Muskoka Was A Haven For Canadian Authors

My love of trains and railway history was instilled in my life at a very young age while growing up on the side of the railway tracks in Kilworthy.   The old water tank in Washago has stood the test of time and proudly stands as an important part of our local railway history.   How many steam engines pulled their water tender under the tank to be refilled before heading off on their journey to the North Country or southern to Toronto.  I can remember the excitement of the age of steam engines pulling into the Kilworthy Station and the excitement of the arrival of the first diesel locomotive.   I’ve even brought home some coal cinders that I proudly treasure as a memory of the days of steam. - Photo By Fred Schulz

FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE GREAT BARDS? MAYBE WE SHOULD!

MUSKOKA AS WALDEN

QUITE A NUMBER OF CANADA'S BEST KNOWN BARDS…., THE POETS, PHILOSOPHERS AND ASSORTED OTHER CREATIVE MINDS, FOUND THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA A PARTICULARLY INSPIRING PLACE IN WHICH TO CREATE. IN FACT, THEY GATHERED AT THE FORMER MUSKOKA ASSEMBLY, ON TOBIN'S ISLAND, LAKE ROSSEAU, (NEAR WINDERMERE), AS PART OF THE ROAMING CANADIAN CHATAUQUA PROGRAM. ANY ONE WHO KNOWS THIS LOCATION, WOULD AGREE WITH CLAIMS, ABOUT ITS PICTURESQUE QUALITIES.

THE POOLING OF POETS AND PHILOSOPHERS, WAS AT ITS PEAK IN THE 1920'S AND 30'S, AND INCLUDED SUCH IMPORTANT CANADIAN WRITERS AS WILSON MACDONALD, BLISS CARMEN, CHARLES G.D. ROBERTS, MARSHALL SAUNDERS (BOOK, BEAUTIFUL JOE) PLUS MANY OTHER LITERARY RISING STARS. MUSKOKA OFFERED A SORT OF SPIRITUAL CONNECTION, AFFORDING AN AWAKENING OF THE SENSES. I TALKED WITH A WRITER, WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THE CHATAUQUA MOVEMENT, AND ITS STAY IN MUSKOKA, AND SHE WAS VERY CLEAR ABOUT THE FACT MUSKOKA IS, AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE, A VERY "SPIRITUAL PLACE." IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN FOR ME, BUT THEN I'M NOT A GREAT BARD, OR REVERED PHILOSOPHER.

AT DAYBREAK THIS MORNING, THE MOON ON THE WESTERN HORIZON, WAS CUT BY THREE THIN, EVENLY SEPARATED LAYERS OF CLOUD. IT LOOKED MORE LIKE AN EMBLEM ON A FLAG, THAN A GENUINE NATURAL OCCURRENCE. IT HAD AN AMAZING WHITE GLOW AND PINK BACKDROP OF SKY. REFLECTING OFF THE DIAMOND-LIGHT OF THE DISTANT, UNDULATING SNOWSCAPE, AND THROUGH THE BRANCHES OF THE MAPLES IN THE YARD, IT LOOKED QUITE FASCINATING TO THE INADVERTENT VOYEUR. I'M SURE THE POET-KIND MIGHT HAVE MADE COPIOUS NOTES ABOUT THE MORNING SKY, AND TURNED IT INTO SOMETHING POETIC…..SOMETHING REFLECTIVE OF LIFE AND BEYOND, AND THE UNIVERSALITY OF IT ALL. I HAVE LONG BEEN A READER OF THEIR WORK. I HAVE FELT MANY TIMES, THAT THESE POETS, FROM OUR PAST, SAW SOMETHING IN THIS REGION THAT WE HAVE COME TO IGNORE. IN THIS DAY AND AGE, WITH TECHNOLOGY SEEMINGLY OUR NEW REASON TO WORSHIP AND HOPE, THE WORK OF THE POETS HAS BEEN RELEGATED TO DARK, DUSTY, COB-WEBBED CORNERS OF LIBRARIES. AT AN ESTATE SALE, OR AUCTION, WE MIGHT BE LUCKY ENOUGH, TO FIND A FEW COPIES OF THE BOOKS WRITTEN AND SIGNED BY WILSON MACDONALD, WHO SPENT CONSIDERABLE TIME IN OUR REGION, WELL BEYOND THE DAYS OF THE MUSKOKA ASSEMBLY. HE WOULD DO READINGS AT SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES, AND SELL HIS OWN BOOKS AFTER HIS PRESENTATION…..OFTEN TO VERY SUBSTANTIAL AUDIENCES. HE WOULD SIT AND AUTOGRAPH ALL THE BOOKS HE SOLD, WITH A LITTLE NOTATION ADDED AT THE TIME….OF HIS OWN CREATION, AND POTENTIALLY EVEN A LITTLE GRAPHIC INCLUSION…..IF YOU WERE TO ENGAGE HIM IN DISCUSSION, WHILE HE STILL HAD PEN IN HAND. I HAVE QUITE A NUMBER OF BOOKS HE HAND-ILLUMINATED, WHILE SITTING, AND TALKING WITH HIS READERS.

