CHRISTMAS IN MUSKOKA - WHAT WE MISS ABOUT THE FESTIVE SEASON, THE RESULT OF DURESS
RE-DISCOVERING MUSKOKA BEYOND THE CHRISTMAS WRAP
A BIG STORM IS COMING DOWN THE PIKE! I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO BE ABLE TO WEAR RUNNING SHOES ALL WINTER. JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS. I DO VERY MUCH LIKE A SNOW-CLAD MUSKOKA FOR THE HOLIDAYS. IT'S KIND OF A BING CROSBY THING. "WHITE CHRISTMAS," HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE BINGO SONG. IT'S DUE IN PART, TO HAVING SPENT A NUMBER OF VERY GREEN, AND PALM-DECORATED CHRISTMASES IN FLORIDA, IN MY YOUTH. I LOVED GOING TO FLORIDA AFTER CHRISTMAS. I WASN'T FOND OF A SNOWLESS FESTIVE SEASON DESPITE THE WARMTH, AND BEING ABLE TO GOLF BETWEEN CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS. IN MUSKOKA, I LOVE SNOW UNTIL ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY. THEN I GROW A LITTLE WEARY OF TRUNDLING UP AND DOWN THE BIRCH HOLLOW LANE, SLIPPING AND SLIDING WITH BAGS OF GROCERIES LIKE A CURLING STONE. I LIKE SHOVELING SNOW UNTIL THE SAME DATE. IF THERE HAPPENED TO BE A VERY EARLY SPRING, I'M PRETTY SURE I COULD WAX POETIC ABOUT THAT WEATHER BONUS, AS MUCH AS ABOUT THE SNOWY WOODLANDS AND FROZEN PONDS.
WHO AM I TO SUGGEST SUCH A THING? THAT THE CHRISTMAS SEASON STRESSES, WITH ITS INHERENT HUSTLE AND BUSTLE, OBSCURE THE REAL GIFT OF THE SEASON! HOW POSITIVELY ABSURD. HOW FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED, AS IF THIS WRITER HAS NEVER DRIVEN PAST A DEER, VISIBLE IN THE CLEARING OF A SNOWY WOODS, OR WITH A HARRIED PERSPECTIVE, ABOUT THE HOURLY COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS, MISSED ENTIRELY THE MAGNIFICENT FARM SCENE, BATHED SO ROMANTICALLY IN WINTER MOONLIGHT, ON A CLEAR, COLD, DECEMBER EVENING. HOW CAN ANYONE, NO MATTER HOW PREOCCUPIED, PASS THE WATERFRONT OF MUSKOKA BEACH, AND NOT LOOK OUT WITH GREAT REVERENCE, ONTO THE MISTY LAKE, WITH ITS DARK SILHOUETTES OF THE ISLANDS, SOON TO BE OBSCURED BY AN INCOMING SNOW SQUALL? WALKING ALONG A QUAINT COUNTRY LANE, EARLY EVENING, WHILE LOOKING AT AN ILLUMINATED CELL PHONE SCREEN, INSTEAD OF NOTICING THE FLURRIES QUIETLY FALLING UPON THE WAY FORWARD. I HAVE NO PROBLEM AT ALL, SUGGESTING THAT FAR TOO MANY MORTALS, IN THEIR PURSUITS AND FULFILLMENT OF THE CHRISTMAS SEASON OBLIGATIONS, OBSESS ABOUT DETAILS, AND FORGET THE HOST REGION; KNOWN AS ONE OF THE MOST ALLURING, PEACEFULLY PICTURESQUE PLACES IN CANADA.
IT'S A SOCIETAL PROBLEM, THAT TODAY'S CHILDREN ARE CONSUMED BY THE WONDERS OF TECHNOLOGY, AT THE EXPENSE OF NOTICING, AND CELEBRATING THE WONDERS OF NATURE. KIDS PLAYING VIDEO GAMES IN RECREATION ROOMS, INSTEAD OF SLEIGHING DOWN HILLSIDES; WATCHING ENDLESS GAMES OF HOCKEY BUT NEVER PICKING UP A STICK, FOR A GAME OF ROAD HOCKEY. DO I NOTICE A DIFFERENCE FROM THE DAYS OF MY YOUTH? SHOCKINGLY SO. EVEN FROM THE DAYS WHEN MY BOYS, ANDREW AND ROBERT WERE ENJOYING THEIR YOUTH, FROM THE LATE 1980'S, AND 90'S, THERE WERE LOTS OF ROAD HOCKEY GAMES BEING PLAYED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND HIKING THROUGH THE FROZEN BOG TO FIND A LENGTH OF ICE TO SLIDE UPON. IT IS A TROUBLING TREND, AND I SEE IT IN THEM AS WELL, CONSULTING AND STUDYING THEIR CELL PHONE SCREENS TWENTY TO THIRTY TIMES AN HOUR, WHEN IT MAKES ITS ANECDOTAL RING OR BUZZ. I HAVE DONE MY OWN SURVEY, AND I WONDER, HOW IN THE WORLD WE EVER GOT BY WITH A LAND-LINE PHONE; OR A PARTY LINE; OR HAVING TO CALL SARAH TO CONNECT US WITH HOOTERVILLE? LETTER WRITING? SOMETHING LARGELY RELEGATED TO ANTIQUITY!
WHAT ARE THE COMPROMISES? WHAT ARE WE MISSING, THAT'S SO IMPORTANT? MUSKOKA IS A LOVELY PLACE, AND THAT'S WHY WE LIVE HERE. ISN'T THIS ENOUGH RESPECT TO COVER ALL THE BASES? I CAN ONLY ANSWER QUESTIONS LIKE THIS, WHICH I POSE TO MYSELF ALMOST DAILY, BY SUGGESTING WE ARE DISTANCING OURSELVES FURTHER AND FURTHER FROM NATURAL REALITIES. GLOBAL WARMING ISN'T A JOKE. IT ISN'T GOING TO BE RESOLVED BECAUSE SOME TECHNO-WIZARD COMES UP WITH AN "APP", OR SOMEONE ELSE DEVELOPS A VIDEO GAME, THAT AS AN OBJECTIVE, HAS ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP AS A PLAYER COMPETITION. THE MORE MANKIND SUCCUMBS TO THE DRAW OF TECHNOLOGY, AND BECOMES ISOLATED WITH CYBERSPACE AND ITS OFTEN SURREAL ADVANTAGES, AND ITS ELECTRIC BRAND OF LIBERATION, THE CLOSER WE EDGE TO THE ABYSS; WHERE WE WILL HAVE FINALLY ECLIPSED OUR OWN MORTALITY WITH THIS FANTASY ESCAPISM. YOU MAY THINK THIS IS WILDLY SPECULATIVE, AND EVEN OUTRAGEOUS, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THE TECHNOLOGY MAGNATES COUNT ON; AND THE REASON THEY KEEP MASTERING "THE HOOK" STRATEGY, TO SELL MORE PRODUCTS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS A FEW LOOSE COINS STILL JINGLING IN THEIR POCKETS. I HEARD A PUBLIC SCHOOL KID, FROM OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, TELLING HIS CHUM, THAT HE WAS BEING FORCED, BY HIS PARENTS, TO SELL SOME OF HIS POSSESSIONS, AND A COUPLE OF BIKES HE OWNED, TO PAY HIS LATEST CELL PHONE BILL. IF THIS WAS SCENARIO WAS RARE IT WOULDN'T BE QUITE AS BAD. BUT THERE IS NOTHING RARE ABOUT IT!
ONE NIGHT THIS SUMMER, SUZANNE AND I HAD JUST RETURNED TO BIRCH HOLLOW, AFTER A PLEASANT WALK ALONG THE LANEWAY THAT ABUTS THE BOG. WE MADE A QUICKER THAN NORMAL TROT BACK TO THE HOUSE, AFTER ENCOUNTERING A LONE WOLF. IT WAS A BIG ANIMAL, AND AS WE WALKED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD, LOOKING BACK TO WHERE THE ANIMAL HAD BEEN, WE COULD HEAR IT COMING AFTER US, THROUGH THE FRINGE OF WOODLAND RIGHT BESIDE US. IN FACT, WHEN WE HIT THE DRIVEWAY OF OUR ABODE, THE WOLF ARRIVED AT THE MAIL BOX RIGHT ACROSS FROM BIRCH HOLLOW. IT JUST STOOD AND STARED AT US, WHICH WAS FINE, AND WE WEREN'T PARTICULARLY SCARED. I WAS WORRIED HOWEVER, ABOUT SOME OF OUR NEIGHBORS, WHO MIGHT BE OUT LATER THAT NIGHT, WALKING THEIR DOGS. SO WE SAT OUT ON THE VERANDAH FOR ABOUT AN HOUR, TO YELL OUT GENERAL WARNINGS TO UNSUSPECTING AREA RESIDENTS, TO WATCH OUT FOR THE WOLF. BY THE WAY, WE HAVE HAD LOTS OF WOLVES PASS OUR WAY, PLUS SEVERAL COYOTES, ESPECIALLY AT TIMES, WHEN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS ARE DISTURBING THEIR FORMER HABITATS. ON THIS NIGHT, WE WARNED THREE PASSERSBY, TO KEEP WATCH FOR THIS CURIOUS WOLF. NOT THAT IT WOULD HAVE ATTACKED A HUMAN, BUT POSSIBLY, IT MIGHT HAVE APPROACHED A DOG, OR CAT WITH ILL INTENT. ALL OF A SUDDEN, A YOUNG MAN FROM DOWN OUR STREET, CAME ALONG WITH A QUICK TROT, STUDYING HIS CELL PHONE SCREEN. HE WAS ABSOLUTELY OBLIVIOUS, TO ANYTHING GOING ON AROUND HIM, AND EVEN WHEN A CAR CAME DOWN THE ROAD, RIGHT BEHIND HIM, THE MOTORIST HAD TO DRIVE AROUND HIM; BECAUSE THERE WAS NO WAY THE KID WAS AWARE, WHAT WAS COMING FROM BEHIND. THE HEADLIGHTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A CLUE. HE DIDN'T SEEM AT ALL CONCERNED ABOUT GETTING HIT. MAYBE HE HAD JUST BEEN DUMPED BY HIS GIRLFRIEND, BY TEXT MESSAGE. AFTER THIS, WE YELLED TO THE FELLOW, TO KEEP WATCH FOR A WOLF DOWN THE ROAD. HE LOOKED UP AT THE VERANDAH, FOR A SPLIT SECOND, NEVER SLOWED DOWN ON HIS MARCH TOWARD HOME, BUT NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED OUR WARNING. I HAVE HAD ENCOUNTERS WITH LONE WOLVES IN THE PAST, WHILE WALKING ON LOCAL COUNTRY ROADS, AND WITH CONSIDERABLE EVIDENCE FROM PIONEER ACCOUNTS, OF THOSE WHO HAD SIMILAR ENCOUNTERS, RESPECT IS THE OPERATIVE REACTION. FOR MOST PEOPLE THAT IS! I DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT THIS YOUNGSTER BEING ATTACKED ON OUR ROAD, BY A HUNGRY WOLF, AND THERE WERE NO TRACES OF CELL PHONE DEBRIS ON THE ROADWAY, TO SUGGEST THERE HAD BEEN ANY VIOLENT ENCOUNTER WITH A PREDATOR BEAST. IF THE WOLF HAD BEEN AROUND TO STUDY THIS RATHER OCCUPIED CHAP, WITH EYES GLUED TO THE ILLUMINATED SCREEN OF HIS CELL