I WAS ON MY ROOF TODAY, GETTING READY FOR THE AURA OF A FRANKENSTORM MONSTER
ANYBODY SECURING THE OPERA HOUSE ROOF? MAYBE I MISSED SEEING EMERGENCY PREPARATIONS?
BEFORE NINE A.M. THIS MORNING, I STOOD ON MUSKOKA ROAD, OPPOSITE THE OPERA HOUSE, AND WATCHED THE GUSTING WIND, LIFT AT LEAST THREE SECTIONS OF ROOFING MATERIAL. I CAN'T SAY WHAT THOSE CORNERS WERE COVERING, OR OVERLAPPING, AND I HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING WHETHER THIS WIND ACTION WAS EXPOSING VULNERABLE OLD ROOFING. I JUST GET CONCERNED WHEN THINGS GO FLAPPING IN MODERATE GUSTS, WHEN MUCH STRONGER WINDS ARE YET TO COME WITH THIS SLOW MOVING STORM. WHILE I CAN'T BE SURE WHAT, OR IF ANY EMERGENCY PROCEDURE WAS FOLLOWED, AT THE OPERA HOUSE, AS I HAVE BEEN WATCHING AT OTHER CONSTRUCTIONS SITES IN OUR TOWN, AND THOSE PROFILED ON THE TORONTO AREA NEWS, I GUESS IT WAS DEEMED SECURE-ENOUGH TO WEATHER WHATEVER GOD TOSSES FROM THE SKY. I RESPECT THEIR RIGHT TO CALL THE SHOTS ON THIS ONE, AND THEY MUST HAVE BEEN ASSURED, THAT NOT EVERYTHING THAT FLAPS IN THE WIND IS DANGEROUS, OR REPRESENTS VULNERABILITY. NOW IF MY MOTHER WAS ALIVE, SHE'D TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO TUCK STUFF LIKE THIS IN…..BECAUSE IT WILL CAUSE A TEAR SOMEWHERE ELSE. SHE WASN'T A ROOFER. JUST AN OLD WIFE WITH A LOT OF SAGE ADVICE.
I GUESS THE POINT HERE, IS THAT THE OPERA HOUSE ROOF IS NOT IN THE BEST SHAPE TO FACE THE REMNANTS OF ONE OF THE LARGEST HURRICANES IN HISTORY, AND EERILY SIMILAR TO HURRICANE HAZEL THAT TOOK QUITE A FEW LIVES IN ONTARIO. I GREW UP HEARING STORIES ABOUT HAZEL, BECAUSE I WAS BORN A YEAR LATER, (1955), AND BECAUSE OF IT, MY PARENTS, LIVING IN TORONTO AT THE TIME, WERE ALWAYS WATCHFUL OF WEATHER REPORTS IF THERE WAS ANY MENTION OF A HURRICANE TAKING AN UNUSUAL TURN INLAND. MY MOTHER WAS DREADFULLY FRIGHTENED OF STORMS, AND ALWAYS TOOK WARNINGS SERIOUSLY. SO FAR "SANDY," THE FRANKENSTORM OF OUR ERA, IS LIVING UP TO ITS ADVANCED BILLING. SUZANNE JUST NOW, CAME INTO MY OFFICE, HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, TO TELL ME A BUILDING IN NEW YORK HAD JUST BEEN DESTROYED BY THE POWERFUL WIND. NEW YORK ISN'T GRAVENHURST, SO WE STILL SHOULDN'T EXPECT OUR BUILDINGS TO GET HIT WITH THE SAME OOMPH. JUST HOW IT WILL RAGE OVER OUR REGION OF THE PROVINCE, IS STILL UNDETERMINED. THE FACT THAT MOST OF OUR HARDWOODS ARE FREE OF LEAVES IS A GREAT ADVANTAGE OVER OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS, AS THEIR TREES ARE STILL FULL IN MANY LOCALES. I WAS CLEANING THE RAIN GUTTERS THIS MORNING, FREEING THE FLOW OF WATER FROM THE DAMMING-UP, OF THE TRILLION LEAVES THAT HAVE FALLEN FROM ALL OUR BEAUTIFUL MAPLES. THEY LOOK MUCH BETTER ON THE TREES, THAN STREWN ON MY ROOF, AND IN THE WATER OF THE TROUGH.
OUR BOYS, ANDREW AND ROBERT, HAVE SPENT THE PAST WEEK IN OTTAWA, WHERE THEY RETREAT TWICE A YEAR ON BUYING TRIPS, WITH A LITTLE RECREATION MIXED-IN. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO ARRIVE HERE AT AROUND 10 P.M., JUST AHEAD OF THE FIRST SERIOUS WAVES OF POWERFUL WIND THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO CARESS US FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. WE'RE SCHEDULED TO OPEN THE MUSIC AND ANTIQUE SHOP, ON MUSKOKA ROAD (OPPOSITE THE OPERA HOUSE) TOMORROW MORNING, BUT THAT WILL DEPEND ON THE SEVERITY OF THE WEATHER. I'M HOPING IF WE DO OPEN, THAT WE WON'T HAVE TO LOOK OVER AT THE OPERA HOUSE, AND SEE A LOT LESS TAR PAPER THAN IS CURRENTLY ATTACHED TO THE PEAK. I WOULD BE A VERY ANGRY BLOGGER AT THAT POINT.
A CONFIDENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT! THAT'S A GOOD THING! SOMETIMES!
The wind is howling outside my office, and I can hear some small limbs on the huge pine out back, cracking and falling to the ground. It's my neighbor's pine and I've mentioned my concern about it this year, (without response) as it leans precariously over our master bedroom, and sings in the wind, whats I consider a most ominous song. This morning, as I was pulling out huge clumps of brown pine needles, from the rain gutter, I started wondering if this "being surrounded by trees thing," is a good idea, as the threat of worsening weather, around the globe, produces more Frankenstorm events. I have been a stalwart tree planter here at Birch Hollow, and I once had a policy, that for every tree that my neighbors senselessly hacked down, or unceremoniously uprooted, I would plant one more on our property. Maybe even two if it was a mature tree. I had to stop that, a while ago, because I would have completely blocked out the sun from Suzanne's gardens. I love trees in the summer months, and this little homestead is mostly in the shade on those wickedly hot days in July. Of course in the autumn, the leaves are well over my ankles in most places on the lawn. The neighbors don't like the fact that I don't rake until spring, as I prefer to let the canopy protect the lawn over the winter months. Actually, as my partners in this neighborhood are persnickety about things like grass length and fallen leaves, they'd gladly offer to mow and rake my lawn for free, just to get their neat-freak fix. I just don't worry about things like that, because life is too short. Suzanne and I have always had a pioneer outlook, and lifestyle, and for our urban neighborhood, this is not the preferred lifestyle to please those with Martha Stewart decorating ambitions. With this upcoming windstorm, I'm thinking that my neighbors will still be able to rake our leaves, but this time on their own property. Keeps them busy with their riding mowers on postage stamp residential lots. What is it about riding mowers anyway? I can understand if you've got a pasture-sized lot, but ours are all small and easy to cut with a push mower, let alone a beast of a machine.
We have a well stocked pantry here at Birch Hollow, that we rotate and replenish all year long, with the bonus of Suzanne's annual canning, which I absolutely adore in the mid-winter, when comfort food makes all the bad stuff go away…..temporarily. I have lots of alternate heating choices if the power goes out, and we can cook on our portable kerosene heaters, and have a cozy night in the warm glow from my vintage oil lamps, of which I have over forty working at any one time, if and when necessary. I have been collecting vintage lighting for decades. I often write with one illuminated on my desk, because it adds to the historic actuality. We know there are people even better prepared than we are, but our provisions and alternatives to switching things on, will keep us for more than a week, if a disaster gave us a knock-out punch. So how's the town faring for this wild weather? How is their emergency planning? Is the Opera House a safe place for emergency re-location, as it is for neighborhood schools during the day? If there had to be an evacuation, is the Opera House one of the safe places to gather? Or is the fact there is a half-finished roof, a safety concern on its own, limiting its use in the event of an emergency? I'll be listening to the local radio station just in case.
Even in the time it has taken to write three paragraphs, the wind gusts have become much more substantial, and there's some cracking out back that I really need to check, to make certain I'm not going to be wearing a huge pine on my back. I hope for the sake of our town, and the good old Opera House, that a half-finished roof is storm-worthy. They seem to ooze confidence, these days, that they know how to navigate this town safely through stormy seas…..at least that's the official mantra. Of course, on a few occasions, rhetoric has proven a tad inflated, when compared to current realities. The fact I didn't see workers or town staff doing any additional preparations on the roof, during several trips I took uptown today, suggests they're downplaying the warnings about potential wind and rainfall damage. As a constituent, I have no choice but to accept their conviction, that nothing nature can throw at the Opera House, in this latest, greatest storm, will damage our most historic building. And I bet they'll be pretty smug about it all, when the rain and wind subsides by mid-week, when they can show off a perfectly dry and preserved Opera House interior, of which I'm sure they will be delighted to offer the press, as a "proof in the pudding," kind of event.
On the other hand, should they be wrong, it will certainly be difficult…..no impossible, to hide from the wrath of this community; because going into the deepest, darkest part of October, with a half-finished roof, is not the case of a restoration project sailing smoothly along, as some argue is the case. Even the casual, once-a-day gawker, looking up while passing, knows that's not true. With a whole week of rain, wind and just shy of pestilence, ahead, this roofing repair is heading into the most unpredictable month of the entire year. So might this have been done differently in retrospect? Do you think council might be having regrets it has an unfinished roof, on its most historic building, as a hurricane ripple comes ashore? Well, if nothing else, I hope their confidence allows them a nice evening's nap. For me, one who respects the dynamics of a really big storm……I'm going to sleep intermittently, and always with one eye and one ear open. I've lived through a lot of bad storms, here and in Florida, where I spent many winters as a kid. I suspect, even on the outer banks of this one, it will make for some interesting, "do you remember October 2012," stories for the kiddies.
As for our dear friend the Opera House, we can only hope and offer a little prayer on the side. If there is a ghost in the house……let it be the kind of protector spirit, that keeps the place spooky-dry, and in one piece. Thank you for joining today's blog. I hope you'll be okay, where you reside, when the winds of October come thundering through the Muskoka lakeland. I'm going to sit by the hearth now, and rest up for a long evening ahead.
If you're reading this on Tuesday……that's good. You made it. I hope we did. Geez, wouldn't that be a bummer? What would Gravenhurst Councillors do without this blogger to remind them of their civic responsibilities?
Have a party!
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