(I had to write this for english -- my favorite spot in

nature, and we had to include a quote from Thoreau's "Walden

Pond". I got an A on this one, hope you get the same amount

of luck I did :) --Ranestarr

From my personal perspective, a hurricane holds the power

to transform the shoreline into a chaotic threshold before a

collosal somber-blue monster. As the sea and shore hold

hands, a storm of such magnitude can easily make the embrace

seem to be a violent attack, as the giant swells assault and

erode the adjacent beach. The sky seems to grow a dark and

murky shell, branding the sand with rings from the falling

drops of rain. I can only stand in awe when I have the

chance to witness the riotous might of the enraged ocean.

The salty winds somehow rejuvenate those who feel its

wrath and fury. These breezes quite literally wake me up,

energizing me with the same energy in each crashing wave.

They say lightning never strikes the same place twice, but

here it hits the same place each time-�my soul. All who

leave their footprints in the saturated sand are at the

mercy of this aquatic beast, as he swallows and pummels the

stretches of the beach, this strip of land that lies before

him like a serpent who wishes to die. But what better way

is there for this snake to attain its suicide, and be reborn

as a new, mutated landmass, scattered with the ripples of

its slayer, as well as the shattered shells of those

warriors who fell in their battle with an angry Poseidon.

Human war isn't the only warfare with casualty. The

atmosphere is that of the apocalypse, like the last day on

earth as the sky and sea is torn apart.

The addition of such a ferocious cyclonic storm to the

standard beach scene allows me to realize how insignificant

and helpless I would be if nature had decided to hold her

scimitar to my neck. It forces me to see how violent the

world is, even without humanity. However, it also shows me

the awesome energy of the single entity that keeps us

alive-�the earth. If she lacked the strength that exists

in such a blast of wind and rain, I doubt she'd have the

stamina to provide the air we breathe, or the food we

indulge in. The giant breakers I've witnessed only prove

that nature will always dominate us, no matter how much we

abuse and rape it.

"Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!" Henry David Thoreau

believed life was better when it was simple. But how can I

agree as I watch such chaos in enjoyment and excitement.

The hurricane is a metaphor for our lives. If there is no

turmoil, then there is no excitement. Without threat,

there's no reason to live. Simplicity is just the absence

of emotion, a word I consider a synonym for numbness. I

would imagine I'd loathe living in a world with no

depression, anger, and hate. If these negative emotions

didn't exist, there would be no positive. Without

depression and hatred, where would our happiness and love

come from? Therefore, I disagree with Thoreau. He was

only expressing his wish for an ideal world where humans

could just forget evil. But to forget the bad things in

life, we can't be simple.