CHRISTMAS IN GRAVENHURST -

THERE'S A LOT ABOUT OUR TOWN WE DON'T KNOW - BUT IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE DO! HIDDEN TALENTS THAT SHOULDN'T BE OBSCURED BY ECONOMICS

I HAVE JUST THIS MOMENT, RETURNED FROM AN INVIGORATING MORNING WANDER, DOWN THROUGH THE MISTY MOOR HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW…..BETTER KNOWN THESE DAYS AS THE SEGWUN BOULEVARD PARKETTE, SO DUTIFULLY AND LOVINGLY MAINTAINED BY MIKE SMITH, AND FAMILY…..MIKE BEING OUR RESIDENT PARK RANGER, WHO MAKES SURE WE HAVE A SAFE PLACE TO WALK OUR PETS, STROLL AND MINDFULLY MEANDER LIKE WRITER-ME. MIKE REMINDS ME SOMEWHAT OF A WHIRLING DERVISH, IN THAT HE IS ALWAYS WORKING AT SOMETHING OR OTHER…..HAVING A PRETTY DARN PRODUCTIVE RETIREMENT……BUT HIS IDEA OF RETIREMENT IS STUFFING MORE ACTIVITIES, AND MEANINGFUL PROJECTS INTO A DAY, THAN MOST OF US COULD HANDLE IN THREE DAYS. HIS DAY APPEARS TO BE TOPPED OFF WHEN HE FINALLY SURRENDERS TO THE ENJOYABLE TASK, OF TAKING HIS WEE DOG FOR AN EVENING STROLL, WINTER, SUMMER, SPRING AND FALL. BUT I'M PRETTY SURE HE'S SCANNING ABOUT, THINKING OF PROJECTS HE'D LIKE TO ENGAGE. AS ONE OF THE SENIOR MEMBERS OF THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, HERE IN THE CALYDOR SUBDIVISION, RESIDENTS HERE ARE WELL SERVED BY THIS DEACON OF HOMETOWN VALUES, AND WE APPRECIATE ALL THE ATTENTION HE PROVIDES THE BOG, AND ITS CONSERVATION GENERALLY. WE NEED ABOUT A THOUSAND MORE FOLKS LIKE THIS, LOOKING OUT FOR OUR NEIGHBORHOODS.

There's a light rain falling. Nothing that would disturb or delay a walk in this precious woodlands. Most of that first major snowfall has melted away, and there are many frothing cataracts, along the black winding trail of tiny creeks, criss-crossing the grassed-over lowland. It is as if Thoreau himself, might pop out of an evergreen cluster, to look out over the hinterland of his Walden Pond. There are fresh tracks of neighborhood deer, having passed in the night, and a woodpecker has, with abundant good fortune, found a pocket of bugs in an old log, that holds his fascination, as I walk close by without notice. The squirrels today are quite playful, and the overhead boughs are bending and small trees swaying, as three of them, jump from branch to branch, in this warm morning of late November. It is at times like this, I wish to have the capability as an artist, to capture this all on a paint board. It's something one wishes to share with others, because it is so full of life and possibility. One may enter here feeling lowly, pensive, stressed from the rigors of the modern world, and before long, the woodlands have claimed another soul for posterity. There is so much to see and experience here, that it is little wonder, the willing voyeur can be lifted away by all the intricacies of land and horizon, in the enchanted surroundings of evergreen and hardwood; the wafting mist that is now cloaking over the remaining cat-tails, and tall willowy bog grasses, still tossing in the gentle air currents, rising over the hillside pines and leaning old birches.

