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Freezing Rain and Icy Road Make Travelling Treacherous
The Gravenhurst Station was a busy spot this Saturday, December 21st morning with many travellers using the bus both to the North and South to head home for the holidays. Icy road and a forecast that included approximately one inch of freezing rain will make travelling over the holiday weekend a challenging time for those who need to be on the roads. Once again, I miss the Ontario Northlander Passenger Train travelling through Gravenhurst
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To Connect With Today's Bracebridge Blog, Part of the Christmas Series Click Here
1870's WARNING ABOUT THE EVILS TO THE SETTLERS OF ALCOHOL - THOMAS MCMURRAY BELIEVED IT WOULD KILL HOMESTEAD PRODUCTIVITY
BOOZE ON THE FRONTIER
BOOZE. LOTS OF IT. IT LED DRINKERS TO A LIFE OF CRIME, AND TIME IN CUSTODY. IT CONTRIBUTED TO DROWNINGS, ACCIDENTS, SPOUSAL AND CHILD ABUSE, AND A FALTERING OF THE PHYSICAL BODY. IT CAUSED MENTAL PROBLEMS, AND INSPIRED COLLATERAL EMOTIONAL DAMAGE TO LOVED ONES. IT CAUSED DEATH.
IT'S BY POPULATION NUMBERS, OF COURSE, A MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM TODAY, THAN IN WAS IN THE 1860'S, BUT IN MANY WAYS, THOMAS MCMURRAY WAS PROPHETIC, BRINGING UP AN ISSUE THAT DID COME TRUE, AND MOST CERTAINLY, HAS CARRIED ON THROUGH HISTORY AS A SERIOUS AND ONGOING SOCIAL PROBLEM. THE OVER INDULGENCE ISSUE, WASN'T JUST A MUSKOKA PROBLEM, AS SUCH, BECAUSE THOSE WHO ENJOYED A DRINK OF ALCOHOL, HAD BROUGHT THE THIRST WITH THEM, FROM COUNTRIES OVERSEAS. MCMURRAY JUST DIDN'T WANT IT RUBBING OFF ON THE TEMPERENT AMONGST THE SETTLERS. HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING, AND THAT WAS HOW BOOZE WOULD DECREASE PRODUCTIVITY, AND BREAK DOWN THE ECONOMY, AND EVENTUALLY, THE FAMILY, WHICH WAS THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE HOMESTEAD MISSION. DRUNKARDS MADE TERRIBLE HUSBANDS AND FATHERS; FARMERS AND LABOURERS. BUSINESSMEN WHO DRANK TOO MUCH WOULD LOSE THEIR HOLDINGS. MCMURRAY DID SOMEWHAT THE SAME, BUT IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH DEMON RUM.
THOMAS MCMURRAY, MUSKOKA'S FIRST UNDECLARED HISTORIAN, WAS VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED TO DRINK. ALCOHOL, HE BELIEVED, WOULD BE THE RUINATION OF HOMESTEAD ECONOMY, IF IT WAS CARRIED-ON WHILE THERE WAS WORK TO BE DONE. A RELIGIOUS MAN, WHO NEVER TOUCHED A DROP HIMSELF, HE ACTUALLY INCLUDED A SECTION, "THE SETTLER'S GREATEST ENEMY,' IN HIS 1870'S SETTLERS' GUIDEBOOK, ENTITLED "MUSKOKA AND PARRY SOUND." AMONGST MANY OTHER WARNINGS TO SETTLERS, TO ARRIVE IN MUSKOKA PREPARED FOR A DIFFICULT PERIOD OF HOMESTEAD CLEARING, AND A LIFE OF GENERAL PRIVATION, MCMURRAY WAS VERY CONCERNED THAT ONE ALCOHOLIC PIONEER, COULD AFFECT MANY OTHERS WITH THE MORAL SICKNESS. HE WRITES THE FOLLOWING:
I CANNOT CONCLUDE THIS BOOK WITHOUT GIVING A WORD OF WARNING TO THOSE WHO ARE IN THE HABIT OF TAMPERING WITH STRONG DRINK. IT HAS BEEN MY PAINFUL DUTY TO RECORD THE SAD HAVOC WHICH DRINK HAS CAUSED IN THE SETTLEMENT SINCE MY ARRIVAL; AND AS I DO NOT WISH TO BE PERSONAL, I WILL SIMPLY STATE THAT NOT A FEW FARMS HAVE BEEN LOST ON ACCOUNT OF INTEMPERANCE. SOME OF THE FIRST SETTLERS, IN CONSEQUENCE OF IT, HAVE BEEN OBLIGED TO QUIT THE SETTLEMENT AFTER CONSIDERABLE IMPROVEMENTS HAD BEEN MADE, AND NOT A FEW DEATHS HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY INDULGENCE IN THE SEDUCTIVE PRACTICE OF DRINKING.
