Defining Muskoka, Doesn't Work

SEEKING THE DEFINITION OF MUSKOKA - WHAT PERPLEXES GOVERNMENT - THE SPIRIT THAT WON'T CONFORM

IN HISTORY, THERE WAS AN ALLURE TO INVESTIGATE THE MYSTERIES OF OUR REGION OF ONTARIO, SAID TO BE ONE OF THE MOST SPIRITUAL PLACES ON THE CONTINENT. BUT THEN WHO PAYS ATTENTION TO POET-PHILOSOPHERS?

IN THE LATE 1850 AND 60'S, THE SPORTSMEN, WHO TRAVERSED THROUGH THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA, WROTE THEIR OPINIONS OF THE VAST HINTERLAND, AND ITS OPPORTUNITIES. THEIR INADVERTENT PROMOTION OF THE DISTRICT, DID GENERATE INVESTMENT INTEREST. LONG BEFORE THE BARDS WANDERED THE LAKELAND PATHS, THOSE FINANCIAL ADVENTURERS, WERE LOOKING TO THIS UNTAPPED REGION, TO ADVANCE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY.

WHEN THE SETTLERS ARRIVED IN THE REGION, TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF 100 ACRE ALLOTMENTS OF FREE LAND, THOSE SAME CAPITALIST GAMBLERS, UNDERSTOOD WHAT CAPTIVE AUDIENCE WAS ALL ABOUT. THE RICH AND POOR INTERMINGLED EARLY IN THE HISTORY OF MUSKOKA, AND THERE WERE IMMENSE FAILURES ON BOTH SIDES. NOT EVERY FINANCIAL VENTURE WENT AS PLANNED, JUST AS HOMESTEADERS FAILED TO MAKE FORESTS INTO THRIVING GARDEN PLOTS. HISTORICAL RECORD SHOWS THERE WERE ENOUGH SUCCESSES, EVEN THOSE THAT WERE OF MODEST PROPORTION, IN EACH AREA OF INVESTMENT, TO KEEP MUSKOKA OPEN FOR BUSINESS. IT WASN'T ALWAYS AN EASY PLACE TO DO BUSINESS, OR HOMESTEAD, AND THE CHALLENGES, AT TIMES, SEEMED TOO MUCH FOR EVEN THE SLIGHTEST ANNUAL PROFIT…..THE MOST MEAGRE OF HARVESTS FROM THE THIN, ROCKY, FOREST WREATHED FARMSTEADS. THE CITIZENS OF ALL ECONOMIC STRATAS PREVAILED, DESPITE MODEST GAINS, TO HELP THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA, AND ONTARIO, OCCUPY THE OPEN LANDS OF THE NEW NATION. OF THIS, WE WERE, OF COURSE, EXCEPTIONALLY SUCCESSFUL. THE GOVERNMENT ADMITTEDLY SET IT ALL UP AS A GAMBLE. THEY KNEW HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS GOING TO BE, BEFORE THEY ISSUED THE LAND GRANT INCENTIVES. THEY KNEW SOME WERE GOING TO PERISH, AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE MISTRUTHS THEY WERE INSPIRING…..ABOUT THIS LAND OF MILK AND HONEY. DISCUSSION OF HARDSHIP WAS WELL REMOVED FROM THE STORIES OF SUCCESSES.

