THANKS TO GRAVENHURST'S AUBURN GALLERY OF FINE ART, FOR GIVING US A PUMPKIN CARVING ADVENTURE

Auburn Gallery of Fine Art – Halloween Carving Event – Saturday, October 16th

 

A team of pro Great Pumpkin Carving experts spent the day creating a wide variety of extremely creative Pumpkins for the judging on Saturday evening.  Hot drinks and soup was available at the great Halloween event held at the Auburn Gallery of Fine Art. (Photo By Fred Schulz)

Auburn Gallery of Fine Art – Halloween – Pumpkin Carvings (Photo By Fred Schulz)

TRADITIONS ARE MADE THIS WAY - ONE PUMPKIN-CARVING EVENT FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER

AUTUMN IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL AND STRANGE INTRUSION OF MELANCHOLY UPON THE SENSES

    HERE IS A SHORT TRIBUTE, OF THIS HISTORIAN'S CHOOSING, DIRECTED TO THE KIND AND THOUGHTFUL FOLKS AT GRAVENHURST'S AUBURN GALLERY OF FINE ART, ON FIRST STREET, FOR PUTTING ON SUCH A FINE EVENT, ONCE AGAIN THIS YEAR, IN CELEBRATION OF ART IN MUSKOKA, THE GREAT DYNAMIC OF THE FARM FRESH PUMPKIN, AND THE CELEBRATION OF HALLOWE'EN. FRED SCHULZ WAS ABLE TO GET SOME NICE SHOTS OF THE PUMPKIN LIGHTING, AT THE GALLERY, SATURDAY NIGHT. DESPITE THE WIND, THE RAIN, AND THE COLD, THE GUESTS WERE TREATED TO A WONDERFUL EVENING. THIS COULD BE A MUCH BIGGER AND MORE WIDELY CELEBRATED LATE AUTUMN SEASON EVENT IN GRAVENHURST, IF MORE FOLKS GOT BEHIND THE AUBURN GALLERY INITIATIVE AND JOINED THE FUN. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FOR NEXT YEAR. THANKS TERRY AND FRIENDS FOR DOING THIS FOR OUR COMMUNITY....AND FOR THE PROMOTION OF ARTS IN MUSKOKA.

    "THEY ARE GIVEN TO ALL KINDS OF MARVELOUS BELIEFS; ARE SUBJECT TO TRANCE AND VISIONS, AND FREQUENTLY SEE STRANGE SIGHTS, AND HEAR MUSIC AND VOICES IN THE AIR. THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD ABOUNDS WITH LOCAL TALES,  HAUNTED SPOTS AND TWILIGHT SUPERSTITIONS; STARS SHOOT AND METEORS GLARE, OFTENER ACROSS THE VALLEY THAN IN ANY OTHER PART OF THE COUNTRY, AND THE NIGHT-MARE WITH HER WHOLE, NINE FOLD, SEEMS TO MAKE IT THE FAVORITE SCENE FOR HER GAMBOLS.
     "THE DOMINANT SPIRIT, HOWEVER, THAT HAUNTS THIS ENCHANTED REGION, AND SEEMS TO BE COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF ALL THE POWERS OF THE AIR, IS THE APPARITION OF A FIGURE ON A HORSEBACK WITHOUT A HEAD. IT IS SAID BY SOME TO BE THE GHOST OF A HESSIAN TROOPER, WHOSE HEAD HAD BEEN CARRIED AWAY BY A CANNON-BALL, IN SOME NAMELESS BATTLE DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, AND WHO IS EVER AND ANON SEEN BY THE COUNTRY FOLKS, HURRYING ALONG IN THE GLOOM OF NIGHT, AS IF ON THE WINGS OF WIND. HIS HAUNTS ARE NOT CONFINED TO THE VALLEY,  BUT EXTEND AT TIMES TO THE ADJACENT ROADS AND ESPECIALLY IN THE VICINITY OF A CHURCH, THAT IS AT NO GREAT DISTANCE. INDEED, CERTAIN OF THE MOST AUTHENTIC HISTORIANS OF THOSE PARTS, WHO HAVE BEEN CAREFUL IN COLLECTING AND COLLATING THE FLOATING FACTS, CONCERNING THIS SPECTRE, ALLEGE, THAT THE BODY OF THE TROOPER, HAVING BEEN BURIED IN THE CHURCHYARD, THE GHOST RIDES FORTH TO THE SENSE OF BATTLE IN NIGHTLY QUEST OF HIS HEAD, AND THAT THE RUSHING SPEED WITH WHICH HE SOMETIMES PASSES, ALONG THE HOLLOW, LIKE A MIDNIGHT BLAST, IS OWING TO HIS BEING BELATED, AND IN A HURRY TO GET BACK TO THE CHURCHYARD BEFORE DAY BREAK."

