“Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.”

– Henry David Thoreau

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]aybe a hectic lifestyle has prevented you from marking it on your calendar; but July 12 is the bicentennial of the birth of essayist, poet, abolitionist, philosopher, naturalist, surveyor and historian Henry David Thoreau.

Many of you may have only dim, foggy memories of high school Amer...