PHONE, WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IN THE EVENT OF AN ATTACK. I HAVE THIS VISION OF THE KID BEING HALF CONSUMED, STILL READING A TEXT MESSAGE FROM HIS, SAY, GIRLFRIEND, THAT HE PROBABLY WAS VISITING ONLY A FEW MINUTES EARLIER. AT WHAT POINT WOULD THE KID DROP THE CELL PHONE, AND RUN LIKE HELL. THIS IS A GROWING TREND, AND A SERIOUS PROBLEM, OF MISSING NATURAL AND MANMADE REALITIES, BEING PREOCCUPIED BY TECHNOLOGY. IT'S NOT JUST TEXTING AND DRIVING THAT'S A DANGEROUS SITUATION. IN A PERIOD OF LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES, THE FELLOW COULD HAVE BEEN HIT IN THE BACK BY A COMING CAR, ATTACKED BY A WOLF, NOT TO MENTION, STOMPED-ON BY A ROGUE MOOSE; OR TRAMPLED BY DEER WHICH FREQUENTLY MAKE APPEARANCES HERE. SO, THE KID GOT HOME, WITH MAYBE A WOLF RIGHT BEHIND HIM, AND WHEN ASKED WHAT WAS NEW, BY HIS MOTHER, UNDOUBTEDLY DIDN'T INCLUDE ANYTHING ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE WALK HOME. THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY FOLKS SIMILARLY OBSESSED BY WHAT TECHNOLOGY HAS OFFERED THEM, TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION, AND ENHANCE RECREATION, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, ON THE DOWN SIDE, DULLING OUR NATURAL INSTINCTS TO OBSERVE, INTERPRET AND ADAPT OUR CIRCUMSTANCE IN THE WORLD AROUND US; IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT CAN KILL US WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT IT.
I HAVE OPINED ABOUT THIS REALITY MANY TIMES IN THE PAST THREE YEARS, VIA THIS BLOG, AND IT IS A KIND OF BROKEN RECORD SITUATION. IT'S A SHAME, THAT AS A RESULT OF OUR INCREASINGLY STRESSED LIVES, FROM SO MANY SOURCES, AND POINTS OF INTERACTION, THAT IT HAS TAKEN AWAY MUCH OF THE ENJOYMENT OF OUR ABUNDANT NATURAL ATTRIBUTES, NATIVE TO THIS MAGNIFICENT COUNTRY. WHICH OF COURSE, THIS AREA HAS IN SUCH PLENTIFUL SUPPLY. TO ENJOY NATURE, IN ALL ITS GLORY, REQUIRES SENSES BEYOND THE EXERCISE, OF STARING AT A CELL PHONE SCREEN, AND THEN TEXTING A CUTE RESPONSE. WHEN I'VE ASKED FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES ABOUT THE USE OF CELL PHONES, (IN THEIR POSSESSI0N) DURING CASUAL CONVERSATION, OUTSIDE OF THE BUSINESS AND SOCIAL APPLICATIONS, MOST WILL AGREE IT IS A SOURCE OF LIBERATION, BEING ABLE TO FROLIC THROUGH CYBERSPACE AT WILL. SORT OF LIKE "SWINGING ON A STAR." ANOTHER OF MY BING CROSBY FAVORITES. I AM NOT A TECHNOLOGY HATER, AND OUR FAMILY, LIKE YOU AND YOUR KIN FOLK, IS LOADED TO THE HILT, WITH GADGETS THAT KEEP US CONNECTED, AND IN A POSITION TO DO MUCH OF OUR BUSINESS ONLINE, TO ADVANTAGE AND IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, HOW MUCH HAVE WE BECOME FETTERED BY THIS SAME TECHNOLOGY; THE LINKS OF CHAIN, AS AUTHOR CHARLES DICKENS ONCE WROTE, ABOUT THE PRECARIOUS, LIFE-ALTERING BURDENS OF GREED AND PREOCCUPATION. WHICH, FOR SOME, IS FORGED LINK BY LINK THROUGHOUT OUR DAILY LIVES WITHOUT US BEING AWARE OF ITS WEIGHT. AS DICKENS CHARACTER, JACOB MARLEY OPINED, TO EBENEEZER SCROOGE, ABOUT CHANGING HIS CURMUDGEON WAYS, THIS BURDEN, IS "A PONDEROUS LENGTH OF CHAIN." AN UNNECESSARY WEIGHT THAT OBSTRUCTS MANKIND, FROM THE BENEVOLENT WORK OF HELPING OTHERS. AS MARLEY SCOLDS SCROOGE, TO IMPRESS THAT "MANKIND IS OUR BUSINESS!" "THEIR COMMON WELFARE IS OUR BUSINESS." INSTEAD OF LIBERATION, WITH CELL PHONE TECHNOLOGY, AND ITS PONDEROUS EXPENSE, I OFTEN WONDER IF, INSTEAD, OUR OBSESSION WITH TECHNOLOGY, HAS FOR MANY OF US, BECOME THAT SAME BALL AND CHAIN WE CAN'T EASILY ESCAPE. IT HAS BECOME AN EXTENSION OF OUR SOUL, AND IT IS WITH US TWENTY FOUR HOURS A DAY. IT IS CHANGING OUR WAY OF LIVING. OUR WAY OF LOOKING UPON THE WORLD, AND WHAT WE ASSUME OUR RESPONSIBILITIES ARE, AND WILL BE, TO HELP HUMANKIND SURVIVE. WHILE WE SURF THE NET, A LOT OF LIFE AND WORLD EVENTS ARE PASSING BY, AND THE ABILITY TO REACT TO CIRCUMSTANCE, IN ACTUALITY, IS BEING DULLED AND ROUNDED AT THE EDGES. WHO WILL BE AROUND TO PROTECT MUSKOKA'S NATURAL RESOURCES IN TEN YEARS? WILL THE ENVIRONMENT GET THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES FROM THIS YOUNG GENERATION, NOW IMMERSED SO DEEPLY IN TECHNOLOGICAL RECREATION, THAT IT IS FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, EXTENSIONS OF THEIR CHARACTER?