DURING THE PERIOD OF TRANSFORMATION, IN THOSE FIRST FORTY YEARS, THE TOURISM INDUSTRY AND THE POET-PHILOSOPHERS, AND ASSORTED MYSTICS, SPIRITUALISTS, AND SOOTHSAYERS, MERGED, YOU MIGHT SAY "POETICALLY," INTO THE DESCRIPTION OF MUSKOKA THAT BEST SUITED THOSE WEARY, LOST SOULS FROM THE CITIES OF NORTH AMERICA, AND ABROAD. MUSKOKA WAS EXCEPTIONALLY WELL PROMOTED, AS AN INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION, BEST SUITED TO THOSE REQUIRING RESTORATION OF GOOD HEALTH AND VIGOROUS SPIRIT. THE FACT MUSKOKA WAS BEING AGGRESSIVELY MARKETED AS BEAUTIFUL PLACE, IN THE 1800'S, WAS BY FAR MORE COMMERCIAL, THAN FOR ITS ETHEREAL QUALITIES TO POETS, PAINTERS AND MUSICIANS, CAMPED BY ITS SHORES. THERE WAS MONEY TO BE MADE, SELLING THE PICTURESQUE QUALITIES OF THE "TAMED" WILDS. SOME CREATIVE FOLKS WHO CAME IN THE PERIOD OF THE LATE 1800'S, SAW MUSKOKA FROM THE GRAND VERANDAHS OF LARGE AND ELEGANT RESORT ACCOMMODATIONS. THEY WALKED ALONG CARVED-OUT PATHWAYS COBBLED AROUND THE LAKE SHORE, AND THEN NAVIGATED ROWBOATS UP THE SHADOW RIVER, IN ROSSEAU, TO FIND THE ENCHANTMENT THEY HAD BEEN TOLD EXISTED BY THE BUCKET-FULLS. THEY WROTE ABOUT IT. AND I HAVE READ MOST OF IT, OVER MY YEARS AS A REGIONAL HISTORIAN. WHILE THESE PIECES, AND ABUNDANT PAINTINGS FROM THE PERIOD, ARE IMPORTANT IN THE STUDY OF OUR REGION, THEY HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, BY CONTROLLED, CATERED ADVENTURE. THEY STUDIED MUSKOKA BY IMMERSION IN THE EMBRACE OF THE THRIVING TOURISM INDUSTRY, VACATIONING IN OPULENT SURROUNDINGS, AND BEING CATERED BY STAFF THAT SEEMED, AT TIMES, TO OUT-NUMBER THE GUESTS.

I AM FAR MORE LIKELY TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE INTELLECTURAL WORK OF THE MUSKOKA ASSEMBLY, OF WRITERS, WHO GATHERED IN THE SUMMER SEASONS, DURING THE 1920'S AND 30'S, TO DISCUSS LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY, AND ACTUALLY IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN NATURAL MUSKOKA, AS IT RELATED TO THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CANADA ITSELF…..MUCH AS WHAT WAS TAKING PLACE WITH THE GROUP OF SEVEN ARTISTS, EXPLORING NEW WAYS TO REPRESENT THE NATIVE LANDSCAPE……THE SEASONS, THE UNIQUENESS OF THE LAKELAND. THEY WERE GENUINELY INTERESTED IN THE LORE AND LEGENDS INHERENT TO THIS LAKELAND, THAN PROFITING FROM ITS EXPLOITATION. THEY WEREN'T THERE, ON TOBIN'S ISLAND, FOR THOSE CONFERENCES, THE RESULT OF A STRATEGIC TOURISM INITIATIVE. THEY WERE LITERARY ADVENTURERS, DETERMINED TO EXPLORE THE SPIRITUAL QUALITIES AND QUANTITIES OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PLACE. IF THERE WAS FINANCIAL GAIN, ON THEIR PART, IT WASN'T TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE PROFIT BEING MADE BY RESORTS, THE STEAMSHIP INDUSTRY AND BOAT LIVERIES. THEIR PROFIT WAS EXPERIENCE AND INSPIRATION, GARNERED FROM A FEW WEEKS IN ONE OF THE MOST PICTURESQUE PLACES ON EARTH. WHEN POET WILSON MACDONALD WROTE A POEM ABOUT MUSKOKA, IN HIS BOOK, "OUT OF THE WILDERNESS," IT WAS HARDLY EXPLOITATION AT THE REGION'S EXPENSE. IT WAS JUST ONE POEM IN A LARGE TEXT. HE DID WRITE A SECOND POEM ABOUT HIS ENJOYMENT OF VISITING LAKE ROSSEAU, AS IT IS KNOWN, HE RETURNED MANY TIMES LATER, TO STAY WITH FRIENDS AT A TOBIN'S ISLAND COTTAGE.

