HOW WILL OUR LIVES CHANGE WITH THIS NEW VERSION OF THE "BIG BOMB THEORY"?
CAN A SUPER-POWER CONFLICT OCCUR, WITHOUT TAKING DOWN THE REST OF THE WORLD?
This evening this blog has officially surpassed the 200,000 mark for views since it became a daily entity back in November 2011. Thank you all for supporting this humble blog from Gravenhurst, Ontario.
FOR THE PAST TWENTY FRUSTRATING MINUTES, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TALK URGENT-ECONOMICS, AND WORLD POLITICS, WITH SONS ANDREW AND ROBERT, ADMITTEDLY TIRED AFTER A BUSY AFTERNOON AT THE SHOP. MY PARENTS, AS I'VE MENTIONED BEFORE, PURPOSELY TALKED AROUND ME, DURING THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, SO AS NOT TO SCARE ME WITH REVELATIONS OF PENDING WORLD WAR III. I DIDN'T WANT MY DAD GOING TO WAR AGAIN. HE DID HIS BIT, AS PART OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON. HIS NAVAL PORTRAIT HUNG ON THE LIVING ROOM WALL. I HAD NIGHTMARES THAT HE WAS CALLED BACK TO ACTIVE DUTY, AND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY LOST AT SEA.
OF COURSE, TRUTH IS, I WAS A LOT YOUNGER THAN MY BOYS TODAY, DURING THE COLD WAR PERIOD. BUT I THINK I GREW UP TO KNOW A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF A FUTURE WAR WITH RUSSIA. ROBERT AND ANDREW UNDERSTOOD THE WARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND THE TRAGEDY OF 9-11; AND ITS AFTERMATH. SO IT'S NOT LIKE THEY DON'T APPRECIATE WAR, AND CONSEQUENCE; BAD THINGS HAPPENING TO GOOD PEOPLE. STILL, HAPLESSLY, I FIND IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK ABOUT WAR REALITIES, WITHOUT GETTING TOO DETAILED AND EMOTIONAL, FOR THE YOUNGER GENERATION TO COMPREHEND. THEY DON'T GET ME, WHEN I START CITING HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS, THEY CAN'T POSSIBLY APPRECIATE ON A CURSORY FLY-OVER. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, AS IT USUALLY DOES, I JUST SUGGEST THEY SHOULD READ MY BLOG INSTEAD. I CAN'T TALK TO THEM ABOUT A POTENTIAL WAR, OVER THE RECENT INVASION OF THE CRIMEA, WITHOUT SOUNDING LIKE A REACTIONARY, SILLY NINNY, WHO IN STRAINED DIALOGUE, RUNS LIKE A MAN WITH HIS PANTS AROUND HIS ANKLES. TRIPPING, STUMBLING AND EVENTUALLY FALLING ON HIS FACE, WITHOUT ADDING ANY SIGNIFICANT CREDIBILITY TO THE DISCUSSION. I LOOK AND FEEL LIKE A FOOL, FOR EVEN BRINGING IT UP.
IT'S WHEN I SEE THEM WALKING AWAY FROM THE TELEVISION NEWS, WHEN THERE ARE REPORTS COMING IN ABOUT THE CONFLICT, THAT I WONDER MOMENTARILY, WHERE I'VE GONE WRONG WITH ALL MY TUTORIALS. WHY THE HELL AREN'T THEY SCARED ABOUT THE FUTURE, LIKE ME? WHY AREN'T THEY JOINING ME HERE, LIKE I USED TO SIT WITH MY PARENTS, IN FRONT OF THE TUBE, LISTENING TO THE LATEST NEWS UPDATES ON THE FATE OF THE WORLD? OF COURSE, I ANSWER MYSELF ON THIS ONE. WHY SHOULD WE BE CONSUMED BY FEAR, WHEN WE ARE HELPLESS TO CORRECT WHAT IS WRONG? THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT BIG BOMBS AND THE DEVASTATION THEY CAUSE, SO THERE'S NO POINT GOING BURZERK, THIS EARLY IN THE STAND-OFF, RE-VISITING BIG-BOMB EVENTS OF THE PAST. I DO UNDERSTAND WHY THEY'RE STANDOFFISH. BUT I THINK THEY HAVE TOO MUCH FAITH IN ONE SIDE, AND NOT ENOUGH RESPECT FOR THE OTHER. IN THE EVENT OF A NUCLEAR WAR, THERE REALLY ISN'T A WINNING SIDE WHEN THE DUST SETTLES.
