What You May Not Know About The Wild Woods

Traveling along the Uffington Road -  The Barns throughout Muskoka are becoming fewer and fewer and need to be preserved in photographs.   This one along the Uffington Road continues to stand, however time will take it’s toll and another historic barn will disappear into the landscape of Muskoka.
(Photo By Fred Schulz)

     "THERE IS SOMETHING NOBLY SIMPLE AND PURE IN SUCH A TASTE;  IT ARGUES, I THINK, A SWEET AND GENEROUS NATURE, TO HAVE THIS STRONG RELISH FOR THE BEAUTIES OF VEGETATION, AND THIS FRIENDSHIP FOR THE HARDY AND GLORIOUS SONS OF THE FOREST. THERE IS A GRANDEUR OF THOUGHT CONNECTED WITH THIS PART OF NATURAL ECONOMY." WASHINGTON IRVING, "BRACEBRIDGE HALL."


WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT APPRECIATION OF THE WILD WOODS

THE MENTAL TEST OF SURVIVAL, AS DIFFICULT AS THE PHYSICAL DEMANDS

     EVERY NOW AND AGAIN, I WILL TAKE ON AN EDITORIAL ASSIGNMENT, TO ASSIST LOCAL WRITERS ON THEIR BOOK PROJECTS. I WOULD RATHER NOT, BUT USUALLY, THE REQUEST WILL COME FROM A FRIEND, LIKE MY WILDERNESS BUDDY, VAN NEWEL, WHO WRITES ABOUT BEING "OFF THE GRID," AND LIVING AS A MODERN DAY HOMESTEADER. I COULDN'T RESIST WORKING WITH BOB PETRY, ON HIS TWO LOCAL HISTORIES; ONE ON BALA AND THE OTHER ON BRACEBRIDGE. THEY WERE FUN AND A GOOD SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR ME, WHILE PULLING IN A PAY CHEQUE. I DID AN EDITORIAL OVERVIEW FOR SYLVIA RICHARDSHON, WHEN SHE WROTE A BOOK ON THE HISTORY OF BRACEBRIDGE'S HOLIDAY HOUSE, PARTICULARLY HER FAMILY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HISTORIC INN. I LIKED THAT ONE TOO, CONSIDERING I FELT LIKE AN INSIDER, CONSIDERING HER ESTABLISHMENT WAS WHERE US WRITER-KIND USED TO SPEND MUCH OF OUR PAY, DRINKING IN THE DOWNSTAIR'S PUB. SHE CLAIMS WE OFTEN STUCK HER WITH OUR TABS. IT WAS OUR PRESS CLUB AND SHE WAS A GREAT HOSTESS.
     I DON'T LIKE EDITING THE WORK OF NOVELISTS. I'VE DONE THREE AND AFTER MY CRITIQUES, I CAN HONESTLY SAY, WE (THE AUTHORS AND I) WERE NO LONGER FRIENDS. ONE YOUNG LADY WAS SO ENRAGED, SHE WANTED TO HIT ME, BUT THERE WERE WITNESSES, SO SHE JUST CUSSED A LITTLE, THREW THE MANUSCRIPT AT MY HEAD, AND LEFT THE SHOP. ONE CHAP WROTE A SEXUALLY EXPLICIT SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL, THAT HONESTLY COULD HAVE BEEN MADE INTO A "B" MOVIE, BUT THE AUTHOR WAS SO RIGID, THERE WAS REALLY NO WAY OF IMPLEMENTING ANY CHANGES, I THOUGHT WOULD IMPROVE THE STORY-LINE. HISTORIANS GENERALLY, ARE ALL ABOUT ACCURACY....THESE DAYS. IN THE OLD DAYS, WELL, FOLK HISTORIANS, DIDN'T LET FACT GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY. IN HISTORY, I FEEL I CAN OFFER A PRETTY FAIR CRITIQUE WITHOUT INSULTING THE AUTHOR. THEY WANT MY INPUT BECAUSE OF MY EXPERIENCE. NOVELISTS WANT ME TO STROKE THEIR EGOS AND I WON'T DO THAT.....ESPECIALLY WHEN I KNOW BEAUTIFUL TREES ARE GOING TO BE SACRIFICED TO PUBLISH THEIR TOMES.