I HAVE WATCHED MY TWO SONS, STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THEIR LUNCH BREAK, WHILE HAVING A HOT BOWL OF STEW OR SOUP, TO ANSWER THEIR CELL PHONE, AND TEXT A MESSAGE TO SOMEONE, WHO, FOR GOSH SAKES, COULD HAVE WAITED A FEW MINUTES LONGER FOR A RESPONSE, WITHOUT FEAR OF PERISHING AS A RESULT. BUT IT IS NO EASY FEAT, TO GET THEM TO SET THE PHONE ON A SHELF OR TABLE, AWAY FROM EVEN THEIR OUTSTRETCHED ARMS. THEY FEEL OBLIGATED TO REACT IMMEDIATELY TO WHOEVER IS CALLING OR TEXTING. I'M SORRY ABOUT THIS, BECAUSE IT ISN'T WHAT I HAD HOPED WOULD HAPPEN, WHEN WE INVESTED IN THESE GADGETS, PRIMARILY FOR BUSINESS USE. BUT THEY ARGUE BACK, THAT A MAJORITY OF THE CALLS ARE BUSINESS RELATED. "YOU WANT US TO DO WELL, DON'T YOU DAD?" LOADED QUESTION. IT IS POINTLESS TO ARGUE BACK, THAT THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN BUSINESS AND MAKING MONEY, AND THUSLY, I SOUND AS ANTIQUATED AS DICKENS' CHARACTER, OLD FEZZIWIG, WHO LOST HIS OWN BUSINESS, BECAUSE HE COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH THE MODERNIZATION OF COMPETING INDUSTRY.
AN OUTDOOR SOJOURN AT BIRCH HOLLOW
Last night, because it wasn't terribly cold, I decided to sit out on the verandah for a few minutes. I had a big coat on, toque and huge leather mitts, as well as a large wool blanket we keep on the deck for chilly August nights; when we wish to sit out, and watch out over the bog. I will sit here, in all kinds of weather, and I've even slept on the open verandah in late December, during one of the warmer winter starts, we had a number of years ago. Last night, the air was clear and invigorating, and I was nestled under layers of warm clothing, and this historic wool blanket with provenance connected to a former Muskoka resort. It was a beautiful, sparkling night, and I started thinking back to the Muskoka pioneers, and the loggers in the camps engaged at this time of year, in much colder weather, with probably less winter wear than I had with me, for my home-base vigil. Then I'd get really wild, and think about the voyageur's criss crossing through Canada's north, in the fur trapping era of our country's history. I've read historical accounts, of that hardy class of adventurer, sleeping beneath buffalo robes out in the open air, burrowed into a snowbank out of the wind. I used to have two buffalo robes that I kept in a cedar trunk, for verandah use, on much colder autumn days, as a sort of historical re-enactment. All from the relative safety of our front deck. So much for reliving history with all its inherent risk factors, like freezing to death and being eaten by wolves or bear.
I only remained outdoors for a couple of hours, coming in at around one in the morning. When I had hunkered down on the verandah, the air was still, and there was a lot of urban din going on around me, including the jets flying overhead, possibly to exotic places with wide sandy beaches and blue, warm ocean water. I didn't care. I was snug as a bug, and for the most part, I just studied what was going on around me. There was an owl somewhere close, but across the lane, in the thicket above the lowland. There were many sounds of running water, down into a little basin, at roadside, that empties into the myriad little creeks that criss-cross the bog, to eventually empty in the water of Muskoka Bay, of the wider Lake Muskoka. There was the sound of animals, somewhere in the pile of branches, I maintain as habitat, to the right of the verandah, and that may have interested the venerable owl, likely within striking range. There was a much more significant rustling in the thick shrubs across the lane, and although I expected, at any time, a deer to poke its head out, it probably exited further north into the frozen wetland instead.
I was started to nod-off. I had asked Suzanne to check on me, if she got up during the night. I was a little concerned about the weather report, that was calling for a drop in temperature, which didn't worry me as such; but it was to be partnered as a weather event by a much stronger wind. I was really enjoying the sensation of cold air on my face, and the scents of late autumn, when all of a sudden, I heard an unexpected roar to the west. At first, I thought it must be another jet on its path across our region, or one landing at the Muskoka airport. We are either on the flight path for arriving aircraft or pretty close, because there is a lot of overhead air traffic through the four seasons, and most of it we know according to schedule. We've lived at Birch Hollow since the fall of 1989, and spent a lot of time, like this, enjoying the outdoors. So believe me, we know most of the commercial aircraft that fly over, especially late at night. But the noise I was hearing, and vibration I was feeling, wasn't being caused by an airliner. It was the wind rising up from Muskoka Bay, in a west to east flow, crashing through the evergreen and oak belt, above the lakeshore. We always get a five minute warning, of these wave like winds, accompanying some change in the weather, and I wrapped myself a little tighter in the blanket. I had put up several protective panels against the railing to provide a block for the anticiapated wind, but the gusts were far greater than I had prepared for earlier. One gust actually got under the wool blanket, and got quite personal, lifting and doubling the blanket right over my head, leaving my legs exposed. It was a bitterly cold current of air, followed by many others, in a succession of powerful bursts, coming through the evergreens on the fringes of the blog. This is what was making the sound of jet engines, as it provided an porous obstacle for the wind to blow through. Despite what I believed was adequate winter padding, the wind and cold penetrated through the wool blanket, and easily passed through the layers of clothing. Even the toque was inadequate. The fur and leather mitts made my hands sweat. My feet were warm. But it was an invigorating experience, none the less, and yes, I did wonder about those early Muskoka settlers, in their drafty log shanties, huddling by a modest fireplace trying to survive the brutal cold, and stormy Canadian winters. What an amazing actuality it was for me, as these respites always prove more exciting than restful. How many folks in this community, would think this is the kind of casual recreation best suited to their lifestyle. And there is no app for this outdoor experience. No other way of replicating it, or having a parallel sensation, without a little bit of suffering for the cause. The cause? To enjoy, celebrate and benefit from the natural attributes of this great region.