WE'VE ALWAYS HAD CURRENT EVENTS CHATS, MANY TIMES IN THE PAST, BECAUSE I'VE LONG FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR THEIR BUSINESS ECONOMY, TO KEEP UP ON INTERNATIONAL NEWS. A SCARED MARKET PLACE, MEANS DISCRETIONARY SPENDING DROPS LIKE A STONE FROM SPACE. WE OWN BUSINESSES THAT ARE DEPENDENT ON DISCRETIONARY SPENDING. WHEN MONEY IS KING, WE START WORRYING THAT OUR CUSTOMERS WILL BROWSE, MORE THAN INVEST, IN WHAT WE HAVE TO SELL. EVEN SUZANNE GETS TIRED OF MY DRONING ON AND ON, ABOUT THE BLINDING, INCINERATING OUTCOME OF ONE PUSH TOO MANY. "ON A SCALE OF ONE TO TEN, WHAT LEVEL IS IT AT," SHE ASKS ME, AS I PULL OUT MY WORLD MAPS, AND NEWS ARTICLES FROM THE PAST WEEK. IT'S NOTHING MORE THAN A NOVICE'S SPECULATION, BUT I ANSWER, "DEAR, I THINK IT'S A TEN OUT OF TEN." "THEN YOU BELIEVE WAR IS INEVITABLE," SHE REPLIES. "YES, I DO, AND AS MUCH AS I HATE TO SPREAD FEAR, IN A WORLD ALREADY FEARING TOO MUCH, FROM TOO MANY THINGS, WE HAVE FINALLY COME TO THAT LONG-ANTICIPATED, ULTIMATE DEADLOCK IN WORLD POLITICS. WE ALL WANT WHAT'S BEST FOR US, AND THAT OF COURSE, SHORT CHANGES SOMEONE ELSE." I CAN BE VERY PROFOUND WHEN I FEEL COMPELLED TO SEND OUT AN EDITORIAL WARNING. HOW DO YOU SEE THE IMPASSE GOING? DO YOU FEEL IT'S POSSIBLE THAT A PEACE DEAL CAN BE BROKERED BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE? IS IT RIDICULOUS TO FEAR THE COMING OF A NUCLEAR WAR? HOW FAR WILL RUSSIA BEND TO AVOID WAR? HOW RESERVED WILL NATO COMMAND BE, TO SIDESTEP AN ALTERCATION? IS IT PREMATURE TO PUT CIVIL DEFENCE STRATEGIES IN PLACE, TO PREPARE FOR AN EXPANSION OF THE CONFLICT? OR, DO WE JUST SIT BACK AND WATCH THE SIMPSONS, AND ADOPT HOMER'S STRATEGY, THAT IF HE DOESN'T THINK ABOUT IT, NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN? "DOOAH!"
