WHAT IS "THE MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE?" I LEAVE THAT FOR MUSKOKANS TO DECIDE

The Black River near Vankoughnet

 

The Black River, one of Ontario’s popular canoe trips flows from Vankoughet to Washago.   A large portion of the river flows through the privately owner preserve – Longford Township where various wildlife is seen regularly along it’s shores. (Photo By Fred Schulz)

A HOME IN THE WILD WOODS - A VILLAGE RESIDENCE - THE MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE

MOST HOME OWNERS DON'T GET TO CELEBRATE THE HEARTH, BEFORE THEY'RE ONCE AGAIN, "MOVING ON UP"

    FIRST, A MUSKOKA HISTORICAL MOMENT I'D RATHER FORGET: I BELIEVE THAT I AM THE ONLY MUSKOKA AND REGION HISTORIAN, TO HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED TO STOP WRITING FEATURE PROFILES OF CERTAIN MUSKOKA CHURCHES, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE I WAS APPARENTLY DIRECTING THERE, FOR A LOOK-SEE, WERE STEALING THE RELIGIOUS ICONS, THE PEWS, ALTER PIECES, AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT COULD BE EASILY SCOOPED UP. AS IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO, I FEEL I CAN AT LEAST MENTION THEM NOW. ONE WAS THE BEAR CAVE LOG CHURCH, NORTH EAST OF THE VILLAGE OF ROSSEAU. THE MINISTER IN CHARGE ACTUALLY CONTACTED ME, AND ASKED ME TO CEASE AND DESIST, BEFORE THESE AGGRESSIVE SIGHT-SEERS STARTED HAULING AWAY THE ACTUAL TIMBERS OF THE CHURCH. THE OTHER WAS THE LOG BUILDING OF ST. PETER'S ANGLICAN CHURCH ON THE FRASERBURG ROAD IN BRACEBRIDGE. I FELT BAD ABOUT THIS, AND WELL, STOPPED MENTIONING THESE SITES, LIKE THE STORY OF JERUSALEM, DUE TO VANDALISM AND THEFT THESE MENTIONS APPARENTLY CAUSED.

     IN THE OLDEN DAYS, GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES REMAINED IN THE SAME HOUSE. THEY WERE BORN THERE, AND DIED THERE, AND THERE WAS A SENSE OF BIOGRAPHY AND ANCESTRY, WITH THOSE FRAMED PORTRAITS HUNG ON THE PARLOR WALL. WE HAVE NOW LIVED IN OUR HOME, IN GRAVENHURST, SINCE OCTOBER 1989, THE LONGEST ANY CURRIE HAS LIVED IN THE SAME DWELLING FOR THAT PERIOD OF TIME. EXCEPT OF COURSE, IF YOU WERE TO GO BACK TO IRELAND ON MY FATHER'S SIDE, OR MY GRANDPARENTS, STAN AND BLANCHE JACKSON, ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE. MY GRANDFATHER WAS A CONTRACTOR IN TORONTO AND BUILT HIS OWN HOME. PRIOR TO THIS, THE FAMILY LIVED IN THE FARMHOUSE BUILT BY THE FIRST OF THE CLAN TO ARRIVE FROM ENGLAND, BACK IN THE MID 1800'S. SUZANNE'S PARENTS SPENT MULIT-DECADES IN THEIR WINDERMERE HOME, AND THE FAMILY COTTAGE ON LAKE ROSSEAU, HAD ACTUALLY BEEN THE STRIPP HOMESTEAD, BUILT IN THE EARLY 1900'S BY HER GRANDFATHER, SAM STRIPP. IT STAYED IN THE FAMILY INTO THIS NEW CENTURY, WHEN IT WAS FINALLY SOLD OUTSIDE OF THE FAMILY. THAT WAS REGRETTABLE. SUZANNE'S MOTHER'S FAMILY, OF UFFORD, IN THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES, HAD BEEN IN THE FARMSTEAD HOUSE, OF JOHN SHEA'S FARM, FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, AND IT IS STILL IN THE SHEA FAMILY TO THIS DAY.
     BUT TODAY, FINDING FAMILIES THAT CAN BOAST MULTI-GENERATIONAL RESIDENCY, IS GETTING PRETTY RARE, AS MODERNISTS HOUSE HOP WITH MUCH GREATER FREQUENCY, MOVING UP FROM "STARTER HOMES" TO LARGER "FAMILY HOMES." I CALL IT, PLAIN AND SIMPLY, "PROPERTY SPECULATION," SELLING ONE HOME AT A PROFIT IN ORDER TO BUY ANOTHER MORE EXPENSIVE HOME, THAT WILL ALSO BE SOLD WHEN A GOOD PROFIT IS ATTAINABLE. WE SOLD OUR FIRST TWO HOUSES TO MUSTER A LARGER DOWNPAYMENT ON BIRCH HOLLOW, WHERE WE FINALLY STOPPED OUR REAL ESTATE DANCE. I MUST FOOTNOTE THIS HOWEVER, THAT WE DID TRY TO SELL IT ON THE BRINK OF THE 1990'S HOUSING COLLAPSE, BUT WE WERE TOO LATE. YET I'M GLAD OF IT, BECAUSE IT WAS THE RIGHT HOME TO GET STUCK WITH FOR MULTI-DECADES. THE FAMILY MEMORIES IN THIS HOUSE ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO US, THAN A PIE-IN-THE-SKY REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL THAT HONESTLY, TODAY, MAKES US BLUSH. WE DO WORRY THAT OUR BOYS WILL HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING INTO THE MARKET, BECAUSE OF THESE HUGE REAL ESTATE VALUATIONS. OF COURSE LOW INTEREST RATES HAVE CREATED A DEVIL-MAY-CARE ATTITUDE OUT THERE, HERALDING A LOT OF RECKLESS SPENDING, AND EVER-ESCALATING PROPERTY VALUATIONS. AND ITS THE ALLURE THAT MAKES FOR GENEROUS PAYDAYS FOR PROPERTY SPECULATORS. AS FOR THAT "HOME" FEELING? WELL, IT'S NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE, THAT'S FOR SURE, AND MOST PEOPLE NOW ARE, IN ESSENCE, JUST RENTING THESE DWELLINGS FROM THE BANKS....BECAUSE THEY WILL NEVER, EVER REACH THAT GLORIOUS FINAL STAGE OF MORTGAGE BURNING, WHEN ALL THE MONEY HAS BEEN PAID BACK....AND THE KEYS ARE REALLY "FOR YOUR OWN FRONT DOOR." WHAT ARE WE LOSING IN OUR SOCIAL / CULTURAL LIVES, WHEN WE KEEP MOVING FROM PLACE TO PLACE, BARELY ABLE TO FILL A COUPLE OF PAGES IN A SCRAP BOOK, WITH KEEPSAKE MEMORIES, INSPIRED BY THAT PARTICULAR HOMESTEAD EXPERIENCE. THE BAGS SEEMED TO REMAIN SEMI-PACKED ALL THE TIME. FAMILY VALUES APPEAR TO BE TAKING A BEATING.
     I SHOULD ALSO POINT OUT, THAT I GREW UP WITH A FAMILY OF RENTERS, BECAUSE MY PARENTS WERE SCARED TO DEATH OF MORTGAGE RESPONSIBILITIES. WE LIVED IN AN APARTMENT IN TORONTO, TWO IN BURLINGTON, ONE IN BRACEBRIDGE, AND TWO OTHER HOUSES WE RENTED BY TIME I WAS IN UNIVERSITY, AND FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, LIVING SOMEWHERE ELSE. BUT OUR APARTMENTS WERE TRULY HOME SPIRITED, ESPECIALLY THE NAGY APARTMENT IN BURLINGTON, WHERE I WAS MINDED BY THE LANDLORD WHEN MY PARENTS WENT OFF TO WORK, AND IN BRACEBRIDGE, AT THE WEBER APARTMENT, ON ALICE STREET, WHERE IT WAS LIKE A HIPPY COMMUNE....EVERYONE LEAVING THEIR DOORS OPEN FOR FAIR EXCHANGE OF SOCIAL VALUES, RECREATION AND FOOD. SOME BORROWED, MUCH GIVEN, AND A LOT SHARED. EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T A FAMILY HOME, IT BECAME ONE BY SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCE. I NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE THAT APARTMENT ARRANGEMENT, THAT INSPIRED ONE BOOK, AND HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS OF SHORT STORIES AND REMINISCENCES, I PUBLISHED IN ALL KINDS OF NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES SINCE 1979.
     THINK ABOUT THOSE HOMES OF OUR ANCESTORS, WHERE THE WALLS AND HALLS WERE LOADED WITH THE PORTRAITS OF FAMILY MEMBERS DATING BACK CENTURIES. FOLKS TODAY ARE STAYING IN HOMES ONLY A FRACTION OF A GENERATION, NOT LONG ENOUGH TO BUILD SUCH A PHOTO GALLERY. IS THIS A PROBLEM OF OUR SOCIETAL OBSESSION WITH FORTUNE-SEEKING? THE NEW NEED TO KEEP THINGS EXCITING AND THE SCENERY EVER-CHANGING? HOW DO WE EVER GET NEIGHBORHOODS LIKE THE OLD ONES, IF RESIDENTS ONLY STAY A FEW YEARS BEFORE MOVING ONTO NEW HOUSING. ONE DAY YOU BORROW A CUP OF SUGAR FROM ONE NEIGHBOR, YOU DON'T KNOW, AND THEN, ON RETURNING IT, A NEW NEIGHBOR IS ALREADY IN PLACE....WONDERING WHY YOU'RE ON THE DOORSTEP WITH A CUP IN YOUR HAND. OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, HERE IN THE RURAL CLIME, IS JUST LIKE THAT, AND BECAUSE WE HAVE MANY YOUNG PEOPLE, WORKING IN TERM JOBS WITH TRANSFER POSSIBILITIES, LET'S JUST SAY, WE HAVE DECIDED TO INVEST LIGHTLY IN MAKING NEW FRIENDS OF THE NEWEST NEIGHBOR'S SETTLING IN. SO WHEN WE LOOK AT SITUATIONS, LIKE THE HOMESTEAD PERIOD IN MUSKOKA, AND THE DRAW OF "THE CABIN HEARTH," FOR KITH AND KIN, IT SEEMS SO WILDLY OPPOSITE TO THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISES OF THE MODERN ERA, IT MIGHT AS WELL BE ANCIENT HISTORY. THE STORY BELOW IS WHAT OUR ANCESTORS EXPERIENCED, THAT MOST OF TODAY, CAN ONLY IMAGINE.....BECAUSE EVEN IF YOUR HOME, CONDO, OR APARTMENT HAS A HEARTH AT ALL, CHANCES ARE IT NEVER LOOKS, OR APPEARS (EVEN IN A HALO OF WOODSMOKE) QUITE SO POETIC, ETHEREAL AND SENTIMENTAL, AS WHAT THE AUTHOR HAS RECALLED OF THOSE SOCIAL / CULTURAL PLEASURES OF ONCE....WHEN HOME WAS TRULY WHERE THE HEART WAS!
     "AND WHEN THE HEAVIER CHILL DOES COME, AND THE KEEN WIND AND COLD DEWS ANNOUNCE THE END OF OUTDOOR FREEDOM, WITH WHAT LIVELY PLEASURE DO WE LIGHT THE FIRST FIRE, WHETHER IT IS FOR THE MANY-COLORED FLAME OF THE DRIFTWOOD FIRE AT THE SHORE, OR THE BRANCHES AND CONE OF THE WOOD-SIDE PLACE, OR THE SEA COAL OF THE GRATE IN THE BACK PARLOR OF THE CITY HOUSE.
    "NO ONE EVER FEELS THAT SUMMER IS QUITE LONG ENOUGH, THAT IT IS QUITE TIME FOR IT WHEN THE EARLY DARK DRAWS DOWN, AND CUTS SHORT THE ONCE LONG DAY; AND WHEN THE COOL AUTUMN DUSK APPEARS, MOST OF US SYMPATHIZE WITH THOSE WHO SPEAK OF HEAVEN UNDER NO OTHER NAME, THAN THAT OF THE SUMMER-LAND. FOR WHATEVER PLEASURES OF ITS OWN THERE MAY BE IN THE COMING IMPRISONMENT OF WINTER, THEY ARE STILL IN STRONG MEASURE, THE PLEASURES OF IMPRISONMENT, WHILE SUMMER, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS ONE LONG FREEDOM." THIS WAS AN 1897 VIEWPOINT OF THE LATE AUTUMN, ON THE CUSP OF THE AGGRESSIVE CHANGE OF SEASON; AND THE VICTORIAN PLEASURES AROUND THE THE HOME HEARTH.
     THE ROMANTICISM SPUN BY HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD, IN THE BOOK, "STEPPING STONES TO HAPPINESS," (THE CHRISTIAN HERALD), MAY HAVE BEEN OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO THE PIONEER SETTLER IN MUSKOKA, DURING THIS TIME. ALTHOUGH IT IS THE LATER PERIOD OF THE SETTLEMENT DECADES, AND THE FREE LAND GRANT OFFERINGS, MANY HOMES AND FARMSTEADS WERE POORLY BUILT STRUCTURES, WITH A MINIMUM OF LUXURIES. DRAFTY AND COLD DWELLING PLACES, THIS TIME OF YEAR. THERE WERE THE FINER HOMES IN THE VICTORIAN DESIGN, FOR THE BETTER OFF BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL CLASSES, BUT IF YOU WERE TO LOOK AT THE AVERAGE LIVING CONDITION, IT WAS CERTAINLY THE CASE, THAT AS THE WINTER SEASON APPROACHED, THE HEARTH AND STOVE BECAME THE MOST POPULAR AREAS OF ANY HOME. I'M JUST NOT SURE THAT READING ABOUT IT, IN THIS BOOK, WHICH WAS THE INTENTION, AFTERALL, WOULD MAKE THE RESIDENTS FEEL ANY WARMER PHYSICALLY; BUT POSSIBLY IN SPIRIT, GOD GAVE THEM THAT INNER WARMTH, MAKING THE DISCOMFORT SLIGHTLY MORE PALATABLE.
    DO YOU FEEL THE WARMTH RADIATING FROM THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE, PENNED BY MRS. SPOFFORD, POSSIBLY SEEING THE FIRST SNOW FLURRIES OF THE LATE AUTUMN, DUSTING ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE. "WE MAKE THE MOST OF WINTER; WE ARE HAPPY IN IT; WE SEE AN IMMENSITY OF BEAUTY IN ITS VIVID CONTRASTS OF SPARKLING SNOW AND AZURE; ITS WEB-LIKE TRACERY OF BARE BOUGHS AND PURPLE SPRAYS, ITS FROST-FERNS ON THE FROZEN PANE; ITS ICE BLOCKS RIVEN BY RESTLESS TIDES, ITS WHITE WHIRL OF STORMS, AND WE THINK OF THE ROUND EARTH THEN AS A WINGED DAZZLE AMONG THE STARS. BUT WHEN WE HAVE ADMIRED OUR MOST, WE CAN NEVER MAKE ANY IDEALIZATION OF IT INTO A HEAVENLY STATE, BUT A MAJORITY OF US, ON THE CONTRARY, AGREE WITH DANTE'S IDEAS, IN MAKING ICE AND SNOW AND FREEZING BLASTS, THE INNER CIRCLE AND PIVOTAL POINT OF THE LAST PLACE OF PUNISHMENT. YET FOR ALL THAT, WHAT A SINGULAR CHARM THERE IS ABOUT THE FIRST FIRE OF WOOD, LAID ON THE HEARTH, HERALD AS IT IS THE COLD IMPRISONMENT, LAID THERE NOT ANY MORE FOR ITS HEAT, THAN FOR ITS NECROMANTIC POWER OF DISPELLING GLOOM WHEN THE WEATHER BEGINS TO SHIVER, AND ITS DEPRESSION BEGINS TO OVERCOME OURSELVES. HOW WE WELCOME IT, AS IF IT WERE AN OLD FRIEND LONG GONE AND JUST RETURNED. HOW WE GATHER ABOUT IT, AND REJOICE IN IT. HOW LATE WE LINGER ABOUT IT, HOW WE OPEN OUR HEARTS OVER IT, AS IF THOUGHT AND FEELINGS WERE THAWED OUT BY ITS GENIAL SPELL, AND HOW HEEDLESSLY WE ASSIST AS ITS SACRIFICIAL FLAMES WALLOW UP THE CHIMNEY, AT THE FUNERAL RITES OF SUMMER.
     "STILL AFTER ALL, THAT FIRST FIRE, TUMBLING WAVE OVER WAVE UP AND OUT INTO THE DARKNESS, IS THE CONCENTRATED ESSENCE OF THE SPICE AND SWEETNESS OF WHAT COUNTLESS SUMMERS. WHAT YEARS OF SUNSHINE AND DEW HAVE GONE TO THE GROWTH OF WOOD WHOSE EMBERS CRUMBLE FROM THE ANDIRONS, AS WE BEND OVER THEM. THE SPIRIT AND BEING OF HOW MANY MORNINGS OF BRIGHTNESS ARE CONDENSED THERE IN STEM AND BRANCH, AND OF WHAT MOON-LIGHTED EVENINGS; WHAT RED SUNRISES HAVE GLISTENED IN THE DARK DEW THAT FED IT; WHAT BIRD-SONG HAS MEASURED THE RHYTHM OF ITS INCREASE; WHAT GENTLE EVENING WINDS HAVE SWAYED IT; WHAT LOVERS HAVE LEANED AGAINST IT; WHAT STORMS HAVE BOWED AND BENT IT; AND AS IT BURNS BEFORE US AND DROPS AWAY INTO WHITE ASHES, WHAT COMPREHENSION AND MEMORY OF ALL THIS SPARKLE, IN EVERY FRESH BURST OF FLAME, IN EVERY DYING COAL, AND DIFFUSE THEMSELVES ABOUT US, AND MAKE THAT FIRST LITTLE AUTUMN FIRE FOR US, THE EXPRESSION AND IDEAL EMBODIEMENT OF PERPETUAL SUMMER. AND YET GREATER IS OUR DELIGHT WHEN IT IS THE FIRST FIRE OF ALL, ON OUR OWN HEARTH AND IN OUR OWN HOUSE."
      MRS. SPOFFORD, IN THAT VICTORIAN ROMANTICISM AND CHRISTIAN GOODWILL, FOR HOME, HEARTH, NATURE AND THE HUMAN SPIRIT, MAKES A SIMPLE FIRE, THE FIRST OF THE AUTUMN SEASON, AN ALMOST ETHEREAL, PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE. IT WAS THE ERA OF POETS AND THIS DESPITE ITS FORMAT OF PARAGRAPHS, IS NONE THE LESS, DRAMATICALLY POETIC IN CHARACTER. IT WAS A TIME WHEN WE BELIEVED POETS....THE GREAT BARDS, TO BE WORTHY PHILOSOPHERS, ABOUT THE MEANING OF LIFE, AND BEYOND. IN THE ABOVE PASSAGE, FROM 1897, NATURE AND GOD COME TOGETHER IN THE HUDDLE OF HUMANITY AROUND THE HOMESTEAD HEARTH. IT'S WHAT MADE THOSE HUMBLE ABODES, AND THE DISCOMFORTS ASSOCIATED WITH DRAFTS, COLD AND DAMPNESS, SEEM MORE LIKE GOD'S PLAN, AS A WAY OF BRINGING MANKIND TO THAT MEETING PLACE OF KITH AND KIN; TO WARM OUR BODIES AND REKINDLE CHRISTIAN FAITH, IN THE POWER OF THE FAMILY, TO OVERCOME THE BURDENS OF LIFE. THIS BOOK WAS FOUND IN ONE OF THESE MUSKOKA HOMESTEADS, AND PRESUMABLY IT WAS READ AND POSSIBLY, ITS ADVICE, TAKE,N TO HEART. THERE ARE MORE PRACTICAL SECTIONS IN THE BOOK, SUCH AS ON HOMESTEAD COOKERY, WHICH I WILL EXAMINE IN TOMORROW'S BLOG.
     IN YESTERDAY'S BLOG-ATORIAL, I LET OFF SOME OLD FASHIONED LOCOMOTIVE STEAM, (THAT'S THE SIZE OF IT) ABOUT WHAT I FEAR THE MOST IN THIS REGION; THE GENERAL AND GROWING LEVEL OF INEXPERIENCE AND LACK OF FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE REGARDING MUSKOKA'S HISTORY....A HERITAGE CHRONICLE NOT JUST ABOUT WOODEN BOATS AND STEAMSHIPS, WHICH IS A PRESENT PRE-OCCUPATION. THERE'S A LOT MORE TO OUR REGIONAL HISTORY, THAN YOU'RE GOING TO FIND IN LOCAL MUSEUMS, OR GETTING LOTS OF INK IN THE LOCAL MEDIA. OUR COUNCILLORS ARE MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE POPULAR HISTORIES, THAT WE USE IN MUSKOKA TODAY, STRICTLY AS TOURIST BAIT. PIONEER HISTORY AND FOLK LORE AREN'T SEXY, TOURISM BUILDING, EXPLOITABLE REALITIES, AND MUSEUMS KNOW IT TO BE SOMETHING OF LESSER INTEREST TO THE NEW CENTURY PATRON. I DO UNDERSTAND WHY THE PIONEER PERIOD IS GETTING LESSER ATTENTION THAN I THINK IT DESERVES, AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF THE TRADITIONAL WAY IT HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC. FOR WAY TOO MANY YEARS, THE SOCIAL / CULTURAL / FOLK HERITAGE OF OUR REGION, HAS BEEN SADLY NEGLECTED, AND LEFT UNDEVELOPED, AS PART OF THE PIONEER PRESENTATION PACKAGE; WHICH IS LIKE HAVING A HOT DOG MINUS THE BUN....BUT BEING TOLD IT'S AS GOOD AS IT'S GOING TO GET; OR LIKE PETER PAN MISSING THE COMMONPLACE OF HIS OWN SHADOW. WHAT IS SO WONDERFULLY DIMENSIONAL ABOUT HISTORY, SHOULDN'T BE SHORT CHANGED IN THIS FASHION, AND IF YOU WERE TO RE-READ THE PASSAGE BY MRS. SPOFFORD, YOU'D REALIZE THAT THE BELIEFS OF MANY OF THESE VICTORIANS, LEFT A LOT OF ROOM FOR PARANORMAL INFUSION; THE SPIRITS OF THE WOODLAND, NATURE AND HEAVENLY INFLUENCES. SO AS FOR MUSEUMS, THE WAY THEY USED TO BE OPERATED, IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME, UNTIL THE PRESENTATION OF PIONEER HERITAGE BECAME SO BORING, OFFERING UP THE SAME OLD, SAME OLD, THAT IT BECAME AN ECONOMIC BURDEN TO MUSEUMS. BUT ALL ALONG, JUST OUTSIDE THE BOX, THERE HAS BEEN A HUGE DYNAMIC TO ADD, OF REALLY NEAT AND ATTENTION-GRABBING FOLK LORE, JUST LIKE THE STORY OF THE HEALING HEARTH, THAT PUT A SPIRITUAL CONTEXT TO LIVING, AND SURVIVING AS A FAMIL IN THE VICTORIAN ERA....WHICH REPRESENTED THE ENTIRE PIONEER (VICTORIA'S REIGN WAS 1837 TO 1901) PERIOD OF MUSKOKA. I DON'T BLAME MUSEUMS FOR OPTING FOR OTHER OPTIONS TO MAKE THEIR SITES MORE POPULAR TO THE DEMANDS OF THE MODERN DAY TOURISTS, WHO REPRESENT THE BULK OF ATTENDANCE; BUT THE NEGLECT AND DULLING-DOWN OF THE HOMESTEAD CHRONICLE, HAS ACTUALLY, AS A RESULT, BEGUN TO CORRUPT HOW ITS TRUE CHARACTER IS TAUGHT AND UNDERSTOOD BY STUDENTS......ABOUT WHAT IT MEANT TO BE MUSKOKAN THROUGH THE DECADES, FROM THE LATE 1850'S. KEEP IN MIND, THAT IT WAS OUR MUSEUM COLLECTIONS, AND PRESENTATIONS, THAT KEPT US CONNECTED TO THOSE FOUNDING YEARS....BECAUSE FOR LONG AND LONG, IT WAS CONSIDERED OUR WAY OF CONNECTING TO OUR INHERENT CULTURED COMMUNITY VALUES. IT'S WHAT WE WERE ALL ABOUT....AND WHAT WE BECAME AS A DIRECT RESULT.
     SUZANNE, A BORN IN MUSKOKA LOYALIST, KEEN TO MAINTAIN THE OLD VALUES, OF HOME, HEARTH AND VILLAGE, CRINGES AND ENGAGES IN VERBAL RETALIATION, EVERY TIME SHE HEARS OR READS, SOME BUSINESS INTEREST, BESTOWING THE HIGH-ON-THE-HOG VIRTUES, OF "THE MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE." HAVING DEEP FAMILY ROOTS IN THE PIONEER PERIOD OF THIS DISTRICT, SHE IS, AS MANY OF MY READERS ARE, EXPERTS IN THE FIELD OF ANSWERING THAT COMPELLING BUT SILLY QUESTION...."WHAT IS A MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE." "IN MY DAY, WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY REASON TO DOUBT WHAT THE MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE WAS....OR OFFER IT AS EXPLANATION TO ANY ONE, MOSTLY BECAUSE WE WERE TOO BUSY WORKING TO SPEND TIME ANALYZING THE SOCIAL STANDING OF LIFESTYLE BEYOND DAILY LIVING; LIKE WHAT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE FOR DINNER THAT NIGHT. WE KNEW ALL ABOUT MUSKOKA FROM THE FARM FIELDS TO THE TOWN SUBDIVISIONS, AND ALTHOUGH WE UNDERSTOOD HOW NEAT IT WAS TO LIVE HERE, OUR LIFESTYLE WAS LIKE JUST ABOUT EVERY OTHER CANADIAN FAMILY, WORKING FOR A LIVING...AND OF COURSE LIVING RURALLY WITH ITS CHALLENGES. THIS 'MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE' PROMOTION TO ME, IS LIKE ERASING OUR LEGACY, AS MUSKOKANS, AND BUILDING SOMETHING ARTICIAL OVERTOP, BECAUSE LOW AND BEHOLD, IT'S PURPOSE IS TO SELL PRODUCT TO THOSE WITH LOTS OF MONEY, WHO MAY OR MAY NOT LIKE OUR INTERPRETATION OF MUSKOKA AS IT IS! THE MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE MY FAMILY ENJOYED, WAS SPENT AROUND THE HARVEST TABLE, WITHIN THE GLOW OF FIRELIGHT, GENERATED BY THAT HOMESTEAD HEARTH. THEY WERE THANKFUL TO HAVE HAD A SUCCESSFUL HARVEST, IN THE BOSUM OF UNPREDICTABLE UNATURE, TO PUT OUT FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER. THEY WERE THANKFUL FOR THAT ASPECT OF THE MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE, BUT I DOUBT WHETHER THEY EVER SPENT A LOT OF TIME THINKING ABOUT SOCIAL STANDING. SURVIVAL WAS FAR MORE IMPORTANT. WOULDN'T YOU THINK SO?" I JUST NOD. I WAS BORN IN THE CITY, AND BECAME A LOCAL YOCAL MUCH LATER IN LIFE. I MUST YIELD NOW TO THE OPINION OF A BORN AND RAISED "MUSKOKAN."
     IF YOU THINK BACK TO SOME OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS RECENTLY TAKEN BY MY ASSOCIATE, FRED SCHULZ, ESPECIALLY OF THOSE MUSKOKA CHURCHYARD CEMETERIES...., WELL SIR, THE ROWS OF THE HISTORIC TOMBSTONES, WITH THOSE FAMILIAR NAMES, ARE STILL REPRESENTED IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS TO THIS DAY.....IN THIS NEW CENTURY; SOME OF THOSE GRAVES DATING BACK TO THAT PIONEER PERIOD OF OUR DISTRICT. THEY KNEW A THING OR TWO ABOUT MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE, BUT DIDN'T FEEL ANY NECESSITY TO DISCUSS IT, STARING AT THE CRACKLING WOODFIRE, ON THAT STONE HEARTH OF "HOMESTEADING IN ACTUALITY."
     DURING THIS THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY, OUR FAMILY WILL BE THINKING BACK TO THOSE DRAFTY, COLD AND DAMP OLD FARMHOUSES, WHERE OUR HISTORY WAS BEING ETCHED, LIFE BY LIFE, HARVEST BY HARVEST. WE WILL FEEL THE WARMTH AT HEARTHSIDE, AND WONDER WHAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE IN THE SHEA AND VEITCH FAMILY HOMESTEADS, OF THE 1860'S AND 70'S, WHEN THE CHRONICLE OF OUR PAST WAS BEING INTIATED AS FACT......MUCH OF IT READING LIKE FICTION. HOW DID THEY SURVIVE?
     WE'RE JUST THANKFUL FOR HAVING A MODERN DAY MUSKOKA HOMESTEAD, IN THE BOSUM OF NATURE, THAT HAS SO KINDLY AFFORDED THIS REGION OF CANADA, SO MUCH CHARACTER AND BEAUTY.....AND SPIRITED SO MANY, TO CONTRIBUTE SO MUCH TO THE REAL, NOT JUST FOR PROFIT, MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE.
     THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING TODAY'S BLOG, AND I HOPE YOU WILL STAY TUNED THROUGH THIS THANKSGIVING WEEK, FOR MORE HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS, HARVESTED FROM AROUND THE DISTRICT, BY MUSKOKA PHOTOGRAPHER, FRED SCHULZ, AS A TRIBUTE TO THE TRUE MUSKOKA HOMESTEAD CHRONICLE, WE SHOULD ALL BE PROUD TO SHARE, LIVING IN THIS BEAUTIFUL REGION OF ONTARIO.