A GENTLE END OF DAY, A GENTLE BEGINNING - IF ONLY WE COULD FIND THE TIME TO ENJOY IT

When you stand on the rise above The Bog, and can spare a few moments to ponder the nature surrounding you, it’s easy to sense what Thoreau felt at his Walden Pond cabin. You can feel momentarily as if you are the only person on earth. You will feel that wondrous sense of entitlement that you have found this place in nature, this moment in time, and that it is all so precious and abundant. You can, at the same time, feel lonely, possibly frightened for a moment, timid, yet strangely invigorated.....keenly alert about what surrounds you. And momentarily the myriad sounds from this wild place will become clear, and that will enable the watcher to determine, without seeing them, which tiny cataract of many, carries the most volume of water over its decline. You will be able to recognize the sound of the breeze rustling through the brown, dry grasses, distinguishing it from the squirrels in a sunset bravado, running across the mounds of earth across the lowland. You might be fortunate enough to hear a deer brushing through the thicket, on the other side of the hollow. And it will all be an enlightening experience. You thought it was just a stop along the way! It is a compelling sensation here, with the gentle spring breeze bringing the fragrances of new growth and old mixed as an elixir.....a tonic to wash away what the winter encrusted upon our souls.

This evening, for me, a regular watcher in the woods, is just as amazing as this scene has so generously prevailed at first light, quenched by the soft fall of a spring rain. Even though the urban neighborhood of this Muskoka town is only a short distance away, from the heart of this greenbelt, at times you can imagine being truly lost in the wilds of the district. You might even miss the sound of car engines and truck traffic on nearby roads that surround this restorative place. So many urbanites have forgotten what Muskoka is all about, these days, and youngsters as well, might only visit here if there were interconnecting bike trails, and daredevil jumps, to ramp up excitement. Yet for the dreamers, amongst us, standing here for even a few minutes, thinking about the meaning of life, and after-life, and enjoying what is uncomplicated and free, this is a spectacular adventure that changes every time I visit.

When I returned to my office this morning, to write this little outdoor piece, I was thoroughly relaxed and contented by all that I had enjoyed of spring re-awakening, down in The Bog. Half way through this editorial piece, the computer.....my old adversary, froze in the middle of a sentence, a word and a thought. How appropriate. I was determined not to let technology ruin the mood. I was to calm to be anything but accommodating to the tabletop beast. Not being computer savvy, more than just being able to sit and tap away at this keyboard, I had to rustle up my wizard son to set me free again. Five minutes after leaving me to my own devices, the electronic marvel shut down again but I was able to trouble-shoot free this time. I credit my time, this morning, over at The Bog, for giving me the “serenity now” to finish the short tome, without even once feeling the need to clobber this computer for its quirks. I have a few of my own, so we are of the same ilk to some degree.

I will sign off this morning, to allow the technologist to work his magic at upgrades. It appears our computer is having a bad day. If I could fit it under my arm.....it’s an old desk model, maybe a stint looking out over the bog might do us both good. I’m told by the experts it’s time for a lap-top. I still have a preference for my own Smith-Corona typewriter.....and by golly, it was portable and didn’t need a battery.

I will retreat to the moor later this morning, with my friend Bosko, and we shall resume our bid to remove ourselves, once again, from urban and modern trappings, to feel for a few moments, what it was like when Thoreau opened his cabin door onto Walden Pond, for a wee escape from his writing. While he may have suffered the need for more ink, for his pen, he didn’t experience the let-down of a computer malfunction. That is a conundrum he is fortunate to have missed.