THEY BOTH SEE US, HERE IN GRAVENHURST, WHICH APPARENTLY IS THE ULTIMATE SAFE HAVEN IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, AS BEING FAR ENOUGH APART, TO BE IN ANY REAL DANGER OF IMMINENT CALAMITY. NO REAL CHANCE OF COLLATERAL DAMAGE FROM SUPER POWER SPARRING. I WISH I SHARED THEIR OPTIMISM. I DID LAST WEEK, AND MORE THE WEEK BEFORE. NOW, I'M AFRAID, THERE ISN'T A POSITIVE SPIN STRONG ENOUGH, TO MINIMIZE THE POTENTIAL OF A MUCH BIGGER EVENT, BEYOND THE PRESENT SLAPPING OF FACES, WITH A SYMBOLIC GLOVE. THERE IS NO ACCEPTABLE SPIN TO DENY REALITY ITS TURN. THIS IS A SERIOUSLY DANGEROUS TIME IN HISTORY, AND MOST PEOPLE COULDN'T CARE LESS. MY BOYS HAVE A BUSINESS TO RUN, AND A SOCIAL CALENDAR TO UPHOLD. THEY DON'T WANT TO GET ALL TIED UP, IN THE WAR OR PEACE DEBATE, BECAUSE I SUPPOSE, THEY KNOW THERE'S NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT ANYWAY. I THINK THEY LOOK AT ME, AND WONDER THE SAME. "WHY ARE YOU SO WORRIED ABOUT THIS DAD?" I HAVE TO PAUSE AT TIMES, BECAUSE FRANKLY, I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHY I GET SO DARN ANIMATED ABOUT THIS CONFLICT, MORE THAN HALF A WORLD AWAY. WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE MATTER. RIGHT? I MEAN, I HAVEN'T BEEN CALLED-IN YET, BY WORLD LEADERS, TO BROKER A PEACE DEAL. I'M NOT THE PEACEMAKER OF CHOICE. UNLESS, LIKE HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST, SUZANNE DELETES EMAILS SHE KNOWS WILL WIND-ME-UP, MY ASSISTANCE ISN'T REQUIRED. YUP, WE'RE JUST TINY CRUMBS OF PUBLIC OPINION FROM A BIG COOKIE. BUT I ARGUE, WE AT LEAST HAVE TO PREPARE FOR SOMETHING, RIGHT? "OKAY DAD, GO RIGHT AHEAD; BUILD THAT FALL-OUT SHELTER YOU'RE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT," ROBERT STATES, AS ANDREW NODS, AND HEADS OUT THE DOOR TO TEND A CUSTOMER. END OF DISCUSSION. I RETURN TO THIS KEYBOARD, BITING MY TONGUE, AND BIDING MY TIME, TRYING TO FIGURE THIS THING OUT ON MY OWN. MAYBE THAT'S WHY I WORRY SO MUCH. THAT I'LL KNOW WHEN TO DUCK, AND THE REST OF MY FAMILY WILL STILL BE WANDERING ABOUT, AS IF IT'S STILL "SITUATION NORMAL." IT'S NOT LIKE I'D EVER DID A FALL OUT SHELTER. I DON'T THINK THERE WOULD BE ANY POINT.
THE LATEST ESCALATION, OF THE CONFLICT IN THE CRIMEA, BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE UKRAINE, HAS SO FAR, HAD A MINIMAL IMPACT ON THE WORLD FINANCIAL MARKETS. IT'S BEEN, AS THEY SAY, UNREMARKABLE IN THAT REGARD, AND WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SOME CURRENCY REACTIONS IN BOTH COUNTRIES, WITH RECENT POPULARITY IN THE AMERICAN DOLLAR, IT CAN'T BE SAID THE INVASION OF THE CRIMEA, HAS HAD A BIG FINANCIAL IMPACT. THE UKRANIAN ECONOMY IS IN BAD SHAPE, WHERE IT HAS MIRED FOR SOME TIME, SO WHERE TO DO YOU GO FROM THERE, DURING AN UNFORESEEN, RATHER OMINOUS INVASION? I CAN'T IMAGINE THEIR CURRENCY IS GOING TO INCREASE. BUT SO FAR, THE IMPACT HAS BEEN SOFT AND THE THREAT OF IT WORSENING, HAS BARELY CREATED A RIPPLE AMONGST THE POSITIVE NEWS ELSEWHERE. SO WHAT THE HELL IS THE POTENTIAL FALL OUT HERE, OF AN ALL-STOPS-REMOVED WAR OCCURRING IN EUROPE? GOLD HIGHER? SILVER? DOES CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DROP LIKE A STONE? WHAT WOULD THE COMPROMISES BE TO BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRY, HINGED ON A SAFE AND VIBRANT EUROPEAN MARKET PLACE? WHAT ABOUT ENERGY RESOURCES SUPPLIED PRESENTLY BY RUSSIA? WILL THE UKRAINE BE CUT OFF SUDDENLY? WHAT KIND OF EUROPEAN COMPLIANCE WILL MANIFEST IF WAR BREAKS OUT?
