"THE WHOLE HOUSE INDEED SEEMED ABANDONED TO MERRIMENT: AS I PASSED TO MY ROOM TO DRESS FOR DINNER, I HEARD THE SOUND OF MUSIC IN A SMALL COURT, AND LOOKING THROUGH A WINDOW THAT COMMANDED IT, I PERCEIVED A BAND OF WANDERING MUSICIANS, WITH PANDEAN PIPES AND TABOURINE; A PRETTY COQUETTISH HOUSEMAID WAS DANCING A JIG WITH A SMART COUNTRY LAD, WHILE SEVERAL OF THE OTHER SERVANTS WERE LOOKING ON." AS TOLD ABOUT AT SQUIRE BRACEBRIDGE'S OLD ENGLISH ESTATE, ACCORDING TO WASHINGTON IRVING, IN HIS SKETCH BOOK.
"THE GRATE HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM THE WIDE OVERWHELMING FIREPLACE, TO MAKE WAY FOR A FIRE OF WOOD, IN THE MIDST OF WHICH WAS AN ENORMOUS LOG, GLOWING AND BLAZING, AND SENDING FORTH A VAST VOLUME OF LIGHT AND HEAT; THIS I UNDERSTOOD WAS THE YULE CLOG, WHICH THE SQUIRE WAS PARTICULAR IN HAVING BROUGHT IN, AND ILLUMINED ON A CHRISTMAS EVE, ACCORDING TO ANCIENT CUSTOM. 'COME BRING WITH A NOISE, MY MERRIE, MERRIE BOYS, THE CHRISTMAS LOG TO THE FIRING; WHILST MY GOOD DAME SHE, BIDS YE ALL BE FREE, AND DRINK TO YOUR HEART'S DESIRING'."
CHRISTMAS IN GRAVENHURST - WE STAYED HOME TO ENJOY A MUSKOKA VACATION
A WONDERFUL LIFE, IN AN ENCHANTED PLACE
GRAVENHURST DOESN'T HAVE A SINGLE GOTHIC CATHEDRAL, EXCEPT IF YOU COUNT THE HUGE ARCHED MAPLES, COVERING-OVER A LONG LENGTH OF THE MUSKOKA BEACH ROAD, NORTH OF THE URBAN COMMUNITY. I REFER TO THEM THIS WAY, AND THEY ARE SPECTACULAR, IN AUTUMN AND WINTER…..SO BRILLIANTLY GREEN IN THE LATE SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER.
WE CAN'T OFFER OUR VISITORS A MOUNTAIN VIEW, OR A PANORAMA OVER A DEEP CANYON. IF YOU WANT CASTLES AND TALL SPIRES, MOATS AND MOORS, YOU'RE IN THE WRONG PLACE. IF PALM TREES AND TROPICAL BREEZES RESTORE YOUR BODY, MUSKOKA WON'T BE ON YOUR LIST OF VACATION RETREATS. WE DON'T HAVE HUGE SHOPPING MALLS, SPRAWLING MUSEUMS, AND ARCHITECTURALLY GRANDIOSE ART GALLERIES. WE DON'T HAVE A GREAT WALL, EXCEPT A FEW STONE ONES, AT COUNTRY HOMES ALONG THE DOE LAKE ROAD; AND AS FAR AS PYRAMIDS AND HOLY SHRINES GO, WE'RE TOTALLY WITHOUT THIS DEPTH OF MANMADE HERITAGE. BUT IF YOU WERE TO INQUIRE, WHETHER WE FEEL A LESSER REGION, BECAUSE OF WHAT WE DON'T HAVE, MOST OF US WOULD JUST FAN OUR ARMS AT THE NEAREST FOREST, OR OUT TOWARD ONE OF OUR BEAUTIFUL LAKES, AND SAY….."OH WELL, WE'RE PRETTY HAPPY WITH WHAT WE'VE GOT. YOU CAN'T IMPROVE ON THIS NATURAL PARADISE." BEFORE SUZANNE AND I ARRIVED HOME TONIGHT, WE OPENED THE COLD "MUSKOKA GINGER ALES," WE BOUGHT AT THE GROCERY STORE, AND WE WENT OUT TO PARK AT MUSKOKA BEACH…..ARGUABLY ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING VISTAS IN THE WHOLE REGION……AND WE WATCHED THE SUN SET, AND CHRISTMAS EVE REVIVE AGAIN. IT WAS A SCENE I CONTINUE TO FIND HARD TO DESCRIBE, BUT SOME TIMES, IT JUST DOESN'T NEED ANALYSIS, OR WORDS TO DEFINE THE EXPERIENCE. A PAUSE IN THE HUSTLE OF THE DAY, WITH A FEW MINUTES OF QUIET CONTEMPLATION, IS ALL IT TAKES, TO GENERATE A MOST THRILLING ENTERTAINMENT, THAT COSTS NOTHING BUT A FEW MOMENTS OUT OF A BUSY DAY.