The only way, we can be stewards of Muskoka's resources and the environment, is to re-connect with its hinterland realities. If we are to protect it, and ensure that it survives for the benefit of future generations, there is a great need, for more citizens to appreciate what is at risk, by promoting and accepting development investment; from urbanites, wishing to exploit our good nature. As we seem to be more disconnected than ever, a true oxymoron, in the era of technological magic, please excuse the historian, for being a little bit worried, we may not have the will to fight future large scale development, that is not in the best interest of our natural heritage. It is rather frightening in fact. Young people especially, seem to be in another world; a cyberspace folly, at the expense of the welfare of the real world.
THE STUFF OF LEGEND - CIRCA 1868 - OUR TRIP DOWN THE GEORGIAN BAY WITH AN INJURED LOGGER - PART TWO
IN TODAY'S BLOG, I OFFER A SELECTION OF WORK, PUBLISHED IN BERT SHEA'S FIRST BOOK (OF TWO), "HISTORY OF THE SHEAS AND THE BIRTH OF A TOWNSHIP," DEALING WITH STORMY WINTER PASSAGE OF JOHN LILY SHEA AND PRESUMABLY WILLIAM SHEA, ROXBOROUGH BILL, WITH A LOGGER BY THE NAME OF GILES. MR. GILES HAD EXPERIENCED A BAD CUT ON HIS LEG, WITH AN AXE BLADE, AND HAD LOST A GREAT DEAL OF BLOOD BEFORE IT COULD BE TIED-OFF. JOHN LILY AND WILLIAM WERE HAULING THE SLEIGH WITH THE INJURED MR. GILES, DOWN FROM A GEORGIAN BAY LUMBER CAMP, AND IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THE MAP DRAWN BY A FIRST NATIONS TRAVELLER, ON SNOWSHOES, THERE IS A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY THE RESCUERS AND SLEIGH WOULD HAVE BROKEN THROUGH THIN ICE AND SURELY DROWNED. THE TRIP HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL SO FAR, BUT THE WEATHER HAS BEEN ADVERSE, WITH SNOW AND TERRIBLE COLD. NOW WE RESUME THE STORY, WRITTEN AS A LENGTHY POEM.
"WE WERE PUSHING ON IN SILENCE, THE SUN DRIFTING WEST; NEW PLACES IN THE SHORELINE SEEMED HIGHER THAN THE REST; AND IN THE SUNSET WE COULD SEE THE WOODS AND ROCKY SHORE, THIS SPOKE TO US OF COMFORTS WHEN HUNGER WOULD BE O'ER.
"HOW WOULD IT BE SAYS WILLIAM TO CAMP ON YONDER SITE; 'OH NO,' SAYS ROXBOROUGH BILL; 'WE WILL FINISH THE DAY UP RIGHT;" 'BY SCISSORS,' SAYS JOHN LILY. 'YOU WILL HAVE US ALL ON YOUR SLEIGH;' SAYS ROXBOROUGH BILL, 'IF YOU WILL, YOU CAN FINISH UP THAT WAY.
"SO WE TRAVELLED ON IN SILENCE BUILDING STRICTLY TO THE PLAN; FOR IT LOOKED THAT DISCUSSION COULD BRING MUTINY OF THE CLAN; THE SUN SANK IN SILENCE CASTING BEAUTY ON THE SHORE; WHICH WAS SLOWLY DRAWING NEARER BUT WE HAD A FEW MILES MORE.
"BUT THE MOON CAME OUT IN SILENCE CASTING BEAUTY ON OUR NIGHT; AND IT CAST A GLORIOUS PICTURE IN THAT FEBRUARY NIGHT; IT SEEMED TO GIVE US COURAGE AS IF ANOTHER DAY; BUT WE WERE DESPERATE HUNGRY AND CHANGED OFTEN ON THE SLEIGH.
"WE REALIZED THE STRAIN WE HAD TAKEN FOR THE CAUSE; WE WERE CROSSING PARRY SOUND AND ITS RUGGED YAWNING JAWS; AT THE TIME WE KNEW NOT THE GEOGRAPHIC WAY; NOR THE MILES WE HAD TRAVELLED ON THAT LONG IRKSOME DAY.
"BUT NOW THE SHORE WAS COMING T'WAS EARLY IN THE NIGHT; IT DID NOT SEEM INVITING FROM ITS RUGGED ROCKY HEIGHT; AS OUR EYES PEERED THROUGH THE MOONLIGHT FOR THE SHELTER OF A COVE; AND AT LAST THERE SEEMED A PROMISE IN ITS DIRECTION, THERE WE STROVE.