JUST AS I SAT DOWN, THE CBC NEWS REPORTED THAT THERE HAD BEEN SHOTS EXCHANGED BETWEEN THE RUSSIAN MILITARY, AND THE UKRANIAN FORCES, STILL AT, AND PROTECTING THEIR BASE IN THE CRIMEA. ALTHOUGH A SIMILAR INCIDENT OCCURRED EARLIER IN THE WEEK, RESULTING IN THE DEATH OF ONE UKRANIAN MILITARY PERSONNEL, AND THE INJURY OF ANOTHER, IT WASN'T ENOUGH TO PUSH THE ENVELOPE FAR ENOUGH, TO ESCALATE CONFLICT. FOR ANY INVASION, THIS ONE HAS BEEN WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF LIFE. IF YOU CONSIDER THE WORSE CASE SCENARIO, AND WHAT COULD HAVE OCCURRED INSTEAD, THE CRISIS IN CRIMEA HAS TO THIS POINT, BEEN LIFE-PRESERVING WITHOUT A LOT OF RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT. IS THE NEWS TODAY, THE HARBINGER OF AN INEVITABLE WAR ABOUT TO BREAK OUT? THE UNSETTLING REVELATION THAT THE LINE HAS NOW BEEN CROSSED? IS THIS WHERE IT WILL ALL BEGIN, THIS BATTLE OF THE TITANS. THE ARMED CONFLICT, IF IT MANIFESTS, WILL NOT BE A BATTLE BETWEEN THE UKRANIAN AND RUSSIA. IT WILL BE A WAR BETWEEN RUSSIAN AND EUROPE, WITH WESTERN ALLIES. THIS IS THE PART OF THE ESCALATION, WHEN YOU HOPE AND PRAY, THAT ALL SIDES WILL SEE HOW DEVASTATING A FULL CONFLICT WOULD BE TO ALL ECONOMIES; WHICH IRONICALLY, IS ONE OF THE TRIGGER POINTS OF THIS PRESENT TIT FOR TAT AFFAIR ON THE CONTINENT. THIS IS THE MOMENT IN HISTORY, WHEN ARMCHAIR CRITICS LIKE ME, WRITE OVERVIEW STATEMENTS, THAT FALL AWKWARDLY, LIKE DEFLATED BALLOONS; "LET COOLER HEADS PREVAIL," AND "WHY CAN'T WE ALL GET ALONG."
QUOTING JOHN LENNON'S "GIVE PEACE A CHANCE," SHOULD BE REMINISCENT, AT LEAST TO US BABYBOOMERS, OF HOW GOODWILL CAN HEAL, AND BRIDGE THOSE DEEP CHASMS BETWEEN POLITICAL AGENDAS. OUR TRUST IS THAT MOTHER'S GOOD ADVICE, AFTER THE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS HAD A SANDBOX BRAWL, HAS A BASIC, SENSIBLE PREMISE OF PEACE ON EARTH; "NOW SAY 'YOU'RE SORRY, AND SHAKE HANDS'." COULD IT BE THAT SIMPLE? AN HONORABLE EXIT, WHERE EACH PARTY GETS A LITTLE SOMETHING, BUT NOT THE WHOLE PIE?