"IT MATTERS NOT WHERE WE TURN - AS IN THE CITY, AS IN THE BACKWOODS - DRINK IS THE COMMON ENEMY OF MAN. IF I SHOULD LIFT THE VEIL, AND RELATE WHAT I HAVE KNOWN AND WITNESSED OF DRINK'S DOINGS IN MUSKOKA, IT WOULD FILL A VOLUME LARGER THAN THE PRESENT ONE. DRINKING IS THE ROAD TO RUIN, AND WE TROUBLE FOR THOSE WHO ARE WALKING THEREON. SOME THAT WE LOVE AND RESPECT ARE ON THE VERY VERGE OF THE PRECIPICE, AND SAD TO RELATE, THEY SEEM IGNORANT OF THEIR DANGER. 'STOP,' I CRY, OR YOUR FATE, LIKE SOME WHO HAVE ALREADY PERISHED, WILL BE SAD AND TERRIBLE. DRINK IS ALIKE INJURIOUS TO BOTH BUYER AND SELLER, AND ITS VICTIMS HAVE BEEN MADE UP OF BOTH CLASSES. MANY OF MY FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS ARE ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS, BUT WHILE I HATE THE TRAFFIC, I ENTERTAIN NO UNKIND FEELINGS TOWARDS THE MEN. MY WORST WISH IS THAT THEY WOULD ENGAGE IN SOME OTHER CALLING OR BANISH THE LIQUOR FROM THE BAR." HE DOESN'T MENTION WOMEN IN THIS PARAGRAPH, ALTHOUGH IT IS KNOWN, THERE WAS ALCOHOLISM IMPOSING UPON THE OPPOSITE SEX AS WELL.
I HAVE AT TIMES, DURING MY EARLIER RESEARCH WORK, CIRCA THE 1980'S, COME ACROSS NEWS OF THIS UNFORTUNATE SITUATION, ESPECIALLY EVIDENT IN COURT RECORDS. TO APPRECIATE MORE FULLY, WHAT KIND OF ALCOHOL ABUSE WAS GOING ON, IN THE PIONEER COMMUNITY AND COUNTRYSIDE, I HAVE MADE COPIOUS NOTES, WHENEVER BY HAPPENSTANCE, I COME ACROSS SOME REFERENCE TO CRIME, THE DIRECT RESULT OF THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL. I DON'T SHARE A LOT OF OPINIONS WITH MR. MCMURRAY, WHO WITH SOME CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, GREATLY MINIMIZED HOW DIFFICULT HOMESTEADING WOULD BE, FOR THE FORMERLY CITY DWELLING PIONEERS, WHO HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE MUSKOKA'S PINE FORESTS IN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, IRELAND, OR ICELAND. THEY ARRIVED IN THIS WILD COUNTRY, HAVING NEVER SWUNG AN AXE BEFORE, OR USED A SAW. HE PAINTED MUSKOKA AS A MUCH MORE OBLIGING, ADAPTABLE REGION THAN IT WAS, AND POSSIBLY, FINDING THEMSELVES BURIED IN SNOW AND HARDSHIP, LED SOME SETTLERS "TO DRINK," AND DRINK OFTEN.