SINCE OUR FAMILY ARRIVED IN MUSKOKA, I'VE ONLY MISSED A FEW CHRISTMASES STAYING AT HOME, IN EITHER BRACEBRIDGE OR GRAVENHURST. AS FOR SUZANNE, BORN AND RAISED IN MUSKOKA, I DON'T THINK SHE'S MISSED A SINGLE CHRISTMAS, CELEBRATING THE SEASON HERE IN THE SNOWY HINTERLAND OF ONTARIO. MY BOYS HAVE SPENT THEIR CHRISTMAS SEASONS HERE, AND HONESTLY, WE ALL FEEL VERY LUCKY TO LIVE IN SUCH AN AMAZING PLACE, WITH SO MUCH NATURE TO ENJOY AND SHARE WITH VISITORS. MANY THOUSANDS OF TOURISTS AND SEASONAL RESIDENTS, STILL AREN'T AWARE JUST HOW TANTALIZING THIS REGION IS, DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. THEY LINE-UP IN THE RAGING SUMMER HEAT, ON ALL THE TRAFFIC ARTERIES NORTH, IN THE SUMMER, TO ENJOY THE SEASONAL LAKELAND; BUT FORGET ABOUT HOW AMAZING IT CAN BE, AS A VACATION RETREAT, SPENDING THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS IN MUSKOKA. WE ARE SPOILED, THAT'S FOR SURE, BECAUSE WE GET TO LIVE IN THIS PICTURESQUE LAKELAND ALL YEAR LONG. WE CERTAINLY DON'T FEEL DISADVANTAGED, THAT'S FOR SURE. THIS EVENING, STARING OUT OVER THAT STILL AND REFLECTIVE LAKE, WITH A DARK WINTER SKY, WAS A TOM THOMSON LANDSCAPE COME TO LIFE.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM GRAVENHURST
We have just closed-up our Muskoka Road vintage music and antique shop, to get home a little early, to start celebrating the Christmas holiday. This will be a nice one, especially for Suzanne, as she has just recently announced her coming retirement from teaching, after thirty-one years. It's going to take quite a bit of time to adjust to civilian life. For those who are new to this Blog, my wife has been looking forward to pursuing her interests in the antique trade for more than twenty-four years, since we started the business as a retirement investment, back in the late 1980's….expecting it would take us this long to get it right. We've had a lot of tweaking to do, and we've got it pretty close now, to the way we want it to operate in the future. We're making a larger counter, where Suzanne can have a place to set up her sewing machine, and enough work space to set out vintage quilts she plans to repair; and old wool blankets, she restores with new bindings. Not to mention the knitting. Now she's working on Gravenhurst Winter Carnival scarves and toques, for the February event, and this is her recreation. She has been knitting for years, to de-stress from living with a guy like me. Living with a writer / historian is not easy or even enjoyable, I'm sure, but she has kept me around for my good looks, I suppose. Suzanne will be retiring at the end of June, and it will take that long, believe me, to say all her goodbyes to staff and students…..and adjust to a simpler life, and a slower pace. I'm going to get her the book, "Goodbye Mr. Chips." (A compelling story about teachers and then, retirement, and all the sadness that brings about.) It's going to be tough, because she is a teacher every waking hour, whether she's at school, in the shop or at home. I've been her project student for her entire career, and apparently, I'm still getting failing grades. The irony here, is that I hated school with a passion. So what do I do? Marry a teacher. I didn't learn my lessons then, and I'm determined to stick to my game plan. She thinks differently.
I want to extend a sincere Merry Christmas, and a hearty thanks, to the many folks who have come to join this Blog (online column), over the past year, which in numbers, ranged from the high twenties last November, to over a hundred per day, during the publication of the Richard Karon artist biography last spring. As of yesterday, this humble writing effort, was averaging well over 600 hits per day, and was being accessed around the world…..which kind of blows me away, considering the content, over the past month, has been largely based on Gravenhurst. Well sir, Gravenhurst is getting some global exposure it didn't expect…..and I'm dumbfounded to explain why. There are many Gravenhurst expatriates overseas and through United States, and many who are vacationing for the winter season in tropical climes, and accessing this blogsite……which is great for everybody. I don't take a single reader for granted, and I hope in the new year, to be more diversified, and definitely more regional in scope, and discussion. I am a huge Muskoka booster, at all times of the year, and I hope it shows. Muskoka, and both Bracebridge, and Gravenhurst, have been two wonderful hometowns during my many years here, and I will never stop being proud of my association, and unpaid, unsolicited, promotional writing in this fashion. While I began writing at a very young age, being immersed in this alluring lakeland, has offered unlimited inspiration when other sources have failed me. I firmly believe I maintained my interest in writing, because of our living arrangement here in Gravenhurst, opposite a picturesque little Bog, that is so pleasantly full of life, and natural enhancements, from the roaming deer and moose, to the gorgeous wildflowers that thrive in the marsh in mid-summer. When it snows-over, it is an image of solitude and magic……and a host of many late night vigils, above the hollow, as the moonlight bathes the ice-laden evergreens, and drooping cedars, flanked by the leaning birches Robert Frost, used to write about, in his now legendary poems.