I BELIEVE WE ARE NOW HEADED INTO THE FULL FLEDGED ERA OF PROFOUNDLY SCULPTED, NEW NORMAL," BECAUSE IT HAS ALREADY GONE TOO FAR, TO BE RESOLVED SIMPLY, OR A RETREAT UNDERTAKEN, BECAUSE HONOR IS SUDDENLY VALUED MORE IMPORTANT, THAN STRATEGIC LOCATION. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION WORKS MORE THAN JUST FOR REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS. I DON'T BELIEVE RUSSIA WILL LEAVE THE CRIMEA VOLUNTARILY. I DON'T BELIEVE THE UKRANIAN GOVERNMENT WILL EVER SURRENDER THEIR RIGHTS TO THE CRIMEA. I WISH I WAS WRONG, BUT THE TINDER-BOX SITUATION, COULD IGNITE AND EXPLODE AT ANY MOMENT. WHO AMONG US, CAN VISUALIZE WHAT THIS MIGHT LOOK LIKE ON THE EVENING NEWS? WHO WILL BE ABLE TO SENSE, THAT A PREVIOUSLY UNSCATHED FINANCIAL MARKET, WILL BE SHATTERED BY THE BREAKING NEWS, AND WE, THE WATCHERS ON THE SIDELINE, WILL BE THRUST INTO THAT DIRE REALITY, OF TRYING TO ADJUST TO SUPPLY CHALLENGES WE HAVEN'T WITNESSED AND EXPERIENCED SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR? IF A WAR OPENS, TODAY, TOMORROW, OR NEXT WEEK, DON'T KID YOURSELF. THERE WILL BE COMPROMISES TO THE WAY WE LIVE. AND YES, I DID LEARN THAT FROM MY OWN COLD WAR EXPERIENCES. THE BIGGER THE CONFLICT, THE MORE COUNTRIES INVOLVED, THE GREATER THE COMPROMISES. THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS WENT AWAY, AFTER A BRIEF STAND-OFF. THIS ONE IS NOT GOING AWAY THAT EASILY. SO HOW DOES ANYONE PREPARE FOR ALL OUT WAR IN EUROPE? I THINK IT'S PRETTY SAD ACTUALLY, THAT THE PUBLIC IN MOST COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, HAVE NO EMERGENCY PLAN IN THIS REGARD; AND THE CITIZENRY DOESN'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN NUCLEAR WEAPONS COULD BE PART OF THE EQUATION. AT FIRST, I WAS MILDLY WORRIED. TODAY, WITH THE PRESENT POSITIONING GOING ON, WITH THE UKRAINE PREPARED TO FIGHT BACK, WITH NATO FALLING IN BEHIND, EVEN A SPUTTERING STALEMATE OR MULTI-YEAR STAND-OFF WOULD BE A GOD-SEND, COMPARED TO AN OUTBREAK OF FIGHTING; WHICH IS SAID TO HAVE HAPPENED TODAY IN THE CRIMEA. THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH ROOM TO WIGGLE SAFELY, WITHOUT TRIGGER SOMETHING NASTY. WE BABY BOOMERS WERE TOLD THIS MIGHT HAPPEN ONE DAY. WE JUST HOPED IT WOULD BE AFTER OUR PASSING.
THE BIGGER AND HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE QUESTION TODAY, AT THIS PRECISE MOMENT IN HISTORY, MUCH GREATER THAN IT WAS TWO WEEKS AGO, WHEN THE INVASION STARTED TO MANIFEST, IS HOW THE WORLD WILL BE IMPACTED BY THE TRIGGER POINT IN THE CRIMEA? CANADA HAS ALREADY TAKEN SIDES, AND WE HAVE BEEN DEEPLY IMBEDDED IN THE CONFLICT, IN THE POLITICAL SENSE, AS HAS THE UNITED STATES, AND NATO MEMBERS IN EUROPE. THAT'S A LOT OF MILITARY POWER AND PERSONNEL, LEANING OVER A THIN, WOBBLY, BOUNDARY FENCE, BETWEEN THE RUSSIAN OCCUPIED CRIMEA, AND THE UKRAINE; AND FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T GIVEN THAT OUTCOME MUCH THOUGHT, IT MIGHT BE TIME TO PAY ATTENTION. THIS IN MY OPINION, NOW EXCEEDS THE THREAT AND POLITICAL WEIGHT OF THE FORMER CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, OF THE EARLY 1960'S, IN PART, BECAUSE OF THE MILITARY ALIGNMENTS OF THE MODERN ERA, THAT WEREN'T AS SOLIDLY IN PLACE, AS THEY ARE TODAY. THE BIG QUESTION, OF COURSE, IS HOW CHINA WILL REACT TO ALL THE POSTURING, AND SHOULD FIGHTING BREAK OUT ON A WIDE SCALE, WHAT SIDE WILL THEY SUPPORT; IF ANY AT ALL. IT WILL BE HARD FOR ANY COUNTRY, WITHIN THE CONFLICT ZONE, TO REMAIN NEUTRAL. RUSSIA AND CHINA HAVE MANY THINGS IN COMMON, AND IT IS OF CRITICAL CONCERN, WHETHER A RELATIONSHIP WOULD FURTHER COMPOUND AN ALREADY FRAGILE STANDOFF.
REGARDLESS HOW SURE YOU MIGHT BE ABOUT A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT, COMING ANY DAY NOW, YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THE SUPPLY CHAIN, BETWEEN TRADING PARTNER COUNTRIES, IF A SUDDEN IMMERSION INTO WAR, COMPROMISED THE MARKET-PLACE WITH RAW MATERIAL SHORTAGES, MANUFACTURING RE-ALIGNMENTS FOR MILITARY SERVICE, AND INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION DIFFICULTIES. THE WORD CATASTROPHE ISN'T STRONG ENOUGH. BUT HONESTLY, AS VOYEURS, OF THE PUSHING AND SHOVING FROM SUPER POWERS, WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO, OTHER THAN PREPARE TO ADJUST; TO WHAT'S LEFT TO SCROUNGE FOR, AT THE END OF THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER? IF SUDDENLY, WE SHOULD FIND A HOW-TO BOOKLET IN THE POST, ABOUT HOW TO SURVIVE A NUCLEAR WINTER, WELL SIR, THAT WOULD CERTAINLY BE A WAKE-UP CALL. THERE HAS BEEN NO ONE, NO ORGANIZATION, THAT HAS EMERGED ON THE NATIONAL, OR INTERNATIONAL SCENE, TO SAY BLUNTLY, BUT HONESTLY, THIS WAR-THING, IS A REAL POTENTIAL; AND ADVISING THE BILLIONS OF PEOPLE POTENTIALLY IN THE LINE OF FIRE, HOW TO SURVIVE A NEW AGE WAR. THE WORLD NEEDS TO PREPARE FOR THE BIG BANG. WE'VE BECOME SOFT AND VULNERABLE. WE'VE LOST OUR PIONEER SPIRIT. WE'VE LOST OUR SURVIVAL SKILLS, AND WOULD LIKELY DIE OF HEARTBREAK, IF OUR CELL PHONES WERE COMPROMISED BY THE TERMS, SECURITY, AND FALLOUT OF WAR. BUT FORGIVE ME FOR BEING A LITTLE WARY, AMONGST ALL THE THREATS AND ULTIMATUMS. IT'S JUST THAT IT'S NOT LOOKING GOOD OUT THERE, AND ALL SIDES HAVE DUG-IN TOO DEEPLY, TO SHRUG IT OFF, AFTER A FEW HOURS IN OPPOSITE CORNERS, AS ONLY A SHORT-LIVED TANTRUM.
THIS IS AN HOUR TO HOUR CRISIS, AND SO FAR, EVERY HOUR HAS MEANT AN ESCALATION OF TENSIONS. WHAT ABOUT THE OLD ADAGE, THAT IT HAS TO "GET WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER?" METHINKS THERE'S A WAY TO GO YET!
AUTHOR ODEL SHEPARD LOVED HIS CONNECTICUT - AND FEARED CHANGES TO THE LANDSCAPE
I'M NOT SURE WE REALLY APPRECIATE THE CHANGES MUSKOKA IS FACING
" EVERY BIBLIOPHILE NEEDS A QUIXOTIC SEARCH IN LIFE, AND I GOT MINE ONE DAY AT WHITLOCK FARMS, A BOOK SELLER NEAR MY HOME IN CENTRAL CONNECTICUT. EVERETT AND GILBERT WHITLOCK, LOCAL LEGENDS, HAVE PLIED THEIR TRADE FOR THE PAST FORTY YEARS OUT OF TWO BARNS IN WHAT WAS FARM COUNTRY. STILL RELATIVELY RURAL, THE LAND HEREABOUTS HAS BEEN PRESERVED AS OPEN SPACE THROUGH THE GRACES OF CONSERVATION AND THE FACT MUCH OF IT HAS REMAINED IN THE OWNERSHIP OF THE SAME FAMILIES FOR GENERATIONS."