'SO WE DREW IN THE SLEIGH, BY THE HOLDER'S SIDE; OUR PASSENGER HE WAS WEARY FROM HIS LONG AND CHILLING RIDE; AND FROM DRIFTWOOD CARRIED IN BY GEORGIAN'S ROLLING MAIN; A CHEERY FIRE SOON WAS MADE AND WE WARMED HIM UP AGAIN.
"SAYS GILES, 'I CANNOT GRUMBLE BUT I'LL BE GLAD WHEN THIS TRIP IS O'ER; AND MY SHANTY I HAVE ENTERED ON THREE MILE'S PLEASANT SHORE'; SAYS JOHN L. AS HE STUDIES THE MAP OF BARK HE BORE, 'BY THE CLOSE OF ANOTHER DAY, WE SHOULD REACH LAKE JOSEPH SHORE.
"THEN THE AIR WAS LADEN BY ODOR OF BURNING PINE; AND TEA MADE IN THE WOODSMAN WAY THAT TASTES SO VERY FINE; THE SMELL OF BACON FRYING IN AN OPEN FRYING PAN; TWAS ALL THAT WE COULD ASK, TWAS LIFE FOR A HUNGRY MAN.
"AND AS WE SAST AND CHATTED, AND FINISHED UP THE TEA, WE SPOKE ABOUT TOMORROW AND WHERE ABOUT WE WOULD BE; SAYS GILES. 'I HOPE WE CAN CAMP ON A PLEASANT WOODED SHORE, AND NOT AMONG THE BOULDERS WHERE THE WAVES OF AGES ROAR.'
SAYS WILLIAM, 'GILES IS DOING FINE, NEXT HE WILL BE PULLING THE SLEIGH; IT'S THE BEST SIGN HE COULD GIVE TO HEAR HIM TALK THAT WAY; AND THEN MORE WOOD WE GATHERED OUR FIRE FOR TO KEEP, AND SAT UPON OUR SNOWSHOES THE FIRE AT OUR FEET.
"WE TOOK THE TRAIL AT DAYLIGHT TO JOURNEY ALONG THE SHORE; IN SEARCH OF AN INLET THAT WAS SOMEWHERE JUST BEFORE; ERE MID-MORNING HAD FLOWN AS WE TRAVELLED OUR WAY; ROUNDING A ROCKY POINT THERE LAY THE HIDDEN BAY.
"HEADING EAST, WE TURNED OUR BACKS, ON THE GEORGIAN BAY; WE KNEW WE WERE HEADING FOR SHELTER AND HOME BY ANOTHER DAY; THE VIRGIN FOREST BEFORE US, SMALL LAKES ON THE CHARTED LINE; AND WE FELT A HOME IN THE WOODS, AS SONS OF THE VIRGIN PINE.
"THE TWO WHO WERE DRAWING THE SLEIGH TRAVELLED IN INDIAN FILE; AND ONE WHO CARRIED THE GRUB BROKE TRAIL AND DREW FOR A WHILE; THE GOING IN THE WOODS WAS HEAVY, NOT LIKE THE GEORGIAN BAY; THE SNOW WAS LOOSE IN THE FOREST IT LAY, IN ITS FLEECY WAY.
"WE TRAVELLED ALONG IN THE FOREST AND ON THE ICY WAY; AS DESCRIBED BY THE PLAN ON THE BARK, THE CHART HAD SHOWED THE WAY; BY NIGHT WE CAME FROM THE FOREST TO A LAKE, OUR FRIEND CALLED SMALL; AND WE CROSSED IT; TWAS SURROUNDED BY HEMLOCK, A FOREST GREEN AND TALL.
"THEN OUT A NARROW OUTLET TO A SLIM ISLAND BAY, SAYS JOHN L., 'THINK WE HAD BETTER ON THE SHORE OF THE LAKE JOE STAY'; WE ALL AGREED TO HIS COUNCIL, WE HAD HAD A GOOD MARCH THAT DAY; AND HERE WAS SHELTER AND WOOD WE COULD REST, AS KINGS IN THE FOREST WAY.
"FROM THE FOREST WE BUILT A SHELTER OF GREEN BALSAM, A STURDY WALL; AND THE FLOOR WE COVERED WITH BOUGHS, TO CARPET OUR BANQUET HALL; THE FIRE WE BUILT IN THE CENTRE AND ARRANGED OUR SEATS FOR EASE; WE WERE GUESTS IN THE ANCIENT FOREST; AND NATURE HAD GIVEN US THE KEYS.
"WE WERE HOSTS ONE TO EACH OTHER, AND PARTOOK OF OUR SUPPER FINE; AND OUR HALL WAS LIT BY THE MOONLIGHT, AND THE FLAME OF THE BURNING PINE; THE ODOUR THAT FILLED THE DINER WAS THE RAREST OF NATURE'S HEAT, AND WE FELT IN OUR RUSTIC PALACE WE WERE INDEED BY OUR MAKER'S BESSED.
"AND TO FINISH THE EVENING'S ENTERTAINMENT, ROXBOROUGH BILL CLEARED HIS THROAT; AND WITH THE EASE OF A NOTED WARBLER, HE POURED FORTH THE TENDER NOTES; HE SANG THROUGH THE EVENING, AS THE SPARKS MOUNTED UP IN THE NIGHT, AND FADED OUT IN THE FOREST AS THE NOTES, THROUGH THE VEIL TOOK THEIR FLIGHT.
"THEN WE LAID US DOWN IN CONTENTMENT TO REST FOR ANOTHER DAY; FOR THE LAST LAP OF OUR JOURNEY OF THAT TRIP DOWN THE GEORGIAN BAY; THE FIRE BURNED LOW IN THE MEANTIME AND THE COALS KEPT A GLOW IN THE NIGHT, AS WE SLEPT IN OUR RUSTIC CHAMBER TO WAKE WITH THE DAWN OF LIGHT.