THIS DOESN'T APPEAR AS MUCH OF A CHRISTMAS TIME STORY, DOES IT? I PONDER OFTEN, IN MY LITTLE HISTORICAL DAYDREAMS, WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE BACK THEN, CIRCA THE 1860'S AND 70'S, THE PERIOD MCMURRAY WRITES ABOUT; AND HOW SOMEONE LIKE ME WOULD GET ALONG, WITH MY HALLMARK VICES, IN THE ISOLATION OF THE RURAL AREA, IN A DRAFTY LOG CABIN, SNOW DRIFTING THROUGH THE CRACKS BETWEEN THE LOGS, WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SHOULD THAT FIRE GO OUT IN THE HEARTH.....SO TOO WOULD THE CABIN DWELLER CEASE TO BE ANYTHING MORE THAN A CORPSE. IT WAS A FIRE THAT HAD TO REMAIN CRACKLING AWAY, FOR MOST OF THE WINTER MONTHS, EXCEPT WHEN THE CABIN WAS LEFT ALONE FOR PERIODS. MANY UNATTENDED FIRES SPARKED PIONEER SHELTERS INTO ASH. BUT I WONDER TO MYSELF, WHETHER I WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE INTEMPERENT BLOKES HE WAS REFERRING TO....BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO CONSUME THE OCCASIONAL BEER OR GLASS OF WINE. AT ONE TIME IN MY LIFE, I QUADRUPLED WHAT COULD BE CONSIDERED SOCIAL DRINKING, SO I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, AND WHAT MCMURRAY IS REFERRING TO....BECAUSE IT VERY NEARLY COST ME MY JOB, AND MY DRIVER'S LICENCE. MY HEALTH? SUZANNE CAME ALONG AT THE RIGHT TIME, TO SAVE THIS HEAVY DRINKER FROM A TERRIBLE FATE. SO AS MUCH AS I FEEL, IN SOME OTHER AREAS OF HIS HISTORY, THAT MCMURRAY WAS AN ALARMIST IN ONE CHAPTER, AND A PURPOSEFUL LIAR THE OTHER, HIS OVERVIEW OF ALCOHOL ABUSE IS AN IMPORTANT AND SIGNIFICANT DETAIL OF REGIONAL HISTORY. NOT MANY SETTLERS GUIDEBOOKS WOULD HAVE INCLUDED A SECTION ON BOOZE CONSUMPTION. THERE'S A CHRISTIAN UNDERCURRENT THROUGHOUT THE BOOK, BUT NOTHING AS BLATANT, AS THE AUTHOR'S SERIOUS INTEREST IN MAKING MUSKOKA A DRY REGION.
"HAVING MADE UP YOUR MINDS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FREE GRANTS OF LAND, LOSE NO TIME BUT PROCEED WITHOUT DELAY. WE HAVE KNOWN SOME WHO, ON THEIR ARRIVAL, FRITTERED AWAY THEIR MEANS AND TIME IN OUR CITIES, AND THEN, WHEN THEIR MONEY WAS ALL GONE, WOULD MAKE FOR THE BUSH. SHUN SUCH FOLLY, AND DO NOT DELAY A DAY! REMEMBER 'TIME IS MONEY,' AND YOU WILL REQUIRE EVERY SHILLING YOU HAVE TO ENABLE YOU TO CLEAR YOUR FARM AND TO KEEP YOU TILL YOU RAISE SOME CROP, SO DO NOT WASTE A PENNY. ON YOUR ARRIVAL PROCURE LISTS OF THE UNOCCUPIED LOTS AND MAKE A THOROUGH EXAMINATION OF THE LAND BEFORE LOCATING; THIS IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE; YOUR CHOICE IS FOR LIFE, AND YOUR SUCCESS OR OTHERWISE DEPENDS TO A GREAT EXTENT UPON THE CHOICE YOU MAKE. SOME TAKE ALMOST THE FIRST LOT, THEY SEE, WITHOUT PROPER EXAMINATION, AND AFTER A TIME GET DISCOURAGED. THE PLAN IS TO TAKE TIME, IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, AND MAKE A WISE SELECTION, THEN BEGIN AND WORK WITH A WILL."
