April 22d.–. . . What an abominable hand do I scribble! but I have been chopping wood, and turning a grindstone all the forenoon; and such occupations are likely to disturb the equilibrium of the muscles and sinews. It is an endless surprise to me how much work there is to be done in the world; but, thank God, I am able to do my share of it,–and my ability increases daily. What a great, broad-shouldered, elephantine personage I shall become by and by!
Hawthorne is hard at work on Brook Farm, a utopian project he eventually soured on. His time there informed his novel The Blithedale Romance.
Biblioklept 