Solitude is not a word commonly associated with prosperity and a healthy lifestyle, but Thoreau had time in his solitude to reflect on life and without distraction. His lack of companionship for most of his time at Walden Pond gave him the clarity he hoped to gain to analyze the spirituality of nature. Although Thoreau uses solitude as a theme in Walden, solitude only really appears once in the description of the swamp hawk as it hunts for its next meal. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Marsh Hawk, formerly known as the Northern Harrier, is primarily found in the state of Massachusetts for breeding only, which also adds to the theme of newness of life. ("Hen Harrier") The grass begins to grow again, the trees develop buds from which flowers will grow, and the birds return from their winter vacation. Thoreau uses the growing leaves to make a transcendental simile. Thoreau writes: “Who knows what the human body would expand and flow toward under a more genial sky? Isn't the hand a palm leaf spread out with its lobes and ribs??”