     I WORKED WITH ONE AUTHOR, QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO, WHO, WHILE DEEPLY OFFENDED BY MY MEDDLING IN HIS NOVEL, BEYOND THE PROBLEMS WITH SENTENCE STRUCTURE, ACTUALLY OFFFERED ME SOMETHING AS AN HISTORIAN, I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN. HE PAID ME FOR THE WORK BUT I GOT THIS INSIGHT FOR FREE. THE STORY-LINE WAS A LITTLE AWKWARD AND A TAD JUVENILE, BUT IT ADDRESSED, IN A CONTEMPORARY SENSE, THE AGE-OLD DILEMMA OF MAN AND HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH WILD PLACES. IT LOOKED AT A COTTAGE AND HOME SITUATION ON A MUSKOKA LAKE, AND THE PERMANENT AND SEASONAL RESIDENTS WHO DWELLED THERE OVER THE FOUR SEASONS. LONELY TIMES AND BUSY TIMES; AN INSPIRING RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE, ON ONE HAND, AND A FEARFUL RELATIONSHIP ON THE OTHER. WHAT NATURE INSPIRED OF PARADISE, RECREATION AND RELAXATION FOR SOME, WAS AN EMOTIONAL BARRIER AND INTRUSIVE ENTITY TO OTHER VOYEURS, ACTUALLY FRIGHTENED BY THE OMINOUS, LOOMING REALITIES OF UNPREDICTABLE NATURE.
     THE WAY THE HOMESTEAD PERIOD IS PORTRAYED IN THE SCHOOL HISTORY TEXTS, DEPICTS A MUCH DIFFERENT REALITY THAN WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN OUR PIONEER ENCAMPMENTS. THE STUDENT, READING MANY OF THESE GENERALIZATIONS, WILL UNDERSTAND HOW RIGOROUS IT WAS TO BE A FARMER, IN A REGION OF HEAVY FORESTS, ROCK AND SWAMP, BUT IT WILL BE CRAFTED IN SUCH A WAY, AS TO PRESENT MUSKOKA, AND OTHER PARTS OF CANADA, IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PIONEER PERIODS,..... IN THE MOST GLOWING, NATIONALISTIC AND ROMANTIC WAY. A HYPED-UP REVIEW OF RESOURCEFULNESS AND RESOLVE TO MAKE A GO OF IT! I GREW UP WITH THIS ROMANTIC, SENTIMENTAL OVERVIEW OF THIS PERIOD, AND REALLY, IT HOOKED ME TO STUDY THE PERIOD MORE THOROUGHLY. I SUPPOSE IT WAS UNDER FALSE PRETENCES, BUT WHAT THE HELL. I GOT TO HERE FROM THERE. THE POINT I WANT TO MAKE, IS THAT THERE IS NO PLACE FOR THIS ROMANTICISM IN THE STUDY OF PIONEER HISTORY....UNLESS YOU'RE DECORATING YOUR NEW LOG CABIN IN PRIMITIVE PINE, COPPER, TIN AND POTTERY, WITH A MARTHA STEWART TOUCH. IF YOU ARE TRULY INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE ABOUT THE PIONEER PERIOD, EVEN AS A FAMILY HISTORIAN, WONDERING WHAT YOUR KIN-FOLK THOUGHT ABOUT THOSE DECADES OF INTENSE HARDSHIP AND SUFFERING, THEN YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT SUCH SITUATIONS, AS THE FUNDAMENTAL FEAR OF THE ENVIRONMENT. WHILE THERE ARE MANY GLOWING EDITORIALS ABOUT THE MAJESTY OF THE PRIMAL WOODLANDS, AND THE ENCHANTED, SPIRITED CATARACTS (THE GREAT FALLS COMES TO MIND), AS WRITTEN ABOUT, BY THOMAS MCMURRAY, THE MOST ADVERSE THOUGHTS ABOUT THE REGION SIMPLY DIDN'T MAKE IT TO PRINT. EXCEPT POSSIBLY IN THE HANDWRITTEN JOURNALS KEPT MY THESE FOLKS, HUDDLED CLOSE TO THE HEARTH, IN DRAFTY LOG CABINS, AT THIS TIMEOF THE ROLLING YEAR. AND WHEN HARDSHIPS WERE WRITTEN ABOUT, BY QUITE A HOST OF ENTERPRISING