"THE CLASS OF SETTLERS BEST ADAPTED FOR THE COUNTRY ARE STRONG ABLE MEN WHO WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED AT EVERY LITTLE INCIDENT THEY MEET; MEN WHO HAVE BOTH VIGOUR AND COURAGE TO GRAPPLE WITH AND OVERCOME DIFFICULTIES; MEN WILLING TO LIVE BARE, WORK HARD, AND PUT UP WITH MANY INCONVENIENCES FOR A FEW YEARS. AT THE SAME TIME IT MUST BE OBSERVED THAT THERE HAVE NOT YET, AND HUMANELY SPEAKING, NEVER WILL BE, SUCH HARDSHIPS ENCOUNTERED IN THIS SETTLEMENT AS HAVE BEEN KNOWN IN MANY OTHERS." THIS WAS A MCMURRAY FIB, FLAT OUT. BUT HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE HARDSHIP, JUST WRONG ABOUT HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE TO SHAKE OFF THE INCONVENIENCES.
THE ISSUE OF COURSE, IS THAT MCMURRAY'S BOOK ONLY REACHED A SMALL PORTION OF THE POPULATION OF HOMESTEADERS. THEY COULDN'T AFFORD TO ACQUIRE THE BOOK, AND SOME COULDN'T READ ANY WAY. SO AS MUCH AS HE BELIEVED, HE WAS EDUCATING THE HOMESTEADERS, AND SUCCESSFULLY PREACHING ABSTINANCE, HIS CIRCULATION WAS PRETTY POOR, EXPLAINING WHY THERE ARE SO FEW OF HIS GUIDEBOOKS AVAILABLE TODAY, EVEN IN ANTIQUARIAN SHOPS. IF A SETTLER WANTED TO CONSUME ALCOHOL, AND HAD THE MONEY TO ACQUIRE THE BREW, MCMURRAY HAD VERY FEW OTHER OPTIONS, UNLESS YOU CONSIDER THE NEWSPAPER HE HAD HIS HAND IN, AT THIS TIME. IT WAS A SMALL CIRCULATION, SO HIS PREACHING HAD LIMITED RANGE. TEMPERENCE GROUPS WERE IN EVIDENCE IN MUSKOKA, AND THERE IS AMPLE EVIDENCE THE SALVATION ARMY WAS INVOLVED TRYING TO ENCOURAGE THOSE WHO OVER-INDULGED, ON A REGULAR BASIS, TO FIND THE LORD INSTEAD OF THE NEXT BOTTLE OF BOOZE. IN SOME CASES IT WORKED, AND THEY BECAME MEMBERS OF THE CONGREGATION. OTHERS STAYED ON THE WAGON FOR A SHORT RIDE. EVEN IN THE EARLY YEARS, IT WAS THE CASE, MCMURRAY'S FEARS WERE VALIDATED, AND THE NEGATIVE RESULTS WERE MOUNTING, DECADE BY DECADE. THERE AREN'T SUPPORTING STATISTICS, TO SHOW HOW MANY HOMESTEADERS, FOR EXAMPLE, FAILED AT FARMING, BECAUSE OF ONGOING ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION. BUT AS YOU CAN READ, IN THE LINES ABOVE, IF YOU WEREN'T HALE AND HARDY, YOU WEREN'T GOING TO MAKE IT, IN AN ENVIRONMENT SO INCREDIBLY HARSH, AND UNCOMPROMISING. CONSIDER A DECEMBER AND JANUARY IN THE 1860'S.....IF YOU THINK THE ONE WE'RE HAVING NOW HAS BEEN TOUGHER THAN USUAL.