"AS WE SLIPPED OUR FEET INTO OUR SNOWSHOES, AND ADJUSTED THE HARNESS RIGHT, OUR EYES SCANNED THE WOODED SHORELINE THAT BORDERED THE TRACKLESS WHITE; THE SMOKE FROM OUR DYING CAMPFIRE ASCENDED IN A SLENDER THREAD, AS WE BROKE THE HISSING SILENCE, BY THE SWISH OF THE SNOWSHOE TREAD.
"OUR FACES SET FOR THE CHANNEL, DOWN LAKE JOSEPH WAY, JOHN L. WAS BREAKING THE TRACK, THAT LED IN THE HOMEWARD WAY; THROUGH THE ISLES AND POINTS OF LAKE JOSEPH, THAT THE VISAGE OF WINTER BORE, WITH CAUTION WE CROSSED THE JOE RIVER, AND OVER TO LAKE ROSSEAU SHORE.
"HERE WE KINDLED A FIRE FOR DINNER, AIR, WE EAT OR DRINK OF THE TEA; WE BROKE THE ICE FROM OUR WHISKERS, AS JOHN STUDIED THE MAP, SAYS HE; 'WE'LL CROSS THE ISLAND BEFORE US, IT SHOWS THE NARROWEST WAY; AND THEN WE WILL HEAD FOR THE PORTAGE AND DINE TONIGHT AT GREEN BAY.
"WE PLIED FRESH PINE ON THE FIRE; THE FLAME AS OUR SPIRITS FELT THE LIGHT; WE THOUGHT OF THE TRAIL BEHIND US, AND OF THOSE WE WOULD SEE TONIGHT; IN OUR HOME IN THE LITTLE CLEARING MIDST, THE MIGHTY FOREST WALL; WOUJLD THEY BE HERE AS WHEN WE LEFT THEM, IN THE EARLY DAYS OF FALL?
"OUR DINNER HOUR WE SHORTENED, AND WE FELL TO OUR STEADY STRIDE; WE CROSSED THE BIG ISLAND BEFORE US, AND O'ER THE CHANNEL WIDE; AND BY THE ISLANDS THAT GUARDED, THE WAY TO THE PORTAGE BAY, WE PAUSED AT SMALLBONE'S CABIN, TO PASS THE TIME OF DAY.
"AND THEN BY THE INDIAN TRAIL FROM ROSSEAU TO THREE MILE SHORE, WE REACHED THE BAY BY WANE OF THE DAY, OUR JOURNEY WOULD SOON BE O'ER; THE WINDS FELL SILENT, AS IF TO REST FOR THE NIGHT; AS WE WITH OUR HELPLESS PATIENT, HAD WON IN THAT DESPERATE FIGHT.
"THE DOOR OF THE CABIN SWUNG OPEN, AND OUR PARENTS WELCOMED US IN; TO COMFORTS OF HOME AND SHELTER, FROM KING WINTER'S RIGORS AND DIN; THE KETTLE SANG ON THE FIRE, AND THE STEW SMELT GOOD ON THE STOVE; THE WASYS WERE COZY AND HUMBLE, WE WERE AT HOME, WITH THEM THAT WE LOVED.
"GILES TOOK A TURN FOR THE BETTER, HIS FOOT HEALED UP WITH A SCAR, AND HE LIVED TO BE AN OLD HERO, IN THE LAND WHERE OLD HEROES ARE; HE SANG MANY SONGS TO HIS CHILDREN, AND TALKED OF THE WINTERS THAT WERE COLD; OF WHEN THEY BROUGHT HIM FROM THE SHANTY, THOSE MEN SO BRAVE AND SO BOLD.
"AT LAST WHEN HE HAD GROWN WEARY WITH YEARS, HIS HEAD LOWERED AND WHITE, AS THE DAWN OF ANOTHER DAY OPENED, HIS SOUL THROUGH THE VEIL TOOK ITS FLIGHT; BUT HIS NAME LINGERS ON IN THE MEMORY, OF THE SONS OF THE BRAVE AND THE FREE, AS THEY SIT AND TALK BY THEIR CAMPFIRES, OF THE THING, AS OF OLD, USED TO BE."
ALSO IN THE BOOK, CREDITED TO BERT SHEA, IS THE POEM ENTITLED "DEATH OF A PIONEER," AND MAY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY THE STORY OF OLD GILES.
"THEY WASHED THEIR BODIES SO WHITE AND CLEAN; THOSE MEN OF THE PIONEER DAYS; THEIR BLOOD THEY LEFT TO SET IN THEIR VEINS, IT WAS THEIRS, AND IT IS THERE TO STAY.
"THEY COMBED THEIR HAIR AND FOLDER THEIR HANDS, THEIR EYES THEY CLOSED WITH CARE; AND A CLEAN PRESSED VEST THEY GIRDED ON, AND COMBED OVER THEIR WHISKERS THERE.
"IN THE CASKET MADE FROM CLEAN WHITE PINE, THE CHOICE FROM THE FOREST GROVE, WITH PINS OF OAK TO JOIN IT TIGHT, BY STROKES OF THE HAMMER DROVE.
"SO THEY LAID HIM THERE, TO REST IN PEACE, WHILE THE YEARS IN HURRY FLY; TILL THE DAY WHERE EARTH AND TIME SHALL CEASE; TO WAKE AT THE TRUMPET'S CRY.