     THIS IS A PASSAGE FROM AN 1893 COPY OF THE WORKS OF WASHINGTON IRVING, AND OF COURSE, HIS WELL KNOWN STORY, "THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW."  THIS COPY, IN PRETTY BAD SHAPE NOW, WAS FOUND AT AN ESTATE AUCTION, OF THE EWING FAMILY, AT THEIR PIONEER FARM ON ZISKA ROAD IN BRACEBRIDGE, BACK IN MID 1980'S. IT WAS A WELL-READ BOOK, AND I HAVE ENJOYED MANY QUIET NIGHTS, BY OIL LAMP, READING THROUGH HIS TANTALIZING TALES OF THE HAUNTED HUDSON RIVER VALLEY. I PLAN TO REVISIT THIS BOOK, OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, LEADING UP TO HALLOWE'EN, BECAUSE, AFTER ALL, THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE, WAS NAMED OUT OF RESPECT TO WASHINGTON IRVING, BY CANADIAN POSTAL AUTHORITY / HISTORIAN / LITERARY CRITIC, WILLIAM DAWSON LESUEUR, IN AUGUST 1864. THUS THE TOWN, WHETHER IT ACCEPTS IT OR NOT, HAS A RIGHT TO CELEBRATE ALL THE WORK OF THIS REVERED, INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AUTHOR.

     AS A SIDE BAR EDITORIAL, OF TODAY'S BLOG, I WOULD HOPE THAT FOR ALL THOSE WHO SHARE THE SUPERSTITIONS OF HALLOWEEN, AND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, AND THE REVENGE OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN, THAT WE JOINTLY, WITH ONE DETERMINED SPIRIT, HUNT DOWN THE JERK(S) WHO KICKED-IN THE FACE OF THE HUGE JACK 'O LANTERN, CARVED ON SATURDAY, IN THE OPERA HOUSE SQUARE, HERE IN UPTOWN GRAVENHURST.  WHAT A SHAME, TO HAVE HAD THIS HUGE PUMPKIN DONATED BY AUBURN GALLERY OF FINE ART, FOR THE PUBLIC TO ENJOY, TO HAVE IT WIND-UP BEING VANDALIZED BY THE COUNTY MORONS, WHO CAN'T CONTROL THEIR URGES TO BREAK SOMETHING OR OTHER......TO SATISFY THEIR NEED TO EXPRESS THEIR DOMINATION POWER OVER INANIMATE OBJECTS. SO, SHOULD A HEADLESS HORSEMAN RUN ACROSS THEIR PATH.....WELL, HOPEFULLY HEADS WILL ROLL.

     THERE IS SOMETHING STRANGELY WONDERFUL ABOUT THE FINAL WEEKS OF OCTOBER. THE ALMOST HEART-FELT SCENT OF BURNING LEAVES, TUGGING AT OUR EMOTIONS; REMINDING US OF ALL THE AUTUMNS PAST. MOST OF THE PAINTED HARDWOOD LEAVES HAVE FALLEN NOW, AFTER THE HANDIWORK OF RECENT WIND AND RAIN ACROSS MUSKOKA. STILL THERE IS AN ALLURING MELANCHOLY THAT REMINDS US, AT TIMES, OF VIVALDI'S "FOUR SEASONS," WHEN WE TRUNDLE THROUGH THE HAUNTED WOODLANDS, LISTENING TO THE WIND WHISPERING THROUGH THE THICK STAND OF EVERGREENS ALONG THE LAKE SHORE.
    THERE ARE OTHER TIMES, WHEN WE RECALL  ROBERT FROST'S POEM "BIRCHES,"  WHEN WE SUDDENLY COME UPON A LOWLAND, RINGED BY LEANING BIRCHES, SHADOWING OMINOUSLY OVER THE WELL-TRODDEN PATH. IF WE STOP FOR A MOMENT, WE CAN HEAR THE TRICKLE OF WATER IN THE CREEK, HIDDEN SOMEWHERE IN THE SEASON'S MATTED GRASSES; THE RUN-OFF OVER THE TINY CATARACTS, SOUNDING LIKE THE CLINK OF CRYSTAL GLASSES. THERE IS A NOSTALGIC WINDSONG THAT PLAYS IN THE DRIED FIELD GRASSES, THAT BRUSH TOGETHER IN THE DRIFT OF WIND, WASHING UP AND OVER THE FAR HILLSIDE, AND IT INSPIRES THOUGHTS OF YOUNGER DAYS, WHEN WE RAN THROUGH THIS PARKLAND WITH RECKLESS ABANDON; RACING FROM ONE CHUM'S HOUSE TO ANOTHER, WITH GREAT ANTICIPATION OF ADVENTURES YET TO COME THAT DAY.
      WE WALK QUIETLY NOW, ALONG THESE FAMILIAR LEAF-LADEN PATHS, THAT WE COULD WALK BLINDFOLDED; THROUGH THIS AUTUMN-TIME SYMPHONY OF THE SENSES.....ENGRAVED DEEPLY IN THE TRUE LIGHT AND SHADOW OF THIS NATURE OF MUSKOKA, AND IT'S NOT UNCOMMON, FOR US TO FEEL SLIGHTLY SAD, ABOUT THE ETCHING-CHANGES OF TIME; THE LOSS OF GOOD FRIENDS AND DEAR FAMILY, OVER THESE MANY YEARS OF VISITATION, TO PLACES WE USED TO VENTURE CHEERFULLY, OPTIMISTIC THIS WOULD ALL LAST FOREVER. AND THEN RECOLLECT TOGETHER, THE SPUN YEARS OF OUR LIVES. AT A BRIGHT, OPEN CORNER, ALONG THIS PATH THROUGH THE HARDWOOD FOREST, WE MIGHT SWEAR THAT WE HEAR SOMEONE CALLING US....FEEL AS IF WE HAD SOMEONE ELSE WALKING BESIDE US, TOUCHING OUR SHOULDER, OR BRUSHING OUR HAND, AS  IF TO TAKE FULL GRIP; THE SPIRITUAL SENSATION THAT YOU ARE NOT WALKING ALONE, YET THERE IS NO FEAR OF A MALEVOLENT ENTITY. IT MAY JUST BE THE MANIFESTATION OF A VIVID MEMORY, OF A PLEASANT WALK, OF LONG AGO, THAT WAS INSPIRED TO THOUGHT, BY THE SCENT OF THE DAY, THE LIGHT PATCHING ON THE LANDSCAPE, THE CARESS OF A REFRESHING BREEZE SCENTED OF THE LAKE. IT IS AT TIMES AN UNSETTLING FEELING, TO ONCE AGAIN, BECOME FAMILIAR WITH A POIGNANT MEMORY YOU HADN'T RECALLED FOR TIME AND MEMORIAM.  IT IS A HAUNTING FEELING, THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE, AND ARE NOW, FOLLOWING THE SAME IMPRESSIONS OF FOOT-FALL, THAT YOU DID MANY YEARS BEFORE.
     IT IS THE TRICKERY OF SENSORY PERCEPTION, THAT THESE MEMORIES OF THE AUTUMN FOREST, COME BACK TO LIFE. THE LATE HARVEST SEASON HAS AS ITS TRADITION, PLAYING THE HEART STRINGS AS SOME GREAT HARP, UPON ITS GILT PEDESTAL, AND IT'S WHY WE COME FACE TO FACE, AT THIS TIME OF THE FAILING SEASON, WITH THE GHOSTS OF THE PAST....OUR PAST. WE RECALL, AT THE SAME TIME, WITH THIS FLOOD OF SENTIMENT, THE DAYS OF CHILDHOOD WHEN WE SO LOOKED FORWARD-TO, THE NIGHT OF HALLOWE'EN, WHEN THESE MOONLIT WOODS BECAME SO MUCH MORE ENCHANTED, WITH THE TWITCHING SHADOWS OF WITCHES AND HOBGOBLINS INSTEAD.
     MAYBE ON THIS SAME PATH, BATHED BY MOONLIGHT, ON THE EVE OF HALLOWEEN, THE HEADLESS HESSIAN MAY RIDE IN THE SILHOUETTE OF HISTORY, IN THE STRANGE FICTION, OF THE STORY-BOOK COME ALIVE. THERE IS SOMETHING SO INTIMATELY SPECIAL ABOUT THE HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION, AND THE SENSORY STIMULATION, WE EXPERIENCE, STANDING IN THE MOONLIGHT OF NIGHTS LIKE THIS.....WITH ALL THE GREAT EXPECTATIONS OF CHILDREN YELLING OUT LOUDLY, "TRICK OR TREAT."
     THANKS AGAIN TO AUBURN GALLERY OF FINE ART, FOR MAINTAINING A TRADITION, IN RECOGNITION OF THE FALL HARVEST, THE BELIEF THAT ADULTS LIKE TO CARVE PUMPKINS, AND THE CELEBRATION OF HALLOWEEN. ALL THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED AS PUMPKIN CARVERS, SHOULD FEEL ESPECIALLY PROUD TO HAVE BEEN PART OF A FLEDGLING PARTY THAT MAY GET BIGGER AND BETTER IN THE YEARS TO COME. HAPPY HALLOWEEN.....AND WATCH OUT FOR THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN. CAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT ENCHANTMENTS ARE LURKING OUT THERE, IN THIS PLEASANTLY HAUNTED BALLIWICK OF SOUTH MUSKOKA.
     THANKS FOR JOINING FRED SCHULZ AND I, TODAY, FOR A LITTLE HALLOWEEN FUN.