The passage above was written by writer, Alan Bisbort, in the February 1999 issue, of the magazine, "Biblio," in an article entitled "The Last Connecticut Yankee's Books Tell All." Biblio was one of my favorite publications, catering to the persnickety bibliophiles out there, and Bisbort's article fascinated me so much, that I've kept it in my reference library from the first day it arrived here at Birch Hollow. What fascinates me, in particular, is the work of American author, Odell Shepard, and his son Willard, who co-authored books, such as "Holdfast Gaines." In particular, I enjoyed the examination by Mr. Brisbort, of Odell Shepard's love for his region of the United States. The passions of Shepard mirror my own life-long commitment to representing the heritage of Muskoka. I would have loved to meet the author and his son, and I'd like to shake the hand of Alan Brisbort, for conserving this important piece of literary biography.
Under the heading "Boulders and Blue Air," Bisbort writes, "As Odell Shepard, author of 'Connecticut: Past and Present,' put it in 1939, 'I lost, awhile, the fear that my Connecticut may be dragged down by cruel claws. I let the heathen rage. What can they do to boulders and blue air? What force have they against a rock and a dream?" As the writer notes, about the elder Shepard, "Indeed, like a dream, Connecticut is still mostly a state of mind, and Odell Shepard was as close as anyone to having been its dream chaser."
The author once claimed he was "in love with every tree and barn and old stone wall," in the state, adds Bisbort. The feature writer notes that, in the back of his book on Connecticut, Shepard penned, "I have a dream which, if it has any fault, is too severly practical - a dream about Connecticut in years to be. In every township there shall be a poet, appointed by the Governor. The duty of these poets, first and foremost, shall be to dynamite the filling stations within their several territories; then they shall begin to burn down all the bill-boards." Shepard went on to become lieutenant governor of Connecticut, and a co-founder of the "Thoreau Society of America," as well as an editor of Thoreau's journals.
At Whitlock Farm, Mr. Bisbort found a large collection of Odell Shepard's books and associate copies, that had been sold to the book business by the author's family. "Perhaps they knew something of my happy accident of time: I arrived just after Odell's great-grandchildren had unloaded his prodigious book collection at Whitlock's. These books would be unloaded, in turn, in smaller increments over the next several months onto the sagging shelves of my office library."
It's interesting to note, in the article by Alan Bisbort, that Shepard was not only a good friend but biographer, of Canadian poet, Bliss Carmen, entitled "Bliss Carmen; A Study Of His Poetry," published in 1923. "In his day and nation, Carmen was as big as Robert Frost. He was, in fact, Canada's poet laureate." Bliss Carmen was one of the participating poets at the writer's retreat, at Muskoka Assembly, in the 1920's and 30's, on Tobin's Island, Lake Rosseau, with well known authors such as Charles G.D. Roberts, Wilson MacDonald, Sir Gilbert Parker and Marshall Saunders.
Shepard once said of his life-long writing interest, that it had been spent pursuing "the history of solitude," and he may have felt closer to David Thoreau, who he believed had known so much about this precious solitude in the alluring hinterland.
Shepard wrote books you may have read, including, "The Harvest of A Quiet Eye," "The Lore of the Unicorn," and "Jenkin's Ear."
In fact, I have felt this way about Muskoka since I arrived here in the winter of 1966, from the hustle, bustle and urban sprawl of Southern Ontario. When I lived in Toronto, while attending university, I arrived home to Muskoka every Friday afternoon, enthralled to be away from the city......which then, as today, I felt was true freedom. Even though my family helped expand the city, as building contractors, back in the Depression years, I have never been able to reside in Toronto for more than a few weeks at a stretch, before I start feeling the call of the wild. I am at home here, and in my neighborhood, I might see a fawn at daybreak, amidst the fern cover, or find a lone wolf ambling along the forest path before full sunrise. I like seeing the deer out in the Bog, across the lane, and the woodpeckers are a treat for the eyes, at mid-day, when everything is so colorful and dynamic. I love to hear the trickling of the myriad tiny creeks that snake through the bogland, and each squirrel and bird flitting about the evergreens, makes this place enchanted and a compelling oasis to come and write, as I do frequently these days. Even when I come home from a long drive, I can't wait to wander these little pathways to nowhere in particular, because of the pleasant solitude I find, only a few feet from the full vigor of an urban neighborhood.