CONSIDER THE STORY OF GRANNY BOWERS, AND HER HUSBAND, FARMING INITIALLY IN FALKENBURG. IT WAS BOOZE CONSUMPTION THAT BEAT THE FAMILY DOWN, TIME AND AGAIN. IN HER PIONEER JOURNAL, FROM THE LATE 1800'S, SHE WRITES ABOUT HER HUSBAND GOING OFF TO FIND WORK IN OTHER COMMUNITIES, TO EARN MONEY TO SEND HOME TO MUSKOKA. HE HAD AT LEAST THREE CHILDREN, AND THEIR ABODE WAS PITIFULLY INADEQUATE. WHEN HE'D SEND MONEY HOME, IT WOULD ONLY BE A FRACTION OF WHAT HE HAD EARNED. AND WHEN HE ARRIVED HOME, MOST OFTEN IT WAS WITHOUT ANYTHING TO HELP HIS FAMILY. ALCOHOL EVENTUALLY TOOK A TOLL ON HIS HEALTH, AND GRANNY BOWERS WAS LEFT TO RAISE THE CHILDREN LARGELY ON HER OWN. THIS IS A MORE COMMON STORY THAN JUST WHAT WAS PENNED IN HER JOURNAL. CONSIDER THE LOGGERS, WHO HAD BEEN IN WINTER CAMPS FOR MONTHS, UNTIL AFTER THE SPRING DRIVE, AND HOW THEY COULD MAKE THEIR PAY DISAPPEAR, IN THE HOTELS AND TAVERNS OF THE REGION. THERE ARE MANY RECOLLECTIONS, OF MEN LOSING ALL THEIR WINTER PAY OVER SEVERAL DAYS OF DRUNKENESS. A LOT MADE IT INTO DETENTION, IN THE LOCAL LOCK-UP, OR TRYING TO REDEEM THEMSELVES, IN THE EYES OF THEIR FAMILIES, BY APPEALING TO THE SALVATION ARMY TO SAVE THEIR SOULS. JUST HOW WIDESPREAD THIS WAS, IS ONLY SPECULATION, AS THE TESTIMONIALS AVAILABLE ARE THIN AND FAR BETWEEN. BUT IN COURT DOCUMENTATION, PUBLIC DRUNKENESS WAS ONE OF THE MOST FREQUENT OFFENCES, AND TIMES DID COINCIDE TO WHEN LOGGERS ENDED THEIR PERIOD OF ISOLATION, COMING TO SETTLEMENTS FROM THE BUSH CAMPS.....WITH MONEY TO HAVE SOME FUN. THERE ARE TALES TOLD OF HUGE FIGHTS BREAKING OUT, AMONGST DRUNKEN LOGGERS AT TAVERNS, ALL OVER MUSKOKA. KEEPING IN MIND, THE MONEY THEY BLEW ON BOOZE, WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING FINANCE LIFE ON THE HOMESTEAD, OR IN THE HOME, IF THE DWELLING WAS IN ONE OF THE VILLAGES.
IN THE BOOK, BY REVEREND ALLEN, ENTITLED "FROM THE LOGGING CAMP TO THE MINISTRY," HE NOTES JUST HOW MUCH ALCOHOL CONTAMINATION OCCURRED TO THE LESS THAN CHRISTIAN SOULS, WHO DWELLED IN THOSE CAMP SHANTIES. SO MUCH SO, THAT WHEN HE BECAME A MISSIONARY HIMSELF, HE RETURNED TO WHERE HE HAD ONCE WORKED, TO SPREAD THE WORD OF GOD....AND PLEAD THE CASE FOR SOBRIETY AND TEMPERANCE. HE IS EVEN CREDITED, WITH SAVING THE SOULS OF J.D. SHIER, OF THE SHIER LUMBER COMPANY, AND HIS WIFE, BUT THERE'S NO SUGGESTION THEY WERE FREQUENT OR INFREQUENT DRINKERS. WHAT "SAVING" THE SHIERS MEANT, MORE SO, WAS THAT HE WOULD REFORM ALL THE CAMPS HE OPERATED, AND DISMISS ANY LOGGER FOR GETTING DRUNK. AS FOR CHRISTIAN VALUES GENERALLY, THIS WAS LEFT TO THE INDIVIDUAL TO DETERMINE. ALCOHOL ABUSE WAS NOT TO BE TOLERATED. SO TEMPERANCE DID GET INTO THE WORK PLACE AS WELL, AND IN THIS CASE IT WAS THE LUMBER INDUSTRY....WHICH AT THE TIME, WAS A HUGE ECONOMIC IMPETUS TO THE REGION. BEING UNDER THE INFLUENCE IN THIS INDUSTRY, WHICH WAS PRECARIOUS TO BEGIN WITH, COULD HAVE MEANT PREMATURE DEATH....OR SERIOUS, LIFE ALTERING INJURY. SOBER WORKERS DIED, AS A RESULT OF MISADVENTURE, SO HAVING A LOGGER WITH A HANGOVER, ENDANGERED A LOT MORE LIVES THAN JUST ONE.
ALTHOUGH IT MIGHT SEEM A WEE BIT OF A STRETCH, TO PERSONALIZE WHAT IT MEANS TO DRINK TOO MUCH, I CAN REMEMBER ONE NIGHT COMING HOME FROM THE TAVERN LATE, BUT HAVING TO WRITE TWO ARTICLES FOR THE HERALD-GAZETTE, NEEDED FOR THE NEXT DAY'S ISSUE. THEY WERE PROBABLY HISTORICAL FEATURES, AS WAS MY SPECIALTY EVEN IN THE 1980'S. I HAD A COUPLE OF MORE BEERS, TO ADD TO WHAT I HAD ALREADY CONSUMED, AND I STARTED TYPING LIKE A MAN POSSESSED. I WAS JUST SMOKING THAT TYPEWRITER KEYBOARD, AND BEFORE TOO LONG, I HAD WRITTEN ABOUT EIGHT PAGES OF COPY TO COVER THE CONTENT OF TWO FEATURE ARTICLES. I WAS TOO TIRED AND DRUNK, TO BE HONEST, TO DO ANY PROOF-READING. I THOUGHT IT BETTER TO WAIT UNTIL MORNING, AND BECAUSE I'D WRITTEN IT SO EASILY, THE PRESUMPTION WAS, IT WOULD BE READY TO GO RIGHT TO TYPESETTING FIRST THING. WHEN I GOT TO WORK, BREWED A STRONG COFFEE, HAD HALF A CUP, AND BEGAN TO REVIEW WHAT HAD BEEN WRITTEN THE NIGHT BEFORE, I THOUGHT I WAS HAVING CHEST PAINS. GOSH, BOTH STORIES WERE NOT ONLY POORLY WORDED, AND FULL OF TYPOS, THE CONTENT WAS SO WONKY, I COULDN'T EVEN RE-WRITE THE MATERIAL, TO GET THEM TO OUR TYPESETTER BY DEADLINE. I WAS SICK ABOUT THIS, AND THE WORK IT WAS GOING TO BE, RE-WRITING TWO MAJOR PIECES. UNDER THE INFLUENCE, THIS COPY READ LIKE SILK AGAINST THE SKIN. ON THIS PRESS DAY READ-THROUGH, IT BLURTED BACK AT ME, LIKE A RAGING TUBA...."SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE TRYING TO WRITE WHILE DRUNK!" IT WAS THE FIRST AND LAST TIME I DID THIS. I WAS ABLE TO CORRECT THE STORIES, IN TIME FOR THAT WEEK'S EDITION, BUT IDA, OUR TYPESETTER WAS "MAD AS A HATTER," ABOUT THE HOUR DELAY GETTING THE COPY TYPESET. IT SCREWED UP THE ORDER OF HER WORK SCHEDULE. WHEN