A SNOWY DAY AT LAST
FROM BIRCH HOLLOW, A SCENE OF OLD FASHION WINTER
MY WIFE SUZANNE, TOLD ME A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO NOW, THAT I SHOULD NOT INVOLVE MYSELF IN THE POLITICS OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE. OF COURSE, THIS CAME AFTER WE HAD TO MOUNT A BEHEMOTH EFFORT, TO SAVE THE WETLAND I'M LOOKING AT NOW…..THE PLEASANT LITTLE ACREAGE FILLING-IN SO BEAUTIFULLY, WITH THIS MORNING'S LIGHT DUSTING OF SNOW. WHEN IT BECAME KNOWN, THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST WAS PLANNING TO ABANDON STEWARDSHIP OF THIS PARTICULAR WETLAND, AND FRINGE FOREST, WE HAD NO CHOICE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, AND THIS TOWN GENERALLY, BUT TO GET INVOLVED. TO SAVE IT, YOU SEE, FROM A PROPOSAL TO CUT IT INTO RESIDENTIAL LOTS. WHICH MEANT, BY ENGINEERING ALCHEMY, CULVERTING THE WATER, AND INFILLING EVERYTHING ELSE OF THIS NATURAL FILTERING BED. WHAT A GRAND PLAN. SO THAT IN ORDER TO SAVE IT FROM BECOMING SAWDUST AND RESIDENTIAL DIN, ON A SMALL BUT CRITICALLY IMPORTANT FILTER-ZONE (FOR THE WATER QUALITY OF MUSKOKA BAY), WE HAD TO BECOME POLITICAL, ON A FAST AND FURIOUS SCALE. HISTORY SHOWS THAT THE CITIZENS OF THIS COMMUNITY, STOOD THEIR GROUND, THIS GROUND, AND FOUGHT TOWN HALL TO A RESOUNDING VICTORY. UNTIL, THAT IS, THE TOWN RE-MUSTERS, AND TAKES ANOTHER EXPECTED SHOT AT THE PROPERTY WE CALL "THE BOG."
SUZANNE IS RIGHT HOWEVER, THAT I SHOULDN'T BE SO EASILY DRAWN INTO POLITICAL DEBATE GENERALLY. I REMIND HER THAT, IN THE CASE OF THE BOG, IF I HADN'T FOUND THAT GLARING HEADLINE IN THE MORNING COPY OF THE WEEKLY PRESS, I WOULD HAVE MISSED PRECIOUS TIME ORGANIZING A RETALIATION. SHE SUGGESTS THAT THIS WAS INDEED A NECESSARY REACTION, BUT THAT MOST OF THE BLOOD BOILING STUFF COMING FROM TOWN HALL, ISN'T GOING TO RESULT IN A "MISSING FOREST" OR A "PAVED OVER SLICE OF PARADISE." WHAT SHE'S TRYING TO SAY, IS THAT TOWN COUNCILS ALL OVER CANADA, AND NORTH AMERICA, FOR THAT MATTER, HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF ANGERING CONSTITUENTS ON PRETTY MUCH A DAILY BASIS, WITH THEIR ACTIONS AND RE-ACTIONS TO BUSINESS AS USUAL ISSUES. I MIGHT MUMBLE AND GRUMBLE ABOUT IT, BUT SHE IS RIGHT, AND THAT SHOULD I CONTEST EVERYTHING THAT COLLIDES WITH MY SENSE OF PROPRIETY, AND SENSIBILITY, I WOULD SURELY SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST……THAT'S RIGHT, GO UP IN SMOKE. SUZANNE COMING HOME FROM WORK TO FIND TWO STILL SMOLDERING SLIPPERS, WHERE I ONCE STOOD LOOKING OUT OVER THE BOG.
The problem, more than anything else, is that the town and its administrative bodies, and associated committees, rarely come up with anything these days, even remotely optimistic about the future in this community. There are folks who have been predicting scenarios of gloom for so long, one just expects to see the four horsemen of the apocalypse, clattering into the heart of town, in its final chapter. No matter how many rebuttals, there are doomsayers who just can't see beyond the clutter of their own lack of foresight. Regardless how much evidence to the contrary, and the number of citizens and their businesses doing well, and planning expansions, the doomsayers always seem to inspire the journalist's pen. It is an unfortunate period for our little town, where one finds a local council, unable to lead us from the doldrums of apparent misfortune…..we are told time and again, we suffer from these days.
As I look out onto this most beautiful scene this morning, the snow gracing the dark woodland with bright twinkling light, I feel sorry for any one, who comes out of their homes, and doesn't see how glorious it all is…..and how truly wonderful it is to live in one of Ontario's most celebrated hinterlands. I wonder if there is one local politician, this morning, who stepped out into this same winter landscape, and thought to themselves, what an uplifting place to live and work? What they see, what they experience, sense, is the most powerful, enduring, renewable resource they have…..we all have, as a foundation for the future. As one of the most alluring tourist regions, and one of the most significant vacation retreats in the province, we can see this morning, why……..and the reason we should start every morning with the knowledge, that no matter what else goes right or wrong, our home district is a most desirable, inspiring place.
Suzanne is right of course. I shouldn't read the newspapers any more. I get frustrated each week, it seems, by the revelations that we are in a depressed local economy, and that hardships abound, and that our town council has no clue about how to fix what apparently ails us. I don't find much of encouragement these days, coming from the town, town hall, or the associations connected to the present administration. Folks who have decided it is less of a height to fall from, with a pessimistic outlook, and less strenuous to stay the course, than to blaze a trail. I live an inspired life because I can draw so much contentment, from places like The Bog, and drives along Muskoka Beach Road, through forest and pasture, farmland and the cathedral maples, that are such remarkable places through the four seasons here in Muskoka. I can re-charge any time of the day or night, by immersing myself in the nature of Muskoka. Not as an escape. As an elixir, that will remind me, that we have so much to be thankful for, living in this beautiful place on earth……that should be the catalyst for great optimism and advancement in the local economy. Yet, it is treated like a pretty face, and little more.
I won't give up reading the local press, or decide that it is unimportant to follow local council business. I will find myself, at times, having the urge to run for mayor, and change outlooks at town hall……and throughout the municipality, toward a great appreciation of our present resources. I'm unsure, however, that I could in any lasting way, make the difference I desire…….as it appears so much easier today, to find acceptance for status quo, and resignation, than the raw enthusiasm, to build upward from optimism.
No, I will never run for mayor, or council for that matter. I will continue to plea for a more optimistic direction from our stewards, and beg those naysayers, and the press that seems to validate them, to appreciate the reality, depression and anxiety are not tools for building……they are the crowbars of destruction if left to their own devices. For a community, the exact opposite must prevail, in order to attract investment not pity.
I shall relax here, and watch the steady, but gentle snow, adorn this beautiful Muskoka landscape, and think, as I do every single day here, just how charmed a life it is, to live in such a naturally powerful place…….that should inspire us all, to see life for what it really is…….a part of nature's cycle. We're here for a short time. We should make it a good time. And not everything is about loss or profit. If you ignore your surroundings, this is, by all means, an insurmountable loss.
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