Gravenhurst Muskoka; Keeping Christmas In Your Own Way, And

A New Blanket of Snow Puts Us In the Christmas Spirit

Most of Muskoka woke up this morning (Saturday, November 23rd) to a new blanket of snow covering the countryside filling us all with a reminder that Christmas is just around the corner.  With snow in the forecast over the upcoming days, there’s hope of a white Christmas in Gravenhurst and Muskoka.   A winter wonderland along the Jones Road at the Hock Rock River in Gravenhurst, Muskoka.  Fred Schulz Photo

KEEPING CHRISTMAS IN YOUR OWN WAY - AND BEING CONTENTED TO DO SO

WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE HOUSEHOLDS OF OUR CITIZENRY


     THERE'S NO GOOD TIME TO BE POOR, UNLESS IT'S AFTER ALL THE BILLS ARE PAID, AND THE MORTGAGE PAPERS HAVE BEEN BURNED. THE HARDEST MONTH, ON THE PYSCHE, IS TO BE BROKE IN DECEMBER. FOR A SOLID DECADE, EVERYONE IN OUR FAMILY WAS GIVEN EITHER KNITTED TOQUES, MITTS, SCARVES, SOCKS, SWEATERS, OR A PLETHORA OF JAMS, AND PICKLED THIS AND THAT, AS PRESENTS. IT WAS HARD ON THE BOYS, BUT WE ALWAYS MANAGED TO GET THEM SORT-OF WHAT THEY WANTED. MAYBE NOT NAME BRAND THOUGH.
     A LOT OF FOLKS CLOSE TO US, WILL BE FACING ANOTHER BLEAK CHRISTMAS SEASON. I DON'T WANT TO SEND THE MESSAGE OUT THERE, THAT WE CURRIES KNOW ALL ABOUT POVERTY, JUST BECAUSE, ONE TIME, WE GROSSLY OVER-SPENT ON A NEW HOUSE, A BIG CAR, AND ANTIQUES...THEN OOPS! THAT BECAME OUR BURDEN, BUT HAD A BEGINNING AND AN END. A LOT OF THOSE SUFFERING ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGES TODAY, WERE BORN INTO ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE. AND BECAUSE OF THE DYNAMIC OF THE VICIOUS CYCLE, THAT HOLDS ITS VICTIMS FROM SPRINGING LOOSE, THE FUTURE DOESN'T HOLD MUCH PROMISE. MY FATHER GREW UP IN CABBAGETOWN, A POOR IRISH NEIGHBORHOOD IN TORONTO, AND HE KNEW ALL ABOUT HARD TIMES AND MAKING-DO WITH LESS. IT DID AFFECT HIS ATTITUDE OVER A LIFETIME, BUT IT ALSO GAVE HIM COPING SKILLS HE USED, WHEN IN THE 1960'S, WE WERE THRUST INTO ALMOST INSTANT POVERTY, WHEN HE LOST HIS NEW JOB IN BRACEBRIDGE. HE WAS A WIZARD AT REBOUNDING. MY MOTHER AND I DID WHAT WE COULD TO HELP HIM OUT. OUR DEMANDS WERE FEW. BUT WE HAD SOME GREAT CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS, AND IT WAS NEVER BASED ON HAVING OODLES OF MONEY TO SPEND. WE ATE WELL. THAT WAS ENOUGH FOR ME!
     THE PROBLEM IS, AS IT HAS BEEN FOR CENTURIES, SOLUTIONS ARE HARD TO FIND, AND DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT. WE TRY OUR BEST, AS A SOCIETY, TO HELP THE LESS FORTUNATE, BUT IT IS NEVER QUITE ENOUGH. SOME WILL HAVE A CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR, WITHOUT PROPER FOOD PROVISIONS, AND IT'S A TROUBLING, NAGGING REALITY, IN A COUNTRY AS WELL OFF AND SECURE AS CANADA.    
     WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED ON GRAVENHURST'S DOORSTEP, IN THE FALL OF 1989, WE HAD VERY LIMITED FRIENDSHIPS. WE KNEW HUGH CLAIRMONT PRETTY WELL, AND JOHN BLACK AS NEWSPAPER COLLEAGUES, AND A FEW OTHERS THAT SUZANNE AND I HAD GONE TO SCHOOL WITH, IN BRACEBRIDGE, INCLUDING THE SANDER FAMILY,... BUT WE DID FEEL A LITTLE ISOLATED FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF YEARS.
     ADD TO THIS REALITY, WE RAN FACE-ON INTO A REAL ESTATE SLUMP BY EARLY 1990, AND OUR PROPERTY SPECULATION STOPPED DEAD IN ITS TRACKS. IN FACT, WE STARTED LOSING MONEY LIKE WATER DOWN THE DRAIN. EVERY MONTH, IT SEEMED, OUR NEW-TO-US HOUSE WAS WORTH LESS THAN THE MONTH BEFORE. NOT THAT WE WANTED TO MOVE, BUT OUR MORTGAGE LENDER WAS IN A WAIT-AND-SEE POSITION, BECAUSE THE MORE THE PROPERTY DROPPED IN MARKET VALUE, THE IMBALANCE BECAME A GLOWING BEACON; AS COMPARED TO WHAT OUR DOWNPAYMENT HAD BEEN IN 1989. IT DID HAPPEN TO MANY OTHERS, THAT THE LENDERS HAD TO REQUEST MORE DOWNPAYMENT MONEY, AFTER THE FACT, BECAUSE OF THIS UNPRECEDENTED REAL ESTATE COLLAPSE. WE PRAYED A LOT, THAT WE WOULD DODGE THIS REALLY BIG BULLET, BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE ANOTHER NICKLE TO INVEST IN THE HOUSE. WE HAD JUST COMPLETED CLOSE TO TWENTY THOUSANDS DOLLARS, ON INTERIOR FINISHING AND DRIVEWAY RECONSTRUCTION, A HAIR'S BREADTH OF TIME, FROM WHEN THE FISCAL POOP HIT THE REALLY BIG FAN. RETROSPECT IS A GOOD THING, EXCEPT FOR US. WE WERE BROKE AND THE HOUSE WAS SINKING IN VALUE. YOU ALWAYS LIKE TO THINK, THAT IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY, YOU COULD SELL YOUR PROPERTY AS A FUNDRAISER. IN THIS CASE, THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE SURVIVED, OTHER THAN HANGING TIGHT AND LIVING LIKE PIONEERS, WAS TO WALK AWAY FROM THE HOUSE, AS SOME OF OUR FRIENDS HAD, LOSING THE DOWN PAYMENT AMONGST OTHER CREDIT NIGHTMARES.
     SUZANNE IS FROM PIONEER STOCK, AND KNEW HOW TO BUDGET LIKE A HOMESTEADER. SHE WAS ABLE TO MAKE DINNERS OUT OF ANYTHING, OF A FOOD NATURE, THAT HAPPENED TO BE ON SALE. WE HAD HOBO STEW A LOT, BACK IN THOSE DAYS, AND I THANK GOD, FOR HAVING THE WILL AND SKILLS TO PUSH THROUGH SOME VERY NEGATIVE YEARS EARLY IN OUR RESIDENCY. IN FACT, WE RETREATED TO BIRCH HOLLOW, AS A SAFE HAVEN, AND VERY MUCH CONSIDERED IT OUR POOR MAN'S CASTLE. WE DIDN'T GO OUT MUCH, OR ENJOY FINE OR EVEN REASONABLE DINING, ON THE TOWN, BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY RESOURCES TO SPREAD AROUND. OUR CREDITORS ALWAYS HAD THEIR HANDS OUT, AND WE RESPECTED THAT THEY WERE RUNNING BUSINESSES, NOT CHARITIES; SO WE PAID THEM FIRST BEFORE ENTERTAINING OURSELVES. THIS ISN'T INTENDED TO BE A SOB STORY; MAYBE A "WE-WERE-REALLY-STUPID," TALE OF WOE. BUT NOTHING MORE. YET, BY GOLLY, IT WAS THE CIRCUMSTANCE WE NEEDED, AS TWO PROFESSIONALS IN WRITING AND EDUCATION, TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THE CIRCUMSTANCE, WE BUILT FROM OUR OWN EXCESSES. WE WENT FROM MAKING ALL KINDS OF MONEY, TO THE GRIM REALITY OF A NATION-WIDE RECESSION. IT TAUGHT US WHAT A LOT OF FOLKS IN OUR COMMUNITIES ALREADY KNEW.....POVERTY SUCKS!
     I GREW UP IN A FAMILY THAT SEEMED TO BE TAPPED-OUT CONSTANTLY, AND DESPITE THE SHORTAGE OF CASH AT THE END OF THE MONTH, MY PARENTS WERE GOOD PROVIDERS, AND DID MANAGE TO SAVE MONEY EACH YEAR, TO FINANCE SEVERAL WEEKS IN FLORIDA.....SOMETIMES, IN LATER YEARS, TWO MONTHS OF BEACHFRONT LIVING. KEEP IN MIND, THAT IN THOSE DAYS, OF THE 1960'S AND EARLY 70'S, YOU COULD LIVE HANDSOMELY IN FLORIDA, AS PRICES FOR JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING, WERE MUCH LOWER THAN IN CANADA....EVEN CONSIDERING THE EXCHANGE RATE. WE COULD LIVE AND EAT WELL IN FLORIDA, WHERE AT HOME, IT ALWAYS SEEMED SO IMPOSSIBLE TO STRETCH PAY CHEQUES.
     MY PARENTS, LIKE SUZANNE, WERE ABLE TO STRETCH FOOD WITH CULINARY MAGIC, AND MY FATHER, ED, USED TO MAKE HIS CABBAGETOWN VERSION OF JOHNNY CAKE, WHICH HIS MOTHER HAD MADE FOR HIM AND HIS BROTHERS, OUT OF MEAGER PROVISIONS. THE KIDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WERE GENERALLY IN THE SAME BOAT, WITH PARENTS OF MODEST INCOMES. SO THEY DIDN'T MAKE FUN OF MY BARGAIN BASEMENT ATTIRE, RIGHT DOWN TO MY WINTER BOOTS THAT ACTUALLY SCOOPED UP SNOW, TO THE INSIDE, EVERY STEP I TOOK. AT SCHOOL, YOU COULD ALWAYS TRACE MY STEPS BECAUSE OF THE WET FOOTPRINTS I LEFT BEHIND. WHAT I DID COME TO HATE, WAS WHEN ONE OF MY MATES WOULD YELL OUT, IN MIXED COMPANY, "HEY CURRIE, IS THAT THE COAT MY MOTHER GAVE YOUR MOM?" AS FOR LOOKING SHEEPISH, BETTER STATED, I LOOKED LIKE THE WHOLE FLOCK. "I WORE THAT COAT FOR TWO YEARS. CURRIE WEARS HAND-ME-DOWNS, CURRIE WEARS-HAND ME DOWNS," BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THE TUNE USED TO MAKE IT STING EVEN MORE. BUT IT WAS A STREET-TOUGHENING SITUATION, AND IT SERVED ME WELL IN LATER YEARS. MY PARENTS WERE TRYING THE BEST THEY COULD, TO PROVIDE FOR ME, AND IT WAS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO DEAL WITH STREET-LEVEL MOUTHING-OFF. WHEN I HEARD MY OWN BOYS, WHO DID WEAR SECOND HAND CLOTHING FROM THRIFT SHOPS (THEY STILL DO) BEING CALLED NAMES LIKE "DIRTIES," WHICH WAS THE NUMBER ONE INSULT DURING THEIR SCHOOL TENURE, WE THEN PAID MUCH GREATER ATTENTION, TO ENSURE THEY HAD THE BET CLOTHES AND WINTER ATTIRE WE COULD AFFORD. IF THEY STILL CALLED THEM THAT, WELL, THEY HAD TO LEARN TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK. ALOT!
     WE ALL SETTLED FOR LESS, IN THOSE DAYS, BUT IT WASN'T A HUGE HARDSHIP. SOME FOLKS DON'T GET REPRIEVES FROM ECONOMIC HARDSHIP. WE KNEW THAT IF WE PAID OFF ALL OUR BILLS, WE'D BE ABLE TO CHANGE OUR LIFESTYLE....A BIT. AS IT TURNED OUT THOUGH, WE COULDN'T CHANGE BACK TO THE WAY WE WERE, BEFORE THE CALAMITY CLENCHED US IN ITS JAWS. WE BECAME FRUGAL BECAUSE WE SAW THE LONGTERM ADVANTAGES; AND WE APPRECIATED, THAT WHAT BIT US ONCE, COULD DO THE SAME AGAIN, SHOULD THE BOTTOM DROP OUT OF THE MARKET; OR A DEPRESSION BLANKET THE LAND.
     WE HAVE NEVER CHANGED OUR PERSONAL OPINIONS, AND HABITS, FROM THOSE TRIAL AND TRIBULATION DAYS, AS A YOUNG FAMILY, TRYING TO SURVIVE AGAINST ECONOMIC CHALLENGES. WE "MADE OUR BED," AS THE SAYING GOES, SO WE NEVER TRIED TO OUT-RUN THE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT WERE FOLLOWING CLOSE BEHIND. TODAY WE FOLLOW THOSE TRADITIONS WE DEVELOPED FROM SURVIVAL TECHNIQUES, HONED IN THE MIDST OF RECESSION, AND WE NEVER SPEND WHAT WE CAN'T AFFORD. BUT WE UNDERSTAND, FROM INTIMATE EXPOSURE, FOR MORE THAN TEN YEARS OF OSTERITY, WHAT MANY FOLKS IN OUR COMMUNITIES HAVE TO DEAL WITH, DAY IN, DAY OUT, WITH NO CHANCE OF CHANGING THEIR FATE. THEY CAN'T FIND JOBS, AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE AND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, ARE TOO THIN TO DO MUCH MORE THAN SUSTAIN, WHAT IS ALREADY AN UNFORTUNATE ECONOMIC REALITY. THOSE ON DISABILITY PENSIONS AND ON FIXED INCOMES, SUCH AS SENIORS, ARE DESTINED TO STRUGGLE IN THAT SAME VICIOUS CYCLE, OF WHICH THERE IS NO EASY ESCAPE. THERE IS NEXT TO NO CHANCE FOR IMPROVEMENT. WE ALWAYS KNEW, THAT IF WE STAYED-THE-COURSE, WE'D SURVIVE AND IMPROVE OVER TIME. SO MANY OF OUR CONSTITUENTS HAVE NO SUCH HOPE, AND THERE SEEM TO BE FEWER AND FEWER PLACES TO TURN THESE DAYS FOR ASSISTANCE. THANK GOODNESS FOR THE CHARITIES, CHURCHES, SERVICE CLUBS, AND THE SALVATION ARMY FOOD BANK (GRAVENHURST), AND THE MANNA FOOD BANK IN BRACEBRIDGE. THANKS TO THOSE CITIZENS WHO HELP RUN DINNER CLUBS AND OFFER SUPPORT IN SO MANY OTHER WAYS, SUCH AS GRAVENHURST'S "FREE STUFF FOR DAILY NEEDS," OPERATED AS A MISSION BY THE PARKER FAMILY, KNOWN FOR THEIR YEARS OF SUPPORT TO THOSE SUFFERING FROM SHORTFALLS OF EVERYTHING. SO MANY OF OUR FELLOW CITIZENS HAVE NO ESCAPE, AND ARE SADLY DESTINED TO RELY ON SOCIAL SERVICES FOR SOME TIME INTO THE FUTURE. IT'S AT THIS FESTIVE TIME OF THE YEAR, AS CHARLES DICKENS WROTE, THAT "WANT IS SO KEENLY FELT." WE GIVE WHAT WE CAN, TO HELP OUT, BECAUSE WE RECEIVED ASSISTANCE FROM MANY OF OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY, WITHOUT US EVER HAVING TO ASK.

CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENT ON THE CHEAP

     IN THOSE YEARS OF RECESSION, WE COMMENCED WHAT HAS NOW BECOME A FAMILY TRADITION; TAKING A COMMUNITY-WIDE MOTOR TRIP, BROKEN UP OVER THE FINAL WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS. SUZANNE, WHEN WE STARTED DOING THIS FOR THE BOYS' ENTERTAINMENT, WOULD PACK US A LITTLE LUNCH, WITH SOME BAKED TREATS, INCLUDING HOT CHOCOLATE IN A BIG THERMOS, AND WE WOULD ENJOY THIS DURING THE AUTOMOBILE TRIP, TO SEE THE ARRAY OF ILLUMINATED HOME DECORATIONS. WE WOULD BREAK THE TOWN UP INTO REGIONS, SO THAT WE COULD MAKE IT AT LEAST A FIVE EVENING ADVENTURE, DRIVING AROUND THE TOWN AND ADJACENT COUNTRYSIDE, TO SEE THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ADORNING EVERYTHING FROM OLD COUNTRY ARCHITECTURE, TO RAIL FENCES, TREES, SHRUBS AND EVEN SMALL RUSTIC BARNS. SUZANNE WOULD BRING ALONG SOME OF THE BOYS'S FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MUSIC FROM HOME, AND FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP, WE'D HAVE GOOD FOOD, HOT BEVERAGE, TRAVELLING TUNES, AND SEE SOME AMAZING AND CREATIVE LIGHT DISPLAYS, DAZZLING OVER THE SNOW. WHETHER IT WAS ON A MOONLIT NIGHT, OR DURING A SOFT SPIRALLING SNOWFALL, IT WAS A WONDERFUL AND AFFORDABLE WAY TO KEEP CHRISTMAS LIGHT AND LIVELY. IT COST A SMALL AMOUNT OF GAS, ALL TOLD, AND IT GAVE THEM A GOOD PERSPECTIVE ON THE WAY GRAVENHURST AND AREA RESIDENTS, CELEBRATED THE FESTIVE SEASON. SOME OF THE NICEST DISPLAYS, WERE EXHIBITED ON SMALL BUNGALOWS, AND RURAL PROPERTIES, EVEN ON SMALL COTTAGES WE CAME ACROSS. MOST THAT WE SAW WERE MODEST AND PROPORTIONAL TO THE SIZE OF BUILDINGS AND PREVAILING LANDSCAPE. WE SAW JUST AS MANY BARE-BRANCH MAPLES DECORATED, AS WE DID EVERGREENS. THESE WERE ALL EXPRESSIONS OF CELEBRATION AND JOY FOR THE SEASON. WE TALKED ABOUT EACH OF THEM, AND IN SOME WAYS, ANDREW AND ROBERT LEARNED ABOUT THEIR COMMUNITY, AND ALL ITS NOOKS AND CRANNIES, ON THESE EARLY FORAYS INTO THE WINTER WONDERLAND. IT WAS A WORTHWILE EXTRAVAGANCE, BECAUSE IT TAUGHT US ALL ABOUT THE HIDDEN CHARACTER OF OUR TOWN; IDENTIFYING THAT WE HAD A LOT OF FESTIVE GOODWILL IN THE AREA, THAT WAS BURSTING TO GET OUT INTO THE OPEN. AT CHRISTMAS, THIS WAS REFLECTED IN THE ELECTRIC, TWINKLING ART FORM, OF CHRISTMAS DECORATION.....AND EACH NIGHT, WE'D RETURN FROM OUR OUTING, FEELING QUITE HAPPY ABOUT OUR NEW HOME TOWN. FOLKS THAT HAD SO MUCH FUN DECORATING OUTDOORS, MUST BE GOOD NEIGHBORS. THIS IS HOW OUR BOYS WERE INTRODUCED TO LIVING IN SOUTH MUSKOKA. WE MIGHT NOT HAVE HAD MUCH MONEY, AND NO PRIVILEGE OF BEING FRIVOLOUS, BUT SHARING WHAT WAS FREE TO THE TRAVELLER, WAS WHAT OUR FAMILY NEEDED MOST AT THAT TIME IN OUR LIVES. THESE DAYS, THE BOYS AREN'T ALWAYS WITH US, OF COURSE, BECAUSE THEY ARE GETTING PRETTY ELDERLY NOW....AND RUNNING THEIR BUSINESSES, BUT SUZANNE AND I STILL SET OUT, ON THIS MARVELLOUS "SAME-OLD, SAME-OLD, TRIP" BECAUSE OF THE MORAL ATTACHED TO THE STORY. WE FOUND A WAY TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS ON A BUDGET, AND CONNECT WITH OUR GOOD NEIGHBORS AT THE SAME TIME.

A DICKENS OF A STORY -

     LAST NOVEMBER, I WROTE A STORY ABOUT CHARLES DICKENS, AND SOME OF THE OBSERVATIONS HE ASTUTELY MADE, DURING A TRIP TO CANADA, IN THE MID 1800'S. HE COMPOSED A POIGNANT PASSAGE, REGARDING THE LANDING OF SOME HOMESTEADERS, IN THE ST.LAWRENCE RIVER, WHO HAD BEEN ON HIS SHIP'S PASSAGE FROM ENGLAND. IT WAS A POIGNANT DESCRIPTION OF NEAR ABANDONEMENT, OF THESE DESTITUTE PIONEERS, LEFT ON THE RIVER BANK, TO FARE FOR THEMSELVES IN A HARSH, RURAL ENVIRONS, IN A LAND THEY KNEW LITTLE ABOUT. THE STORY REMINDED ME OF THE SETTLERS WHO ARRIVED IN MUSKOKA, OF SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCE, AND HOW DESPARATE IT ALL MUST HAVE SEEMED IN THOSE FIRST FEW YEARS, TRYING AGAINST ALL ODDS, TO AVOID STARVATION AND FREEZING TO DEATH. POVERTY IS NO STRANGER TO CANADA OR ITS NEIGHBORHOODS, AND IT HAD A START IN THOSE HOMESTEADING YEARS, WHEN CANADA ACCEPTED THOSE CITIZENS OF OTHER COUNTRIES, WHO WERE WILLING TO TAKE A GAMBLE.....THAT RUNNING A FARMSTEAD WAS INFINITELY BETTER, THAT LIVING WITHOUT HOPE, AND OPPORTUNITY, IN THE CITIES OF EUROPE. THIS ISN'T SPECIFICALLY A CHRISTMAS STORY, AND IT'S NOT JUST A MUSKOKA-THEMED PIECE OF HISTORY. BUT IT DOES REMIND US ABOUT THE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL, THAT SO MANY THOUSANDS OF OUR CITIZENS, STILL HAVE TO ENDURE IN THIS MODERN ERA....DAY AFTER DAY, BATTLING UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCE. AT THIS TIME OF THE ROLLING YEAR, IT IS UPLIFTING, AS ALWAYS, TO SEE THE MASSIVE RESPONSE TO THESE CITIZEN NEEDS, UNDERTAKEN BY SCORES OF CARING CITIZENS AND CHARITABLE GROUPS.....AND SO MANY BENEVOLENT FOLKS, WHO WISH TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS. WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT THIS NETWORK OF CHRISTIAN KINDNESS, MAKING THE CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION A LITTLE BRIGHTER, AND CONTENTING, FOR THOSE WHO FIND THE SEASON FULL OF DISTRESS, AND HEARTACHE.

IN THE YEAR 1868 CHARLES DICKENS, ON A VOYAGE TO AMERICA, SAW EMIGRANTS IN THE ROUGHEST OF CONDITIONS

SOME WERE PROBABLY HEADED TO THE FREE LAND GRANT DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA

     UPON LANDING BY BOAT IN QUEBEC, AFTER A ROUGH CROSS-ATLANTIC VOYAGE, INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AUTHOR, CHARLES DICKENS, MADE A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE STEERAGE CLASS PASSENGERS, SOME, WHO WOULD ONE DAY SOON, BE LABORING ON THE NEWLY OPENED LAND GRANTS IN REGIONS LIKE MUSKOKA AND PARRY SOUND. HIS VANTAGE POINT, OF COURSE, WAS AS A FIRST CLASS PASSENGER, OF CONSIDERABLE PRIVILEGE. HE WRITES AS FOLLOWS:

     "IN THE SPRING OF THE YEAR, VAST NUMBERS OF EMIGRANTS WHO HAVE NEWLY ARRIVED FROM ENGLAND OR IRELAND, PASS BETWEEN QUEBEC AND MONTREAL ON THEIR WAY TO THE BACKWOODS AND NEW SETTLEMENTS OF CANADA. IF IT BE AN ENTERTAINING LOUNGE (AS I OFTEN FOUND IT) TO TAKE A MORNING STROLL UPON THE QUAY OF MONTREAL, AND SEE THEM GROUPED IN HUNDREDS ON THE PUBLIC WHARF ABOUT THEIR CHESTS AND BOXES, IT IS MATTER OF DEEP INTEREST TO BE THEIR FELLOW-PASSENGER ON ONE OF THESE STEAMBOATS, AND MINGLING WITH THE CONCOURSE, SEE AND HEAR THEM UNOBSERVED.

     "THE VESSEL IN WHICH WE RETURNED FROM QUEBEC TO MONTREAL, WAS CROWDED WITH THEM, AND AT NIGHT THEY SPREAD THEIR BEDS BETWEEN DECKS (THOSE WHO HAD BEDS, AT LEAST), AND SLEPT SO CLOSE AND THICK ABOUT OUR CABIN DOOR, THAT THE PASSAGE TO AND FRO WAS QUITE BLOCKED UP. THEY WERE NEARLY ALL ENGLISH; FROM GLOUCESTERSHIRE THE GREATER PART; AND HAD HAD A LONG WINTER-PASSAGE OUT; BUT IT WAS WONDERFUL TO SEE HOW CLEAN THE CHILDREN HAD BEEN KEPT, AND HOW UNTIRING IN THEIR LOVE AND SELF-DENIAL ALL THE POOR PARENTS WERE."

THE WRITER LOOKING AT DEGREES OF POVERTY, OF THESE NEW CANADIANS

     Dickens goes on to observe, "Can't as we may, and as we shall to the end of all things, it is very much harder for the poor to be virtuous than it is for the rich; and the good that is in them, shines the brighter for it. In many a noble mansion lives a man, the best of husbands and of fathers, whose privateer worth in both capacities is justly lauded to the skies. But bring him here, upon this crowded deck. Strip from his fair young wife her silken dress and jewels, unbind her braided hair, stamp early wrinkles on her brow, pinch her pale cheeks with care and much privation, array her faded form in coarsely patched attire, let there be nothing but his love to set her forth, or deck her out, and you shall put it to the proof indeed. So change his station in the world, that he shall see in those young things who climb about his knee; not records of his wealth and named; but little wrestlers with him for his daily bread; so many poachers on his scanty meal; so many units to divide his every sum of comfort, and further to reduce its small amount. In lieu of the endearments of childhood in its sweetest capacity, heap upon him all its pains and wants, its sicknesses and ills, its fretfulness, caprice and querulous endurance; let its prattle be, not of engaging infants, but of cold, and thirst, and hunger; and if his fatherly affection outlive all this, and he be patient, watchful, tender; careful of his children's lives, and mindful always of their joys and sorrows, then send him back to Parliament, and Pulpit, and to Quarter Sessions, and when he hears fine talk of depravity of those who live from hand to mouth, and labour hard to do it, let him speak up, as one who knows, and tell those holders forth, that they, by parallel with such a class, should be High Angles in their daily lives, and lay but humble siege to Heaven at last."

     The legendary author pens, in his observations on board the ship, that "Which of us shall say what we would be, if such realities, with small relief to change all through his days, were his! Looking round upon these people; for from home, houseless, indigent, wandering, weary with travel and hard living; and seeing how patiently they nursed and tended their young children; how they consulted ever their wants first, then half supplied their own; what gentle ministers of hope and faith the women were; how the men profited by their example; and how very, very seldom even a moment's petulance or harsh complaint broke out among them; I felt a stronger love and honor of my kind come glowing on my heart, and wished to God these had been many Atheists in the better part of human nature there, to read this simple lesson in the book of life."

     Charles Dickens, famous for his portrayals of the slums and the dark side of England, saw the plight of those hopeful but destitute emigrants, who were confined to the steerage class, in passage across the Atlantic. They were the poorest of the poor, and they came to Canada specifically, to take advantage of the newly created Free Land Grants, of a hundred plus acres. The Government of Canada, wanted to occupy the unoccupied lands to the west. They wanted to be able to justify the creation of a transcontinental railway, linking the country sea to sea. The people stuffed, often mercilessly into steerage class, represented the hope and aspirations of the nation builders. They sent government land agents to preach the good graces of arable farm land, and employment opportunities in many new and thriving industries, operating in the cities of the new Dominion. The steamship agents pushed the same agenda, and were credited for emigrants they signed up, to travel to a wild frontier an ocean-away. Even those who wrote and sold settler's guide books, portrayed the regions of settlement, as places of great opportunity, and potential for future wealth. There were very few trying to discourage these gullible homesteaders, so impoverished and beaten down by the stresses of urban living in Europe, it was an obvious outcome, that millions wanted to believe the promises of new and prosperous lives……and boarded those steam vessels with their families, with only meagre provisions and very little money to acquire what they needed, heading out to some of the roughest terrain in the country.

     These are the same folks who cleared our forests for pioneer farmsteads. They built the roads and the bridges, and supplied the lumber camps and general stores, and tourist accommodations with their produce……at least what they had to spare. Some failed. Many moved on, before they had cleared half the acreage they were contracted to cut; others lived miserable lives, in the harshest of conditions, and perished the direct result of homestead hardships. There were thousands of others, who persevered and never gave up on the task of community building. They never got rich, but they survived, generation after generation, to work the land, and man the industries……and be the customer base, for the businesses that depended on them. There families came here in the most adverse, terrible circumstances, and they are buried in our pioneer settlements, without glowing testimonials, about how their struggles, with only minimal resources, gave us today's communities. The poorest and most inadequately suited homesteaders, carved out our futures. Believe it our not.

     When we look at Muskoka's relationship with poverty today, and diminishing employment opportunities, it is one of those unfortunate traditions, we feel reluctant to embrace as legend……because we expect what is legendary should also be positive and of considerable and noble stature……as roll models of our past. Their determination, and stalwart pride in those early, humble homesteads, created a survival mentality here……and a neighborliness that goes back to those first isolated pioneer cabins, where those with more, shared more often. Historically, I look upon this early relationship with poverty, as an important marker, of the cultural identity of what it means to be called a Muskokan……that we have learned to live with a great respect for the values of resourcefulness and resilience, because it's the way it all began. It initiated as a struggle, to live and work here, and it is no different today in many regards.

     "All this I see as I sit in the little stern-gallery mentioned just now. Evening slowly steals upon the landscape and changes it before me, when we stop to set some emigrants ashore," writes the good Mr. Dickens, from the ship. "Five men, as many women, and a little girl. All their worldly goods are a bag, a large chest, and an old chair; one, old high-backed, rush-bottomed chair; a solitary settler in itself. They are rowed ashore in the boat, while the vessel stands a little off awaiting its return, the water being shallow. They are landed at the foot of a high bank, on the summit of which are a few log cabins, attainable only by a long winding path. It is growing dusk; but the sun is very red, and shines in the water and on some of the tree-tops, like fire. The men get out of the boat first; help out the women; take out the bag, the chest, the chair; bid the rowers good bye, and shove the boat off for them. At the first splash of oars in the water, the oldest woman of the party, sits down in the old chair, close to the water's edge, without speaking a word. None of the others sit down, though the chest is large enough for many seats. They all stand where they landed, as if stricken into stone; and look after the boat. So they remain, quite still and silent; the old woman and her old chair, in the centre; the bag and chest upon the shore, without anybody heeding them; all eyes fixed upon the boat. It comes alongside, is made fast, the men jump on board, the engine is put in motion, and we go hoarsely on again. There they stand yet, without the motion of a hand. I can see them through my glass, when in the distance, and increasing darkness, they are mere specks to the eye; lingering there still; the old woman in the old chair, and all the rest about her; not stirring in the least degree. And then I slowly lose them."

     They are home. But it takes time, to fulfill the enthusiasm they had, when signing onto the adventure of homesteading in a new land. For many, the enthusiasm became a horror. Imagine the feeling of panic, seeing that ship pass along, as they sat in the darkening environs, having no assistance from anyone, to help them on their way. Possibly, these emigrants, were coming to Muskoka.

     I will offer a few more historical notes about Muskoka's hardy pioneer lifestyle, in the next several blogs. Please join me for another retrospective, on how Muskoka has been associated with poverty from the beginning of its history. Thanks for joining me today.