PIONEERS, IT WAS DONE FOR PROFIT, TO HELP MAKE ENDS MEET. THERE WERE QUITE A FEW PUBLICATIONS ABROAD, LOOKING TO REPORT ON WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE ON THE FRONTIER. SEEING AS THEY WEREN'T WRITING TO PROMOTE SETTLEMENT, OR WORKING FOR ANY OF THE STEAMSHIP LINES, RAILWAYS LINKS, OR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THEY DIDN'T FEEL COMPELLED TO PRESENT GLOWING REVIEWS THAT WOULD DRUM UP BUSINESS. SO THEY WERE HONEST ABOUT THE HARDSHIPS, BUT THEY WERE WRITING SEMI-FICTIONS AS IT TURNS OUT, FOR AN AUDIENCE THAT WANTED TO LIVE VICARIOUSLY THROUGH THE WRITTEN WORD....WITHOUT EVER HAVING TO DO A LICK OF FARMSTEAD LABOUR, BREAK THE ICE ON THE WASH BASIN, JUST TO WASH THEIR FACES EACH MORNING, OR EAT DINNER WHILE GETTING DUSTED WITH SNOW, BLOWING THROUGH THE CRACKS BETWEEN THE LOGS.....ON AN AVERAGE WINTER DAY. THEY COULD JUST READ THESE ACCOUNTS AND THEN RETIRE TO BEDLAM, FEELING FORTUNATE, THEY WOULDN'T BE STIRRED OUT OF SLUMBER, BY THE HOWLS OF WOLVES IN THE YARD, OR A BEAR CLAWING AT THE DOOR TO GET AT THE LARDER.
     ALTHOUGH I'M NOT PARTICULARLY FOND OF THOMAS MCMURRAY'S SETTLER'S GUIDE, OF THE 1870'S, FOR THE WAY HE SHAMELESSLY SOLD LIFE IN MUSKOKA, IN THAT ERA, AS A GLORIOUS OPPORTUNITY TO FLOURISH AS FARMERS, HE DOES, OFFER SEVERAL INCLUSIONS, WHICH PROFILE A BLEAKER PICTURE OF LIFE IN THE WILDS.....WHICH OF COURSE, HE USES AS A PLATFORM AT THE SAME TIME. HE POINTS OUT HOW BAD IT CAN BE, ONLY TO USE IT LATER, AS SAGE ADVICE, ON HOW TO AVOID THE PITFALLS OF RURAL LIVING. HE PAYS A LOT OF ATTENTION TO KEEPING BOOZE OUT OF MUSKOKA, PAINTING IT AS A IMMORAL CURSE THAT LIMITED THE PROSPERITY OF MANY HOMESTEADERS. OF COURSE MCMURRAY WAS A SWORN ENEMY OF ALCOHOL ANYWHERE AT ANY TIME. BUT HE PUBLISHED A STORY ENTITLED "LOST IN THE WOODS," WHICH DETAILS THE FOLLY OF TWO HOMESTEADERS, WHO MISTAKENLY LEFT THEIR SAFE DOMAIN, THEIR COMFORTABLE CABIN, AND BEGAN SEARCHING THROUGH THE BUSH FOR LOST LIVESTOCK THAT HAD WANDERED AWAY. THE STORY, WHICH I HAVE USED MANY TIMES IN THE PAST, IS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF NATURE.....WHICH IN THIS CASE, COULD HAVE PROVEN DEADLY. HOW BAD WAS IT? MCMURRAY HAD THIS TO SAY ABOUT THE GREAT PERIL OF STARVATION FACING THE PIONEERS, HUDDLED IN THE BUSH, TO KEEP EACH OTHER WARM.
     "HERE, MANY MILES FROM ANY HUMAN HABITATION, PRAYER FOR THE FIRST TIME IS OFFERED BY 'WHITE MEN,'TO 'THE GREAT SPIRIT;' THE MISSING ONES ARE NOT FORGOTTEN, AND EARNEST SUPLICATION IS MADE THAT GOD WOULD DIRECT THEIR STEPS. BUT WHAT OF THE POOR WANDERERS? THEY ARE WEAK AND FAINT; HUNGER DRIVES THEM TO DESPAIR AND DEATH; DEATH FROM STARVATION STARES THEM IN THE FACE; THE HUSBAND, AS THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE, URGES HIS WIFE TO CUT A SLICE FROM THE CALF OF HIS LEG IN ORDER TO SATIATE HER CRAVING FOR FOOD; BUT THE FAITHFUL WIFE REPUDIATED THE THOUGHT, AND REPLIED THAT SHE WOULD RATHER WILLINGLY DIE WITH HER HUSBAND."
    A DEEPLY RELIGIOUS MAN, MCMURRAY BELIEVES THERE WAS A DIVINE INTERVENTION ON THAT OCCASION, WHEN THE SEARCH PARTY SUDDENLY SOUNDED THOSE PIERCING GUN SHOTS IN THE AIR, TO INFORM THE OTHER HOMESTEADERS, WHO HAD JOINED THE MISSION, THAT THE COUPLE HAD BEEN FOUND. MCMURAY PUTS CHRISTIAN FAITH INTO A LOT OF HIS EDITORIAL WORK, AND IN HIS OWN WAY, DOES THE SAME THING WITH HIS DESCRIPTIONS OF MUSKOKA....AS BEING A LITTLE CLOSER TO HEAVEN THAN A LOT OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS ON THE CONTINENT. OF COURSE, HE WAS ALSO CONFLICTED, AS A BUSINESSMAN, WHO STOOD TO PROFIT FROM A LARGE HOMESTEAD POPULATION. HIS BOOK IS FAR MORE ENCOURAGING TO SETTLERS, CONSIDERING A MOVE TO THE WILDS, THAN IT IS, AS IT SHOULD BE, A SOURCE OF DISCOURAGEMENT. HE ASSUMED CORRECTLY, THAT HIS MARKET FOR THE BOOK WAS THE "HOPEFUL" IMMIGRANT, MORE SO THAN A HOMESTEADER WHO WANTED TO BE THWARTED, ONCE IN CANADA, FROM SETTLING IN THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. MCMURRAY JUST WANTED TO HAVE IT NOTED OF HIS EFFORTS, I SUPPOSE BY FUTURE CRITICS LIKE ME, THAT HE OFFERED COUNTER-POINT, SUCH AS IN THE CASE OF A LETTER ENTITLED "THE BLACK PICTURE," SO THAT THE NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF LIFE IN THE WILDS, WOULD AT LEAST BE OFFERED FOR CONSIDERATION.
     THERE ARE NO STATISTICS OBVIOUSLY, TO KNOW JUST HOW MANY SETTLERS HAD SERIOUS ISSUES WITH THEIR MENTAL HEALTH. THERE IS NO WAY OF KNOWING HOW MANY SUICIDES OCCURRED, OR JUST HOW MANY HAD TO BE INSTITUTIONALIZED AS A RESULT OF MENTAL DISORDERS OR, AS THEY WOULD HAVE PUT IT, "MADNESS." THERE IS NO RECKONING, AS TO HOW MANY SETTLERS ARRIVED SANE, ONLY TO WIND-UP WITH SERIOUS MENTAL DISORDERS, AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THEIR STRESSFUL LIFESTYLES, AND THE ASSORTED RANGE OF DEPRIVATIONS, INSPIRED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCE OF LIVING IN ISOLATION. HOW MANY SETTLERS CAME TO LIVE IN FEAR OF THE OPPRESSIVE REALITIES, OF AN ISOLATED EXISTENCE, IN THE BOSOM OF WILDERNESS QUALITIES AND QUANTITIES. WHAT FEAR WAS INSPIRED BY LISTENING TO WOLVES HOWLING OUTSIDE THE CABIN DOOR, ON MOONLIT AUTUMN NIGHTS LIKE THIS? HOW EASY WAS IT TO SUCCUMB TO FEARS LIKE THIS, OF IMMINENT DEATH BY SIMPLY OPENING THE DOOR? FEAR OF STARVATION? THIS WAS REAL AND IT IS KNOWN THAT HOMESTEADERS DID PERISH AS A RESULT OF BEING MALNOURISHED. WAS IT A COMMON THING, TO LET A SPOUSE OR KIN FOLK DINE ON YOUR LEG, IF NOTHING ELSE WAS AVAILABLE AT THE TIME, AS IDENTIFIED IN MCMURRAY'S STORY, ABOUT THE LOST COUPLE?
     AS THE TOURISM INDUSTRY BEGAN TOUTING THE HEALTHFUL ADVANTAGES OF VACATIONING IN THIS NEWLY DISCOVERED AND OPENED SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE, THE NATURE OF MUSKOKA WAS GETTING A LOT OF ATTENTION FROM THE WEALTHY, ADVENTURE SEEKING VICTORIANS. IT COMMENCED THE SERIOUS DIVIDE IN OPINIONS, ABOUT LIFE AND RECREATION IN MUSKOKA; THE COMMENCEMENT OF A CLASH IN VALUES, OF THE VACATIONING CLASS, OR TOURIST, AND THE HARDSHIP-BURDENED HOMESTEADER, TRYING TO SURVIVE. THEN THERE WAS THE INDUSTRIAL AND MERCHANT CLASS BEGINNING TO THRIVE, IN BETWEEN THE ACTIVITIES OF PERMANENT AND SEASONAL RESIDENTS, AND THE INDUSTRY OF ACCOMMODATION, WHICH HELPED THE HOMESTEADERS IN A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS, MAINTAIN THEIR RURAL FARMS. IF THEY COULD PRODUCE THE FOOD, THE RESORTS COULD FEED THEIR PATRONS WELL. IF THE FARM STEAD COMMUNITY COULD PRODUCE THE LOGS, FROM ACRES CLEARED, THEN THE RESORT BUILDERS COULD GET THEIR SUPPLIES CLOSER TO THEIR BUSINESSES. RURAL RESIDENTS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE TOURISM SECTOR, WHICH HAD ITS START FROM THE FIRST CABIN DWELLERS, WHO OFFERED MODEST SHELTER TO SPORTSMEN, LIKE TIMOTHY EATON; LODGING AT THOMAS AITKEN'S HOMESTEAD IN WINDERMERE WHILE ON A FISHING / HUNTING EXPEDITION WITH ASSOCIATES. IT WAS EATON WHO URGED AITKEN TO BUILD A BIGGER HOUSE TO ACCOMODATE MORE SPORTSMEN IN THE FUTURE, AND IT LED TO THE CREATION OF WINDERMERE HOUSE, ON THE HILLSIDE OVERLOOKING  LAKE ROSSEAU. IT WORKED THE SAME FOR MANY OTHERS, WHO FOUND FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE BEING IN COMPANY OF A THRIVING NEW INDUSTRY, THAT HINGED ON THE WILDS BEING WILD.
     THE POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE HERE, AND SOMETIMES I LOSE MY WAY, IS THAT THE INTERPRETATION OF MUSKOKA WAS IMMENSELY DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE TOURIST POPULATION, IN THE EARLY YEARS OF SETTLEMENT, AS COMPARED TO THE HOMESTEADER, WHO AT TIMES, WAS NEARLY DESTROYED BY THE EXCESSES OF CLIMATE IN GOD'S COUNTRY. MUSKOKA "THE ENCHANTED" WAS ALSO MUSKOKA "THE DEADLY MISTRESS," DEPENDING ON WHETHER IT WAS GOING TO BE A GOOD HARVEST THAT YEAR, OR A SUNNY SUMMER FOR RECREATIONAL ROWBOATING ON LAKE ROSSEAU. THESE ATTITUDES ABOUT MUSKOKA WERE CO-EXISTING SIDE BY SIDE, JUST AS THEY CONTINUED TO CONFLICT, UP TO AND INCLUDING THE PRESENT IF YOU WERE TO LOOK AND LISTEN CAREFULLY. THERE ARE STILL WIDELY VARIED VIEWPOINTS OF NATURE, AS BOTH A BLESSING AND A CURSE. I KNOW PEOPLE WHO LIVE CLOSE TO THE BOG,  WHO HATE TREES, AND WOULD LOVE TO CUT THEM DOWN.....WHEREVER THEY BLOCK THE VIEW OF SOMETHING ELSE. SOME FOLKS LOVE THE HINTERLAND EXPERIENCE. OTHERS DESPISE IT, AND CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE TO THE CITY. I DATED A COUNTRY GIRL FOR FIVE YEARS, AND HER ONLY REAL AMBITION, OTHER THAN TO GET A HIGH PAYING JOB, WAS TO LIVE IN AN URBAN SETTING. OUR RELATIONSHIP WAS DESTROYED, BECAUSE ALL I WANTED, AS A FORMER CITY DWELLER, WAS TO LIVE FOREVER IN THIS RURAL REGION OF CANADA. ONE CAN IMAGINE THEN HOW ACUTE THESE FEELINGS WERE, IN THE 1860'S, WHEN THOMAS MCMURRAY SET ABOUT TO WRITE HIS BOOK. HOW WAS HE GOING TO PORTRAY THIS ALMOST INHOSPITABLE REGION TO A CLASS OF SETTLERS, READY TO SACRIFICE EVERYTHING, ON THE NEAR IMPOSSIBLE MISSION TO TURN FORESTS INTO ARABLE FARM LAND? HIS WORK AND OTHERS, WHO COMPOSED A VARIETY OF SETTLER GUIDES, THAT OOZED PROPAGANDA, ABOUT HOW GREAT IT WAS GOING TO BE, DID HELP POPULATE THE WILD AREAS OF THIS DISTRICT AND THIS PROVINCE. AS FOR THE SUFFERING ASSOCIATED WITH LIVING THIS KIND OF LIFE, THERE ARE FEW STATISTICS TO DEMONSTRATE FACTUALLY, JUST HOW ADVERSE IT WAS.....OR HOW MANY WERE AFFECTED BY THE MOST SEVERE STRAIN OF CABIN FEVER.
     WHEN WE LOOK AT THE MANY PHOTOGRAPHS OF AUTUMN SCENES, AS OFFERED TO US NOW, BY FRED SCHULZ, IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO BELIEVE THAT ANY ONE WOULD VIEW THESE AS THREATENING IMAGES.....OR SEE THEM AS NEGATIVE HARBINGERS; THE SPREADING INFECTION OF FEAR AND LOATHING. YET IT IS PART OF OUR HISTORY AND CULTURE AS A RURAL POPULATION, TO HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED BY THESE FEARS OF ISOLATION AMIDST AN UNFORGIVING NATURE, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, BEING REGALED INTERNATIONALLY, AS A RESTORATIVE PLACE ON EARTH....EVEN SURPASSING THOREAU'S WALDEN POND. IT IS AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THESE OPINIONS, WHEN THE SEASONAL RESIDENT DECIDES TO LIVE PERMANENTLY IN PARADISE, THAT OUR NEW CHAPTER GETS ITS UNDERTOW OF VARYING EXPERIENCES. HOW MANY FOLKS HAVE YOU KNOWN, WHO HAVE MOVED TO MUSKOKA ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT PARADISE IS A LIMITLESS ADVENTURE.....WITHOUT HAVING HAD ANY SERIOUS EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH THE WINTER SEASON? HOW MANY URBANITES HAVE HAD TO LEAVE PARADISE PREMATURELY, BECAUSE THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE PRIVATIONS CAN BE, LIVING IN A STILL SPARSELY POPULATED REGION? IT'S THE STUFF WE MUSKOKANS CRAFT INTO OUR OWN URBAN LEGENDS.....ABOUT THE FOLLY OF CITY-DWELLERS, TRYING THEIR HAND AT MODERN DAY HOMESTEADING. THERE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSES. VAN NEWELL, A WELL KNOWN MUSKOKA WRITER, WHO I HAVE PARTNERED WITH PREVIOUSLY, ON WRITING PROJECTS, WAS ABLE TO LEAVE THE CITY FOR THE OUT-BACK VERY SUCCESSFULLY, AS A CONTEMPORARY HOMESTEADER; WHERE HE STILL DWELLS AFTER A QUARTER CENTURY, AS THEY SAY, "ROUGHING IT!" BUT FOR EVERY SUCCESSFUL HOMESTEADER, THERE ARE A HUNDRED THAT FAIL. THE AVERAGES WERE A LITTLE BETTER IN THE 1860'S THAN TODAY, BECAUSE THE FIRST SETTLERS HAD FEW ALTERNATIVES AFTER ARRIVING HERE, WITH THEIR MODEST MEANS. TODAY THE FAILED SETTLER HEADS BACK TO THE CITY AND SEEKS OUT STEADY EMPLOYMENT.
     HOW DO YOU VIEW NATURE? A PRETTY PICTURE? OR COULD YOU BE ISOLATED IN THE BUSH, AND BE CONTENTED WITH THE COMPANY OF WILD CRITTERS, TREES, CREEKS, AND LOTS OF SKY? LIVING OFF-GRID? NATURE CAN BE A BEST FRIEND OR WORST ENEMY.
      I HAVE LIVED BOTH AS A LOVER OF NATURE, AND ONE WHO IS FEARFUL OF ISOLATION. I WOULD NOT HAVE MADE A SUCCESSFUL PIONEER. I FEEL BAD ABOUT THIS FACT. IT'S THE REASON I TAKE MY HAT OFF TO VAN NEWELL FOR STICKING IT OUT FOR ALL THESE YEARS.
     THANKS FOR JOINING TODAY'S BLOG. IT IS BEAUTIFUL OUT THERE NONE THE LESS, AND I THANK FRED SCHULZ HEARTILY FOR HIS OUTSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHS.