrooms, decay and enter the earth to become a part of it, on which more plants should be nourished.
The result, of course, was not only an appreciable reduction in standing brush, but a phenomenal appetite among all and sundry. It had been noticeable all week — surely the most active and most hungry of all the groups which have come to THE CLEARING! For polite, well-bred people, we approached dinner with shameless enthusiasm, attacked meals with a vigor to rejoice the soul of any cook, and made way with quantities of victuals.
That evening there was a fine fire in the big fireplace of the lounge, and a gathering of the group. The evening became not only one of reminiscence, but an unburdening of the growing feeling of satisfaction and inspiration which had been mounting all week at THE CLEARING. A party with ice cream and cookies did not take away that satisfaction.
We had come to realize Jens Jensen’s belief that Man, in order to know himself and to regain some of his own lost integrity, must first know Nature . . . that he should look to the wild for truth and honesty . . . for substance and for the assurance of the continuity of life and the endless and never-changing presence of the hand of God in the plan of the most minute form of plant or animal … to understand the true meaning of wind-tortured, gnarled cedars clinging to a limestone ledge, when it would have been easier for them to let go and collapse into the bay … to comprehend the timeless truths of Nature as we had begun to discover them during this unforgettable week in May.