"AND THERE HE IS RESTING IN SILENCE LONG, HIS SLUMBER UNMARRED BY THE CLAY, THE STORMS PASS ON, THE SEASONS CHANGE, AND THE WILD FLOWERS SPRING WITH MAY.
"BUT STILL THERE IS A MURMUR AT EVENTIDE, AS THE BREEZES WHISPER LOW; AND MEMORY STEALS O'ER THE GRASSY SPOT, AS SOFTLY, AS THE FALL OF THE SNOW.
THEY HAVE LAID HIM THERE WITH LOVING CARE, AND THEIR TEAR DROPS, DAMPENED THE SOD, AS THE GOOD MANY COMMENDED HIS BODY TO EARTH, BUT HIS SOUL, IS AT REST WITH HIS GOD."
A FASCINATING STORY YET
THERE IS A PASSAGE, IN BERT'S SECOND BOOK, "THE PATHS OF ADVENTURE," THAT PROFOUNDLY INFLUENCED ME, WHEN I FIRST READ IT…..WHILE RESEARCHING THREE MILE LAKE / UFFORD HISTORY, FOR A FEATURE ARTICLE PLANNED FOR THE MUSKOKA SUN. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN BACK IN THE LATE 1980'S, WHILE I WAS WORKING AT MY HOME OFFICE, AT OUR COTTAGE ON BRACEBRIDGE'S GOLDEN BEACH ROAD. IT HAD THE PERFECT WOODLAND SETTING FOR WHAT I WAS WORKING ON, IN THOSE DAYS. SUZANNE REMIND ME OF THIS WINTER LOG RESEARCH JAG, AND THEN SPUN A LITTLE TALE OF HER OWN, ABOUT A NEIGHBOR IN WINDERMERE, WARNING HER TO GET TO BED EARLY ON AUTUMN NIGHTS, BEFORE THE LIT LANTERNS WOULD COME DOWN THE LANE WITHOUT ANYONE CARRYING THEM…..REMINDING ALL THE YOUNGSTERS THAT THEY SHOULD BE HOME, AND COZY UNDER THEIR COMFORTERS.
I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS FREQUENTLY, AND IT WAS ONLY LAST NIGHT, WHILE READING BERT'S BOOK, THAT IT SEEMED LIKELY, THE OLDTIMER SPREADING THESE TALES, HAD BEEN THINKING ABOUT A CIRCUMSTANCE OF A MUCH MORE MACABRE NATURE, FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY. INSTEAD OF FLOATING ILLUMINATED LAMPS, IT MAY BE EXPLAINED BY THE PASSAGE IN BERT'S BOOK, REFERRING TO MIDNIGHT FUNERALS. HERE'S A PORTION OF THE DESCRIPTION WROTE BY SUZANNE'S UNCLE, BERT SHEA.
"(THE LOG DRIVE, THREE MILE LAKE) FOR YEARS THE WORK WENT ON BUT THE PARTICULAR SPRING I WILL REFER TO, WAS IN 1900. THE WORK WAS GOING FINE TILL THE OLD MAN GOT SICK. A SORE THROAT….ERE LONG FEAR, GRIPPED THE COMMUNITY AND DR. WILLIAMS (FROM BRACEBRIDGE) WAS CALLED TO THE HOME OF MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM WOODS AT DEE BANK, WHO WAS BOARDING A GOOD NUMBER OF (LOG) DRIVERS WHO WERE SICK. HE AT ONCE PRONOUNCED THE AILMENT, DIPHTHERIA. THIS WAS A CALAMITY. DIPHTHERIA AMONG THE DRIVERS WOULD END IT. WHAT WOULD BE THE CONSEQUENCES? SOME WERE BOARDING WITH MR. AND MRS. BRIESE AND THEIR CHILDREN WERE GOING TO SCHOOL, OTHER LOCALS WERE BOARDING AT EITHER PLACE, AND GOING HOME TO SLEEP.
"DIPHTHERIA, IN THE OLD DAYS, TOOK ITS COURSE - WHOLE FAMILIES WERE WIPED OUT. BURIALS AFTER MIDNIGHT BY LAW. THE GHASTLY SOUND OF WAGON WHEELS AND HORSE'S HOOVES, OR THE THUMP OF THE JUMPER AND THE RATTLE OF THE BULLCHAINS, AS SLOWLY THE OXEN DREW THE CASKETS IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT TO THE PLACE OF BURIAL. I WILL NOT WRITE MORE OF THE TERRIBLE PROCEDURE SAVE TO SAY THAT THERE ARE CEMETERIES IN WATT (TOWNSHIP) WHERE THERE WERE NONE PRESENT AT MIDNIGHT BURIAL, SAVE THE DIM OIL LANTERN….TWO FIGURES, ONE AT EACH SIDE OF THE GRAVE, SHOVELS IN HAND AND THE GOOD MAN AT THE HEAD, CONSCIOUS OF THE RISK HE WAS TAKING WITH HIS OWN FAMILY, BUT WHO, IN FAITH, STOOD WITH HIS PARISHIONERS TO DECLARE THE WORDS OF THE MASTER, 'I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE."
IT'S POSSIBLE, THE OLD CHAP WHO HAD WARNED SUZANNE OF THE FLOATING LANTERNS, MAY HAVE BEEN WITNESS TO THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF THE BURIAL CORTEGE PASSING BY HIS HOMESTEAD AS A CHILD……AND FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, IT MAY HAVE LOOKED LIKE THE LIGHTS WERE FLOATING ALONG THE ROAD, ALL BY THEMSELVES.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME TODAY, FOR THIS LOOK BACK, AT THE MAKING OF MUSKOKA LEGENDS. THERE'S MUCH MORE TO COME. HOW'S THE HEAT FOR YOU? I NEED A COLD POP, RIGHT NOW!
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