There are frozen lakes, and trodden down paths through the woodlands. Snowflurries dusting over the meadows, and spiraling down into the darkening hollow, on the push of air current, sculpting drifts against the leaning rail fences. There are cattle huddled in the farmyard, a couple of deer wandering the fence-line, an owl sitting on a birch stump, and a train horn echoing across the frozen landscape. There are tall pines and scruffy cedars, painted barns, and an old horse-drawn plow, still stuck in the field. A couple of venerable old crows perch on a hydro line, knocking snow in clumps to the ground. A snowmobile engine can be heard far down an overgrown trail, and some hikers have just now come around the corner of the road, with two playing dogs leading the way. You can't ignore the sweet aroma of a wood fire, belching from some nearby chimney, and there's the faint aroma of manure from the grouping of cattle. A trail of automobiles come along the road, and a truck with a Christmas tree tied to the side, has come from behind. In the distance, I can hear a jet engine's rumble at the airport, and in stark contrast, the shrieks of a blue jay, in a territorial dispute with two squirrels, leaping branch to branch.
There are a couple of lamps now illuminated at the head of a driveway, and through the window of several old houses, you can see the lights of the respective Christmas trees, creating the speculation, of what wonderful treats of seasonal fare, are being prepared in those country kitchens, where the lights now look warm and inviting against the darkening sky, and the snow-covered lanes curling down through the valley. A tractor comes out of one long lane, and a snowblower starts up somewhere else. There is a din here in the countryside, make no mistake about it. It is a less than perfect solitude. Yet the further along you travel, and the more expectation you possess, you will find a remarkable characteristic of modest proportion; a simple and pleasurable travel, without the complications. There really isn't any schedule to keep. But you won't cross through a covered bridge here, in Gravenhurst, or find a huge downhill ski facility, full of activity. There are no Polar Bears, or Grizzlies, and the bears we do have, are now slumbering away the winter season. You won't come upon an Elk or any Caribou, and if you're looking for whales, you're definitely in the wrong place this Christmas. If, on the other hand, you prefer the gentle pleasures of the countryside, and the picturesque nature of glistening frozen lakes, and enchanted forests, and lovely places to retreat, to dine and shop, then you are most certainly in the right place…..of subtle recreation, but bountiful inspiration.
After a day of tending shop, and the last minute frantic hustle, shop to shop, to get a few remaining gifts, and provisions for the holiday, Suzanne and I will settle by this soothing fire, in the Birch Hollow hearth, sinking down in the big cushions on the old chairs, remnants from many Christmases past; and we may casually, at a slight turn of conversation, reflect on another wonderful year, of family times residing here in Gravenhurst, and Muskoka. We will give it quiet thanks, while sipping egg nog, and warming our cold toes, and then later in the evening, welcome our returning boys to the hearth, to share a family tradition, here at Birch Hollow………of just being together, in festive good cheer, and health, recalling how fast the year has past us again; hanging on to these special moments, knowing that one day, it will be no more. We refuse to mire in the reality of getting older, and the young generation eventually moving on, because we are just too darn happy living in the moment, here at this humble little cottage, where we have all been safely kept……looking out on the Muskoka that has given us so much faith and hope, and a never ceasing quantity of inspiration to carry on each day.
For all those who may be celebrating Christmas alone this year, or who are facing health issues, or have had problems with jobs and personal economy, I wish for you all, a respite from worries, for a time, and hope things will improve, and that you will find a way through each peril, every conundrum, and find the courage to look beyond to a brighter horizon. We've had some sad times, sitting around this same hearth, at Christmas, where we mourned the loss of close friends and family. We have had periods in this festive season, when it was hard to smile, and because of lesser finances, put food on the table. Yet we have always found the way and means, to gather-up enough cheer and goodwill, especially from kindnesses bestowed by the community, to make each December 25th, a Merry Christmas, none the less. I hope you will find this too, even if it is in the cherished memories of Christmas past……and the strong souls that made each one special. Their remembrance has always been a part of our Christmas present.
Merry Christmas from all of us at Birch Hollow. Four humans, five cats and an old dog. Please come and visit again. We always welcome your company.
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