I have arrived back home a little wet but gainfully inspired, as usual, about the graces of natural Muskoka. How it inspires the artists, the crafts-people, poets and writers, and everyone else who senses the power of nature to renew the weary soul. I am just now drawn to an old book, I keep as reference, I'd like to tell you about. I'm not sure I can find it, amidst the thousands of reference books I stack at Birch Hollow, but it won't stop me telling you about it. It's a book I've kept because of its relevances to the antique and collectible trade, yet it has a great deal to do with an appreciation of home region talents. Arts and crafts talents! The behind the scenes glimpses, of some incredible artisans, and crafters, from wood carvers, quilters, knitters, artists, and builders, who most of us don't know about……yet when I tell you more about the book, you will appreciate why we should all know the nature of their work……because these are our neighbors, and the culture of our hometown.

Let me start with one tiny story you may remember from one of my earlier blogs, several years ago. When I began as a rookier reporter, for the Muskoka Lakes-Georgian Bay Beacon, in MacTier, back in 1979, I was living in Bracebridge, at the time, but the daily drive was killing me. I was offered a small cabin nearby, as a seasonal solution, at least, to the long commute. The lakeside abode, was called "Seven Persons Cottage." It had been constructed in miniature, on the model of a much larger English manor house, I believe, but done to scale……even to the most minute detail, the cottage was a replica of something much, much larger.

The owner didn't tell me about this before I went on the tour. I was mildly amused when I found the replica port and dock for a wee boat, and when I saw the cottage through the vegetation, I got a chuckle because of its tiny grandeur. When I had to hunch a tad to get through the door, well, it was getting stranger. When I saw the interior, I was speechless. I've only been speechless a couple of times in my life…..and this was one of them. Everything in the house…..even the gargoyles carved into the fireplace mantle, were done in miniature. First book I came to…..yup, on the miniature shelf, above the miniature desk, was the brand new release of the book "Gnomes," sitting on a small rocker inside the front door. When that heavy little door shut behind me, I was in another world. There was a bow window on the front, and a built in seat, with a cushion, that afforded a view up the lakeshore, over a croquet lawn…….presumably for the gnomes to have a game now and again. It was a writer's paradise let me tell you. It had two bedrooms downstairs, a dining room, kitchen, living room, built-in writing desk inside the door, a loft upstairs, and a back hall to a rear door. Much was built-in, such as the bunk beds, and the tables that folded down from the wall. The furniture obviously, was enough to handle the large frame of the resident scribe, but of smaller size than the actual Victorian furniture that should have been in such a grand estate. It had a mile of richly aged woodwork, and the most alluring aroma of woodsmoke, part of the patina of all who had dwelled there in the past. I was able to move around easily, as the ceiling was the same as any house. But it looked much smaller from the outside. During my residency, I had as many as eight people in the house, and more could have fit in without crowding. Looking at it from the outside, you wouldn't believe it could hold more than four adults……twenty gnomes.

I was introduced to the elderly chap who had handcrafted this Muskoka beauty, as a fun project, numerous years earlier. His cottage was more traditional, but it still had the artisan's magic touch. I had never seen such a large hand-carved pipe collection, but I'm not sure now if this was his handiwork. What he had created with Seven Persons Cottage, was an enchantment beyond anything I could have anticipated……even if I had been offered the information well in advance. Wrapping my mind around this estate in miniature, demanded a serious investment of time……and surrender on my part, of all the standards I expected of places I resided. It was fun beyond fun. I had the greatest summer of my life, because of the artistry…..the incredible talents of a hobby woodcarver / builder, who was my new neighbor.

Imagine waking up with a wee brandy-induced headache the next morning, and looking out the tiny window onto that very tiny harbor…..with a really tiny boat moored there……and thinking, geez, how did I get to Lilliput. I felt like Gulliver all that summer and fall, and I really hated to leave it behind.

I will write a little blog later today, about the reasons we should embrace the work of our talented artisans and craftspeople here in Gravenhurst, and the wider Muskoka…..some, by the way, who have never considered selling their work for profit…..but just enjoy the challenge of new projects, and the sheer joy of creation. In the meantime I will try to find this fabulous New England craft history. I'm not optimistic. It's the problem of being eccentric and a book collector at the same time. I can't find a bloody thing when I need it most……but most certainly will find it when it's not required reading.

More to come-