EVERY NOW AND AGAIN, I WILL FIND SOME EDITORIAL PIECE, IN THE LOCAL PRESS, THAT QUESTIONS WHAT MUSKOKA IS ALL ABOUT. THERE ARE FREQUENT EXAMINATIONS OF ITS ECONOMIC POTENTIAL, AND HOW IT CAN BE EXPLOITED FOR GREATER, SUSTAINING PROFIT. IT WILL OFTEN BE THE CASE, THAT THE QUESTION WILL SEEK OUT CITIZEN INPUT ABOUT HOW WE SHOULD PROCEED AS A REGION, AND RE-DEFINE MUSKOKA TO BETTER SUIT OUR LONG RANGE INTERESTS. I CAN ALMOST IMAGINE, THAT INTUITIVE, LEARNED GROUP OF CANADIAN WRITERS, FROM THE PERIOD OF THE WRITING ASSEMBLY, BEING STUNNED BY THE RIDICULOUS BID OF DEFINING SOMETHING, FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, GOVERNMENTAL PURPOSE, THAT CAN NEVER TRULY BE CONFINED TO A SENTENCE, A PARAGRAPH, A BOOK, OR A LIBRARY. AS IT IS NOT NECESSARY. APPRECIATION AND STEWARDSHIP ARE TWO WORDS THEY MAY HAVE BANDIED ABOUT; CHARLES G.D. ROBERTS, BLISS CARMEN, WILSON MACDONALD, AND MARSHALL SAUNDERS, ALL ADMIRERS OF MUSKOKA WITHOUT EVER ONCE REQUIRING A HANDBOOK ON THE REQUIREMENTS TO ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE. MUSKOKA NEVER REQUIRED THE MEDDLING OF LITERARY OR ARTISTIC MINDS, TO EXPLAIN ITS GRANDEUR……DECIPHER ITS NATURAL, SPIRITUAL RESOURCES. THEY ADMIRED IT, WERE INSPIRED BY IT, AND INDEED, WROTE ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE…….WITHOUT FEELING ANY SHORTFALL OF ACCOMPLISHMENT, WHEN AT THE END OF THE CONFERENCE, THEY HADN'T SOLVED ITS MYSTERY. IF THE GREAT BARDS DIDN'T WASTE THEIR TIME, TRYING TO ANALYZE THE WORTH OF MUSKOKA, THEN WHY DO WE PERSIST TODAY, TO CREATE THE INCLUSIVE, ONE-BOOK-SOLVES-ALL GUIDE, TO LIVING, WORKING AND VISITING MUSKOKA?

THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE, MY FIRST HOMETOWN IN THE DISTRICT, 1966 TO 1989, MOST RECENTLY ENTERED THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY…..AS IF HISTORY HAD BEEN ERASED AS A BAD MEMORY, IN A BID TO SEEK OUT A NEW PLAN, AND A SHINY, MODERN ERA CHARACTER……TO BE INFLUENCED BY MANY RESPONDENTS WHO HAVEN'T BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE TOWN FOR MORE THAN A DECADE OF RESIDENCY. AS A LONG TIME MUSKOKAN, AND MARRIED TO A PARTNER WHO CAN RIGHTFULLY CLAIM HER FAMILY HISTORY HERE, BEGAN WITH THOSE FIRST HUMBLE SHANTIES IN THE 1860'S, IT IS OFFENSIVE, WHEN IT'S DEEMED ACCEPTABLE, TO RE-ASSESS BY DECREE, WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE WANT TO BE, WHAT OUR DISTRICT SHOULD COME TO SYMBOLIZE, AND WHAT THIS REGION SHOULD REPRESENT TO THE REST OF THE WORLD. DO YOU THINK, THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS, BEHIND SUCH A PROJECT, WOULD THINK IT SENSIBLE, AND APPROPRIATE, TO BUNDLE REGIONAL HISTORIANS, LONG-TIME CITIZENS, AND THE ARTS COMMUNITY TOGETHER, TO DISCUSS, AS A PREAMBLE, THE NECESSITY OF TAMPERING WITH WHAT IS ALREADY NATURE'S PERFECTION. IT HAS NEVER BEEN IMPORTANT IN THE PAST, AND WON'T BE IN THE FUTURE.

I DO VERY MUCH DISLIKE THE REALITY, MANY ELECTED OFFICIALS REPRESENTING THIS AMAZING REGION OF ONTARIO AND CANADA, ARE SIMILARLY UNTUTORED ABOUT THE TRUE HISTORY OF MUSKOKA, AND THEIR IDEA OF STEWARDSHIP IS SO NARROW FOCUSED, IT TOPPLES OVER TIME AND AGAIN, WHEN FACED WITH A DEVELOPER'S DETERMINATION, TO TRANSFORM OUR TOWNS AND REGION, TO SUIT CAPITALISM……NOT ITS HISTORIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, LANDSCAPE SENSITIVITIES. THE CITY ATTITUDE IMPOSING UPON PARADISE, THAT MUSKOKA CAN BE SO MUCH BETTER…..IF WE CAN MAKE IT INTO THE DANCING BEAR THAT MAKES US MONEY.

WHEN I READ ABOUT THESE LATEST, MOST REVEALING MISSIONS TO DEFINE MUSKOKA, I WANT TO RESPOND. I WANT TO VISIT OUR REGIONAL POLITICIANS, AND TALK OPENLY WITH INVESTORS AND DEVELOPERS, WHO FEEL IT NECESSARY TO DEFINE WHAT CAN NOT BE DEFINED…..AND INFORM THEM WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IN THE PAST 35 YEARS, OF IMMERSING MYSELF IN EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY IN THIS AMAZING REGION…..THAT THEY SHOULD KNOW THROUGH PERCEPTION AND INTUITION. NATURE IS A LIFE FORCE. NOT A PLATFORM, CONSTRUCTED BY ORDER OF COUNCIL. HAVEN'T WE LEARNED ANYTHING FROM NATURAL DISASTERS….THAT NATURE DOESN'T WORK OFF A PROGRAM, OR ADHERE TO BYLAWS AND DECREES. THEN WHY DO WE FEEL IT INCUMBENT, KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW……TO FOLLY IN THE ABSURD, TRYING TO PROVE WE CAN FORCE NATURE TO COMPLY WITH THE INTERESTS OF SOCIETY…..WHEN TIME AND AGAIN, SOME GREAT ERUPTION OF A VOLCANO, AN EARTHQUAKE, OR TYPHOON, WILL KNOCK ABOUT AND BURY, WHAT WE BELIEVED WAS CAST TO ENDURE THE RIGORS OF CATASTROPHE.

I HAVE WATCHED FROM MY VERANDAH, HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, WHEN SOME JERK, WILL PULL A TRUCK BESIDE THE HOLLOW OF WILDFLOWERS, ABUTTING THE WIDER BOG, AND PROCEED TO DUMP GARBAGE, FROM OLD PAINT CANS AND OIL BOTTLES, BROKEN GLASS, AND OLD ASPHALT. AND WHEN YOU CONFRONT SUCH A PERSON, AS MY WIFE SUZANNE AND I DO FREQUENTLY, THE LOOK OF DISDAIN ON THEIR FACES TELLS IT ALL. THEY FEEL ENTITLED, YOU SEE, AS IF THIS BOG WAS MADE FOR THEM, TO MEET THEIR DISPOSAL NEEDS. THEY DON'T APPEAR EMBARRASSED THAT THEY'VE BEEN CAUGHT, AND SOME OF THEM HAVE TOLD US, IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, TO GET LOST BEFORE WE GOT HURT. WELL, WE'VE NEVER BEEN THWARTED BECAUSE OF A THREAT OR TWO, AND IT'S AMAZING WHAT A PEN AND PIECE OF PAPER CAN DO, WHEN IT CONTAINS LICENSE PLATE INFORMATION. THE POINT IS, THERE IS A WIDESPREAD DISREGARD FOR THIS NATURE OF OURS. IT COMES IN PART, BECAUSE OUTDOOR EDUCATION, IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, IS GROSSLY UNDER-FUNDED, AND UNDER APPRECIATED BY THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SCHOOL BOARDS, AND THE TOOLS OF GOVERNMENT, WHO CAN NOT SEE WHAT THESE INEFFICIENCIES OF EDUCATION, ARE DOING TO THE LANDSCAPE…..THAT BY THE WAY……IS OUR LIFELINE……AND OF THAT, THERE IS NO DISAGREEMENT. I CAN'T IMAGINE HOW MUCH POLLUTION IS DUMPED IN THE LAKES, RIVERS, WETLANDS AND ROADSIDES OF THIS REGION. SO WHEN I HEAR ABOUT TAGGING GARBAGE BAGS, AS A WAY OF CUTTING DOWN EXCESSES AT THE LOCAL LANDFILL SITES, OH, HOW I WOULD LOVE TO MEET THIS DULLARDS, AND INVITE THEM TO SEE WHAT THEY CAN'T…..ABOUT PRESENT ABUSES THAT NO ONE CAN STOP……THAT'S KILLING US ALL BIT BY BIT.

I DO NOT HAVE FAITH IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AS EFFICIENT, CAUTIOUS STEWARDS OF THE NATURE OF MUSKOKA. THIS I CAN DEFINE IN ONLY A FEW WORDS.