RETURN TO MY WALDEN

I have been on a writing hiatus over the late spring and summer of this year. Not that I've stopped walking and dawdling through these beautiful woods of the Bog, but rather Suzanne and I have spent some time working on Birch Hollow, the gardens in particular, and sorting our possessions which have loaded the old homestead to the rafters. As long-time antique collectors and dealers, we know what excess is all about. The problem, of course, is that opportunity is both the potential and the disadvantage. Some times what we find out on our adventures, will fit easily into a bag. At other times, what we find of considerable value will be next to impossible, to fit into our vehicle. We never leave Birch Hollow with a determination to only buy small items. We have been known to come back, after a day's travels, with a bedstead, a pine cupboard, several primitive pine chairs, a couple of paintings (some as long as the van), a few folk-art pieces, and of course, some good old books. On other occasions we might arrive home with only several boxes of old paper and documents, that are worth much more than the truck load of antique furniture and art work. It was a summer of this-and-that but we had a good and relaxing time, despite all the work in the raging heat. But now it's time to settle down a wee bit, and pay more attention to the environs here at Birch Hollow, and the grandeur of the old forest trails, and thriving boglands so vigorous in the autumn season. Please join me for some autumn adventures, in this beautiful little pocket of Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada.