I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO APRIL - AND THE RESURRECTION OF MY "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN" BLOGSITE
ONLINE DAILY JOURNAL WILL FEATURE IMAGES TAKEN BY WELL KNOWN MUSKOKA PHOTOGRAPHER FRED SCHULZ
I HAVE WORKED WITH MANY TALENTED PHOTO JOURNALISTS IN MY YEARS WITH THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY IN MUSKOKA. I HAVE PUBLISHED TWO BOOKS WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF HIGHLY ACCOMPLISHED REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS, JOHN BLACK, "THE LEGEND OF TALL PINES," AND TIM DUVERNET, "MEMORIES AND IMAGES," BOTH RELEASED BACK IN THE EARLY 1980'S. I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON A NUMBER OF PROJECTS, TO PROMOTE MUSKOKA, AND THIS AFTERNOON, IN THE HEART OF UPTOWN GRAVENHURST, ONTARIO, I INKED A DEAL WITH OLD FRIEND AND MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER, FRED SCHULZ, TO PROVIDE THE COMPANION GRAPHICS. I AM THRILLED TO WORK PROFESSIONALLY WITH FRED, WHO HAS BEEN IN THE PHOTOGRAPHIC BUSINESS AS LONG AS I'VE BEEN WRITING……AN AWFULLY LONG TIME, YOU MIGHT SAY. SO WE'VE GOT TWO DOG-EARRED MEDIA VETERANS GETTING TOGETHER, TO RESURRECT A BLOG-SITE I TEMPORARILY RETIRED, LAST YEAR, KNOWN AS "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN." THIS WAS MY FAVORITE LANDSCAPE WRITING OUTLET, AND IT WAS THE BLOG I USED TO GET MYSELF BACK TO NATURE…..WHEN AT TIMES I GOT FRUSTRATED WITH THE HUBBUB OF LIFE AND TIMES IN THE GRAVENHURST FAST LANE. BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW WE HAD ONE OF THOSE. ACTUALLY, THE REASON I PUT THE "WALDEN" BLOG, AND SEVERAL OTHERS, ON HIATUS, WAS TO BUILD THE ONE YOU ARE READING NOW, WHICH HAS HIT AN AVERAGE OF 525 READERS EACH DAY, AND 67,000 READERS SINCE I BEGAN JUST OVER A YEAR AGO. BUT I ALWAYS INTENDED TO GO BACK AND GATHER UP THE OTHER BLOGS, FOR A FUTURE REVIVAL. I'M NOT A ONE TRICK PONEY. SUZANNE THINKS I'VE GOT A COUPLE OF TRICKS, AT LEAST.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS, "SUPERIOR; THE HAUNTED SHORE," BY WRITER WAYLAND DREW, AND CANADIAN PHOTOGRAPHER, BRUCE LITTELJOHN, IS OUR MODEL FOR THE COMMENCEMENT OF A SIMILAR, PARALLEL PROFILE OF MUSKOKA. I WAS AN ASSOCIATE OF WAYLAND IN A NUMBER OF HERITAGE PROJECTS, IN BRACEBRIDGE, ONTARIO, BACK IN THE LATE 1970'S, AND 1980'S, AND I HAVE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF HIS FABULOUS BOOK, RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF ME. LIKE QUITE A FEW OTHER LANDMARK BOOKS, I CALL ON IT FREQUENTLY FOR INSPIRATION, WHILE WORKING ON A VARIETY OF REGIONAL WRITING PROJECTS. I GAVE FRED A COPY AS WELL, TO GET IDEAS ON HOW WE COULD REPRESENT THE MUSKOKA TOPOGRAPHY, AND LAKELAND, IN A SIMILARLY RESPONSIBLE WAY. NOT IN BOOK FORM, BUT ONLINE, FREE OF CHARGE, TO ALL THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE A LITTLE ADVENTURE IN THE COMFORT OF THEIR OWN HOME, COTTAGE OR BUSINESS.