THE MANAGER ASKED ME WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS, I SURE AS HELL DIDN'T TELL HIM, THAT I'D GOT INTOXICATED THE NIGHT BEFORE....AND THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NEAT TO WRITE SOME FEATURE NEWS. HE PROBABLY KNEW ANY WAY, LIKELY FROM THE VISIBLE THROBBING OF MY HEAD, AS HE KEPT LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY I WAS HOLDING UP THE DAY'S PRODUCTION SCHEDULE. FINALLY, AFTER SOME HAIR PULLING, AND DRY HEAVES, I WAS ABLE TO WORDSMITH THE MATERIAL INTO SOMETHING THAT SORT OF MADE SENSE. IT WASN'T MY BEST WORK EVEN ON THE REBOUND, BUT I MADE DEADLINE, AND KEPT MY JOB. A LOT OF MUSICIANS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS, HAVE DONE THE SAME THING, WHILE HIGH, OR DRUNK, AND THE RESULTS ARE USUALLY THE SAME. GARBAGE. UNPUBLISHABLE DRIVAL. THE BEST ADVICE BEING, EITHER WAD IT UP, AND TOSS IT IN THE BIN, OR GET READY FOR A LONG AND FRUSTRATING RE-WRITE. SAME GOES FOR THE SONG WRITER AND THE ARTIST. NOW IMAGINE TRYING TO SAW THROUGH A HUGE TRUNK OF A TOWERING WHITE PINE, IN A COMPROMISED SITUATION WITH OTHER TREES, AND A LOT OF OTHER LOGGERS. IMAGINE TRYING TO CULTIVATE A FIELD, FOR THAT SPRING'S PLANTING, WHILE BEING A LITTLE TIPSY. LIKE I NOTED PREVIOUSLY, WHILE I'M NOT A BIG FAN OF THOMAS MCMURRAY, BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE DAMNING MISTRUTHS HE SENT OUT TO UNSUSPECTING, VULNERABLE SETTLERS, (THAT HURT THEM BADLY) WHEN IT COMES TO ALCOHOL ABUSE, AND THE FREE GRANT LANDS OF MUSKOKA, HE WAS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT....BOOZE HAD NO PLACE IN THE MAINSTREAM, OF TRYING TO CARVE OUT A SUSTAINABLE FARMSTEAD FROM THE VERY WILD WOODS OF OUR REGION.
I SHALL INDEED ENJOY A PINT OF ENGLISH ALE THIS EVENING, SITTING AT MY DESK, OVERLOOKING THE BEAUTIFUL, SNOW-LADEN MOOR. BEFORE THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY IS OVER, I WILL HAVE CONSUMED JUST ENOUGH WINE TO MAKE SEVERAL TOASTS AT OUR CEREMONIAL DINNERS, AND POSSIBLY A LATE NIGHT BRANDY, AS A BIT OF A TREAT FOR WHAT WAS AN INCREDIBLY BUSY WORK YEAR. MAYBE A GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE AT CHRISTMAS. BUT I SHALL NOT TAKE UP MY CAR KEYS, DURING THESE PERIODS OF CELEBRATION, AND I CERTAINLY WON'T BE WRITING ANYTHING, WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE. I KNOW HOW THAT KIND OF THING WORKS OUT. I WON'T BEING BUILDING A LOG CABIN, OR FELLING ANY TREES EITHER. BUT I KNOW SOME FOLKS WHO DID. I CAN SENSE THE SPIRIT OF THOMAS MCMURRAY RISING FROM THE TATTERED PAGES OF MY OLD BOOK, ENOUGH TO GIVE ME AN ICY GLARE, ABOUT CONSUMING ANY ALCOHOL AT ALL. I REMIND HIM IN KIND, THAT I NEVER FIBBED IN ANY OF MY BOOKS....LIKE HE DID.
"SENSIBLE PROPORTION," I MINDFULLY DIRECT TO HIS ATTENTION. I DETECT A WEE NOD OF ACCEPTANCE.
BE SAFE THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON. MODERATION....IS BEST.
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