Essay, Research Paper: Descriptive Essay About My Favorite Spot In Nature

(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.