FRED HAS SPENT HIS ENTIRE LIFE IN MUSKOKA, AND KNOWS ALL THE INTERESTING NOOKS AND CRANNIES THAT NEED TO BE CAPTURED FOR POSTERITY. IT IS TO BE EXPECTED THAT ONE DAY, AS DEVELOPMENT SURGES IN THE REGION, THERE WILL BE TREMENDOUS COMPROMISES TO WHAT WE KNOW OF THE HINTERLAND TODAY. EVEN THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE OLD MAIN STREETS, THE HERITAGE BUILDINGS AND THE MAGNIFICENT LAKES, STREAMS AND LOWLANDS THROUGH THE AMAZING CHANGES OF THE FOUR SEASONS, WILL BE ADVERSELY INFLUENCED BY THE URBANIZING TRENDS OF THE CITY INTRUDING ON THE RURAL CLIME. FRED IS A VISUAL HISTORIAN, AND HE WILL CAPTURE THESE IMPORTANT SCENES FOR POSTERITY. I ONLY HOPE I CAN WRITE AS WELL AS HE CAN TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS.
I HAVE WAITED FOR MANY YEARS TO PUT THIS COLLECTION OF STORIES AND PHOTOGRAPHS TOGETHER. I AM HONORED TO HAVE MR. SCHULZ PARTICIPATE IN THIS DAILY PROJECT, AND IF ANYONE CAN CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF THE REGION, IT IS THIS HALE AND HARDY LENSMAN, WHO HAS BEEN CAPTURING IMAGES OF THE DISTRICT FOR THE LOCVAL MEDIA, FOR DECADES. SOME ONLY KNOW FRED SCHULZ FOR HIS WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY, WHILE OTHERS KNOW HIM BEST AS THE DIRECTOR OF THE "MUSIC ON THE BARGE," SUMMER CONCERT SERIES, AT GRAVENHURST'S GULL LAKE PARK; AND OF COURSE FOR HIS YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE AT THE OPERA HOUSE, WHERE HE WAS OPERATIONS MANAGER FOR MANY YEARS. ADMITTEDLY, HE STILL HAS A DEEP PASSION TO PROMOTE ENTERTAINMENT IN GRAVENHURST, BUT HE FINDS HIMSELF FRUSTRATED BY THE LACK OF OPPORTUNITY AT PRESENT. BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, WHEN ONE PASSION FALTERS, ANOTHER JUMPS INTO GEAR, AND OF THIS I FEEL FORTUNATE TO BE IN HIS COMPANY. FRED IS ONE OF THE LONG SERVING COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA, AND I MAY BE ONE OF ITS MOST STUBBORN VETERAN WRITERS……WHO WON'T RETIRE WITHOUT A FIGHT. COMBINING EXPERIENCE IN OUR RESPECTIVE FIELDS, THIS WILL BE AN INTERESTING ONGOING PHOTO ESSAY, BESTOWING OUR GREAT RESPECT ON ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL REGIONS ON EARTH…..HAPPILY, THE PLACE IN WHICH WE DWELL.
I WILL KEEP YOU UP TO DATE ON THIS LATEST PROJECT, WHICH WILL OFFICIALLY COMMENCE ON APRIL 1ST, "NO FOOLING," AND I WILL DIRECT READERS FROM THIS BLOGSITE, VIA THE LINK TO "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN," MY OWN TRIBUTE TO THE WORK OF DAVID THOREAU. IF HE HAD BEEN IN MUSKOKA…….INSTEAD, HOW WOULD HE HAVE EDITORIALLY REPRESENTED OUR HINTERLAND? I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW.
IF YOU EVER NEED A PHOTOGRAPHER FOR ANY FAMILY EVENT, PORTRAIT, OR SPECIAL OCCASION, YOU CAN CONTACT ME FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SERVICES PROVIDED BY FRED SCHULZ……..WHO IMPRESSES ME WITH HIS QUALITY, AND I DON'T IMPRESS EASILY. JOIN ME ON APRIL 1ST FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT…..A LITTLE EDGY, WITHOUT BEING CUTTING EDGE, WHICH IS MY POLITICAL HALLMARK. THIS BLOG WILL CONTINUE THE SAME. THE TRAVELS OF AN ANTIQUE HUNTER…..OR "THE GOOD, BAD, AND THE UGLY," ABOUT COLLECTING STUFF.
THE LADLE OF OUR DISCONTENT
Suzanne is retiring from the teaching profession at the end of June. It's the reason we began our little retirement business relationship with our sons Andrew and Robert, this past summer, and their highly successful vintage music business, situated on the main street of Gravenhurst. To get ready for this pending retirement, we began the antique business in 1987, as a part time enterprise, figuring that it would take us a long time to perfect what can be a precariously uneconomical profession, if handled poorly. Antique dealers are notorious for breaking budgets, because something exciting came up…….as it always does…….a big opportunity to buy an estate, for example, surfacing just when all the bills were getting paid; and there was a small nest egg in the bank. Suzanne has always kept us on the straight and narrow in the accounting department, and a guy like me needs firm parameters or we'd be perpetually broke. Like I noted, big deals always come along when money is tight…..and I've been known to squeeze my boundaries to make an exception. I've shingled together so many exceptions, I've nearly caused a divorce. So I have surrendered all accounting operations and budget control to the boss. She lets me know how much we've got to spend on inventory, and I do my best to come in on budget. Yea like that happens. You know me too well. So there are a lot of stand-offs at the Currie house, especially at the end of the month, when Suzanne starts unfolding my little budgetary notes. The faster she goes, the more worried she is. Then I will hear her bellow my name……and that is never a good news event when she's got one hand on a calculator, and the other on the shop accounting books. She's not in a picnic mood, let's be clear about that!
When we used to do antique shows, back in the early part of this new century, we loved to watch a couple of veteran dealers, a husband and wife, argue through most of a three day show. They no sooner got out of the car at the event, than they were throwing sarcasm back and forth. Before their first table cloth was positioned, they might have sparred four or five times, about some shortfall with the inventory, how it was packed, and what it was missing. Even when the sale began, in between customers, they'd start yammering back and forth about the less than perfect conditions, because of some fault committed by the other. Back and forth, back and forth, it would go, and honestly, we had a hell of a time not cracking up. Another vendor said, "See what you two have to look forward to; eternal bliss in the antique business." I don't think it would have mattered for this duo, whether they were selling sod and landscaping services, flogging real estate as a team, or running a catering operation. They just liked the verbal jabs at the other's expense. Honestly, I really think they were happily married, but business differences seemed to make them both edgy. I've often thrown this back at Suzanne, when she makes snide comments, while we antique-hunt together. I've been in the profession ten years longer than Suzanne, but she feels her quick learning capability, polished in the teaching profession, negates my experience advantage altogether. I have to remind her, on numerous occasions, that I've produced quite a bit of income for my share of the industry, since we began Birch Hollow Antiques, and she quips back about me being a jerk…..and that's when we put our heads down, and concentrate on hunting and gathering, before it gets really ugly.
The problem with her retirement is twofold. She's going to miss being a teacher. It's been 31 years after all. It won't be an easy separation, and every time she walks down the street of our bailiwick, she will inevitably run into her former students, who will say things like "I miss you Mrs. Currie," and "It's just not the same in the library, now that you're gone." Others will hug her. Believe me, they will. For 31 years they've been hugging her. In the grocery stores, hardware aisles, during walks in the park, and jaunts into the post office. On all these occasions, I just stand there with a stupid look on my face, wondering why no one ever hugs the writer. It's always the teacher. So when she arrives at the shop in tears, because a former student has reminded her of school days, I will once again stand there, expressionless, wondering if I should hug her, or hand her a kleenex…..or just disappear into the woodwork which is easy in an antique shop. There's a lot of wood.
The second issue, is the toughest. Remember the dealer couple I wrote about just a minute ago. Well sir, we can duplicate them perfectly. This morning was a case in point. We were at a local consignment shop in Muskoka, where we look for the occasional "sleeper" antique or art piece. "Sleeper" means a piece that is, for whatever reason, undervalued as it was most likely under-researched. This is our golden advantage, and most of the time it works like magic. I'm up to snuff on old and rare books, primitive furnishings, folk art, and art generally, whether a painting or sculpture. Suzanne is astute in the hunt for antique linens, clothing, sewing items, quilts, blankets and cookery collectibles. Nine times out of ten, Suzanne will never question one of my purchases. I might be asking for budget flexibility of upwards of a thousand dollars, and that's sometimes easier to get, than prying her fingers off twelve bucks. I found a well worn wooden ladle, with a short handle, that had the most amazing patina and physical wear. It had been a well-used kitchen piece, for over a century, that I was surprised Suzanne hadn't already picked up for her collection. So I picked it up, fondled it for five or so minutes, and decided, that based on appearance, condition, and visible age, that it was a piece we could make a small profit. But it would add to the depth and attraction of our shop's inventory, even if we couldn't muster big bucks on its eventual sale. Dealers do this all the time. They pick up show pieces that make their shop collection look even better. It's not always about making surreal profits. Sometimes yes, often, no! So when I told Suzanne that we should have this ladle, she tried everything in her power, to persuade me against crossing into her territory. If it was a book, an engraving, or a Henry Moore sculpture, she'd have let it pass. The reality I took a step across the threshold of her domain, didn't sit well. So when I decided to buck convention, and let the chips fall where they may, by golly, what an ass I am for trying such nonsense. Twice more on the way to the sales counter, she questioned my sensibility, buying this short-handled ladle for twelve dollars, when I likely wouldn't be able to mark it up above sixteen dollars. Hey, that works for me. In this case, she explained that it wasn't the best use of twelve dollars……and that basically, I should stick to my lane (a swimming analogy that works in this case too).
Now I'm stalwart to a fault. I'm a human log-jam. A clog in the water-works. So when Suzanne challenged my tenure in the antique profession (and I've got three published columns on this, to her 'zero'), and about 35 years of hunting and gathering, I was dumbfounded. Right there in the middle of the store, with people watching, my face dropped to my protruding belly. So in my mind, I'm saying things like, "Who the hell do you think you are, to tell me……" and "How dare you!" Biting my lip so hard that these words never make it to air, I turn around and walk the item back to the table where I found it. Of course this makes Suzanne absolutely crazy, simply because I won't stand out in the open, debating the asking price, and wagering how much we can make by flipping it in our shop. It's not good business. So we've got this scene unfolding, with her grabbing my sweater, to stop me from my retreat, and the store owner looking on, sensing that any moment, the Currie's are going to break out into an Irish - Scottish verbal dust-up. The problem is, that I go into that stubborn, bull-headed, smoke-em-if-you-got-em point of view, and there really isn't any point, sat this stage, of trying to win a debate in the aisle of a collectible shop. Suzanne, on the other hand, treats me like a student. She'd give me a detention if she thought she could. I'm sure she'd like to make me right lines, on the chalk board, about being stubborn, and a poor listener. Hey, we agree to disagree. I put the ladle back, she smiled at the owner, we headed toward the door, and grumbled to ourselves across the road to the van……where the real verbal jousting began. "How dare you call me stupid," she stated, with a little foaming at the corners of her mouth. "Well you just called me stupid," I answered in protracted defense, of my ability to discern the quality of antique treenware.
Well, you know what. In the middle of scolding one another, about our respective conduct, our history repeated on us……when at virtually the same time, we thought about those two elderly antique dealers we met at shows, who used to do the exact same thing, coming, during and going! So here we were, replicating the firebrand of their strange co-existence. From being sharply snide, and stubborn about who was right this time, it dawned on us, that this could be our retirement demeanor. After raising two fine lads, and running a contented household and business for more than a quarter of a century, we were going to wind up torturing each other in our gentle golden years. We looked at each other, after a bit of reflection, and Suzanne turned, and despite the red blotches of anger on her cheeks, she smiled, called me an 'smart ass old fart," and poured a small amount of cold coffee on my outstretched knee. So I grabbed her nose and wouldn't let go. It was just like the Three Stooges, but there were only two of us.
On the way home, we stopped for our Saturday morning antique hunting treats at the local coffee shop. I get a Boston Cream donut and she gets a bran muffin. I was sitting there thinking about the wooden ladle. "It was made out of a burl you idiot!"
In the fog of war, I had actually forgotten the reason I had decided to buy it in the first place. The grain of the wood and its shape, told me it was made from a burl…..which would have made it significantly more valuable than twelve bucks. Oh well, stuff happens. Mostly to me of course. I love my wife, and I'm looking forward to her retirement. I'm not sure whether I'm comfortable with the 24-7 arrangement just yet, although I think this morning's dust-up over a burl ladle, was important in our self discovery, as senior antique dealers. And no, I really don't want to wind up like that other couple, who never seemed to be comfortable, or happy, without the verbal sparring…..which went well beyond the "old fart" exclamation.
We've got some more traveling to do this weekend for the business, so I have to sign off now to get a little sleep. Before the accountant finds me. I'm sure she's got some more questions, because I've just heard her unfolding some wadded-up purchase receipts from the cash box. Don't tell her I've gone to bed, until you hear me snoring. She won't want to wake me, because some of her favorite television shows are coming on……and she says I always make too much noise reading the paper. Can you imagine that? Too much noise turning pages! Wow! See you again soon. Bye for now!
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