Early Spring Storm and The Essence Of Old Winter

Lake Muskoka (photo by Fred Schulz)

THE EARLY SPRING STORM WILL BE EITHER WICKED OR PASSIVE; BUT IT'S NOT UNUSUAL IN MUSKOKA

     IT WAS NOTICED OF CANADIAN LANDSCAPE ARTIST, TOM THOMSON, THAT HE OFTEN BECAME VERY AGITATED, AND WITHDRAWN, WHEN THERE WAS A STORM-FRONT MOVING OVER THE ALGONQUIN LAKELAND. HE SEEMED TO, FOR A TIME, BE MESMERIZED BY THE SUBTLE CHANGES TO THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF THE INCOMING STORM, AND HOW THE ANIMALS, BIRDS AND INSECTS, DISAPPEARED FROM THE VISIBLE LANDSCAPE; AND THE CHIRPING OF BIRDS CEASED AS THE THUNDER INCREASED, EVEN MILES IN THE DISTANCE. WHEN THE WIND, RAIN, AND LIGHTENING CHANGED THE WHOLE MOOD OF THE LAKELAND, HE WOULD FIND A PORTAL FROM WHICH TO STUDY IT'S SHORT-LIVED RAGE, AND THOSE WITH HIM AT THE TIME, FELT HE ACTUALLY FOUND THE SPIRIT WITHIN, TO EMBRACE, AND THE PASSION TO INTERPRET THE STORM, AS IF FROM THE INSIDE-OUT. HE BECAME STRANGELY SILENT, AND CONCENTRATED ON HIS STUDIES OR SKETCHES, AND WHEN HE FINISHED HIS WORK, THOSE WHO WOULD COMMENT THAT HE HAD "CAPTURED THE ESSENCE," OR "RAGE" OF THE STORM, PLEASED HIM GREATLY…..AS IT HAD BEEN HIS INTENT, MORESO THAN JUST DEPICTING A RAIN EVENT OVER AN ALGONQUIN LAKE. IT WAS SAID THOMSON UNDERSTOOD THE LEGENDS OF THE LAKELAND…..AS HE HAD KNOWN THEM INTIMATELY THROUGH HIS EXPLORATIONS BY CANOE AND PORTAGE…..CAMPING DEEP IN THE WOODLANDS; UNDERSTANDING THE ESSENCE OF THOSE SPIRITS THE FIRST NATIONS PEOPLES HAD TOLD STORIES ABOUT…..REGALED FOR HIM, LIKE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS PAINTED THE COLD ALGONQUIN SKY. LONELY. HAUNTED.

     I have felt somewhat the same, but not as an artist. I am not a painter. I have been out in The Bog, on the upland adjacent to Muskoka Bay, of the larger Lake Muskoka, many times, on the verge of these spring time storms, that can be surprising angry and damaging, as the seasons clash……winter not wishing to die off gently…..spring commanding its rights of the rolling year to dominate. Tonight there is a visible weather front dominating the sky, for miles, as if dividing Muskoka north and south into this weather event. There have been many predictions over the course of the day, advising us to expect heavy rain, freezing rain, and snowfall. While some of us are weather-beaten and exhausted by the winter of 2013, that only began this year in early January, the old timers, as I now find myself included in that number, remember many other early spring storms, that transformed the budding gardens into sculpted snow banks. This may be one of those post winter events, that set our gardening plans off for a week or so. Possibly it will only be rain, without any freezing whatsoever. Or, on the other hand, it may turn us back into that winter wonderland, we have just recently been relieved.

     I plan on staying up quite late this evening, as I do very much enjoy watching a storm unfold, over this haunted hollow of land, here in South Muskoka. The wind will smash at this window with brute force, and the birches in The Bog will bend, and weave in silhouette, in a spirited dance against the wavering of huge pine boughs, and maples, lashed by the gusts of cold wind off the still frozen lake. There is indeed, something ominously compelling about the arrival of a storm, and I find it all part of the attraction of this region…..that has so generously tempted poets and artists from its earliest days of settlement.

     Please be careful when attempting to navigate through this bad weather, however it may present itself. In the case of freezing rain, why not sit one out, for safety's sake. Sit by the window, like I have here at Birch Hollow, and sip hot tea, and nibble scones……while waiting for the legitimate arrival of spring. Nature is like this……and we should all be respectful of her moods.

     The wind has picked up, and when I was last outside, there was a spray of cold rain in the air. The turn has commenced. Thomson would be at heightened alert….for the arrival of something amazing…..something inspirational.