I have a blogsite I call "Muskoka as Walden," my own clear demonstration, of enduring respect for Thoreau, and this amazing embrace of nature; and for me it is in this charming ballywick of Gravenhurst, Ontario, in South Muskoka. Whenever I feel the need to escape, for even a temporary sojourn, the Bog welcomes me to its interior. I don't have a cabin in there, like the one Thoreau had on Walden Pond, but there are a couple of fallen logs that make a perfect place to lodge temporarily, to watch the natural world carry on its way.
I do worry alot these days, as Shepard was concerned about the changing topography of Connecticut, about the way progress will intrude upon our hinterland. One might expect a surge of development interests in the next ten years, as more city influences spill over from the present urban boundaries.......stressing down with bulldozer blades, upon the open, wild areas of our district. It is hard to know just how dramatic those changes will be, and if we can influence progress, to meet our interests, and our passion to maintain the lakeland character that has been so important to the development and maintenance of the tourism industry......of which we dearly depend, and would suffer greatly if it was to falter.
I do not believe the tourist-kind visit our region to joyfully shop, specifically at convenience-store strip malls, and box stores, when they have ample shopping opportunities in the urban areas of our province, and in the United States. While the local population benefit from some of these shopping opportunities, many sightseers wonder how conjested it might soon become, when urban developers regain their appetite for exploitation. I fear that more superfluous commercial sprawl will destroy the picturesque qualities of our region, while offering very little in return for the sacrifice of open space. Development and progress are good for the local economy, but the balance is precarious, and we should all know this ahead of welcoming new plans for subdivisions and commercial nodes, suitable for urban environs, but not the more rural lakeland setting. In the past, we have accepted development without much concern about the negative impacts this kind of progress can inspire.....and in fact, herald in the future. While developers have become very savvy about appealing to the advancement of the "job market," which they tout as reason enough for town councils to support expansion, we have found that many of these claims are shallow, to the point of being a mirage, and in large part, just another unsubstantiated claim.
As a reporter, covering the municipal beat, I used to hear a wide variety of these claims of great future prosperity, and for most of the slick presentations, it was a case of "we will save you, if you sign on to our project." I'd always think to myself, while twiddling my pencil, about the moral story of "Jack and the Beanstalk," and those "magic beans," that were going to bring much prosperity. It usually boiled down to a sale's pitch and not much more. Accepting the developments meant, however, the sacrifice of forests, wetlands, and farm pastures. Well, you have to sacrifice something right? Even I accept that development is going to happen, and of this, there is no doubt, or law big enough to stop it. Our success in the future, will be to achieve a balance, that is achieved by sensible proportion and good planning. And the appreciation, that like the Connecticut that Odell Shepard knew and loved, Muskoka must has its areas of environmental protection, and stewardship.
It has become somewhat of an urban legend, in the arts community, that in later life, Canadian Group of Seven Artist, A.J. Casson, once said, he could no longer find anything of interest to paint in Muskoka, as all the old interesting buildings had been torn down, and rebuilt without the character of the pioneer farmsteads. He may not have been impressed by the urban scenes either, but this is all hearsay. If he did make these claims, I would agree with him whole heartedly, and I can remember this landscape carnage, as the old landmark houses, storefronts, barns and boathouses were torn down to make room for modern architecture......which is fine by the way. But I know what the artist was saying.....if he said this in the first place.
I also dream of a sensibly, environmentally-respectful development of Muskoka, for many years to come. It has been my writer's paradise for long and long, and I hope others feel the same as residents and visitors......that this solitude is precious, inspiring, and restorative, and of this, I'm so glad my parents introduced me to Muskoka in the first place. The only way I will leave this district, is kicking and screaming. Otherwise, they will be sprinkling me here.
Thank you so much for visiting today's blog. Please join me another day.
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