I KNOW, AHEAD OF TIME, THAT MOST PEOPLE I TALK TO THESE DAYS, ABOUT MUSKOKA HISTORY, WILL HAVE NO IDEA WHO WILSON MACDONALD WAS….OR THE OTHER POETS OF HIS DAY. YET LIKE THE ARTISTS OF THE LEGENDARY GROUP OF SEVEN, WHO GAVE US A NEW AND EXCITING WAY OF LOOKING AT OUR COUNTRY, THESE WERE THE WRITERS, GIVING THIS COUNTRY ITS LITERARY HERITAGE. MUSKOKA FACTORED HEAVILY INTO THIS LITERARY HISTORY. BUT IT'S NOT LIKELY THAT WILSON MACDONALD, OR BLISS CARMEN OR CHARLES G.D. ROBERTS, WILL EVER AGAIN BE NAMES BANDIED ABOUT, OR ON THE TIP OF ANYONE'S TONGUE. SADLY, IT IS A LOSS TO OUR REGION, BECAUSE THESE POETS AND PHILOSOPHERS, AND ARTISTS WHO PAINTED AROUND OUR LAKELAND, DID RECOGNIZE THE HIDDEN SPIRITUALITY OF THE ALLURING HINTERLAND. THE ACADEMICS OF THE PAST, FOUND REASON TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MUSKOKA WAS A NURTURING GROUND FOR PROGRESSIVE THOUGHT. I HAVE NEVER ONCE, AS A LONG TIME WRITER AND HISTORIAN, SERVING THIS REGION OF ONTARIO, FOUND ANY REASON TO DISMISS THEIR OBSERVANCES ABOUT THE SOURCES OF INSPIRATION, MUSKOKA OFFERS ITS CREATIVE RESIDENTS. ONE NEED NOT GO FURTHER THAN THE LIST OF ACTIVE MUSKOKA ARTISTS AND ARTISANS, WHO HAVE FOUND IDEAL PORTALS ONTO THE HINTERLAND, FROM WHICH TO WORK. YOU CAN FIND MANY OF THESE FOLKS, MEMBERS OF THE MUSKOKA ARTS AND CRAFTS ASSOCIATION, OF WHICH I HAVE ENORMOUS RESPECT. WE ALL HAVE OUR SPECIAL WINDOWS OVERLOOKING THE NATURAL ATTRIBUTES OF THIS DYNAMIC REGION.

THERE ARE REASONS WE TAKE THE NATURE OF MUSKOKA FOR GRANTED. IT DOESN'T SEEM AS IMPORTANT AS THE FUNCTIONING OF OUR DAY TO DAY LIVES. IT DOESN'T SEEM, AT TIMES, ANYTHING MORE THAN A FRUSTRATION TO DEVELOPERS……WHEN OPPONENTS USE ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY TO BLOCK EARTH MOVERS AND TARMAC. WE PASS BY THESE WOODLANDS BY DAY AND NIGHT, AND THINK OF THEM AS A PRETTY BACKDROP ON A SUNNY MORNING, OR MOONLIT NIGHT. WHEN WE HEAR A CHAINSAW SOMEWHERE IN THE DISTANCE, WE ASSUME A TREE THAT IS DEAD, IS BEING FELLED FOR SAFETY REASONS. WHEN WE READ IN THE DAILY NEWS, OR ONLINE, THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIFTED WITH A SPRAWLING NEW DEVELOPMENT, A BOX STORE OR STRIP MALL, WE INITIALLY GET EXCITED THAT MORE JOB OPPORTUNITIES WILL BE CREATED. WHEN WE SEE THE DUMP TRUCKS RUMBLING BY, WITH FULL LOADS OF MOTHER EARTH, WE ASSUME OUR REGION IS FINALLY COMING OF AGE. WHEN WE FIND OUT THAT A MARINA EXPANSION WILL OCCUR, WITH MORE DOCKING SPACE FOR BOATS, IT'S USUALLY ONLY THOSE WITH A VESTED INTEREST, AS NEIGHBORS, WHO FEEL ANY SENSE OF CONCERN ABOUT FUTURE CONGESTION, AND ISSUES OF WATER QUALITY. WHEN WE GET SNOWED IN, WE COMPLAIN ABOUT HORRIBLE WINTERS. WHEN OUR EVENTS ARE RAINED OUT, IT IS NATURE'S FAULT.

I MISS THE RAMBLINGS OF OLD POETS THROUGH OUR WILD PLACES. I MISS THE WAY THEY INFORMED US, THE STAKE-HOLDERS OF THIS AMAZING REGION, THAT WE SHOULD OPEN OURSELVES TO ITS INHERENT SPIRITUALITY…..LET IT SOOTHE AWAY OUR WOES…..INSPIRE OUR FUTURE EFFORTS. I MISS THE EMPHASIS THEY PLACED, ON NATURAL QUALITIES, AND REALITIES WE NEED TO BE CONCERNED. I MISS THEIR CREATIVE ENCOURAGEMENT, TO INSPIRE US TO LOOK BEYOND WHATS PRESENTS AS REAL AND PERPETUATING, TO SEE LIFE AS A GREAT WEALTH….AS AN ENDURING RESOURCE, TO BE USED AND CELEBRATED. ALAS, THE WORK OF THE GREAT BARDS, THE PHILOSOPHERS OF A YOUNG COUNTRY, ARE SELDOM, IF EVER RECALLED, EXCEPT BY SENTIMENTAL FOOLS LIKE ME…..WHO STILL DEPEND TOO MUCH, I SUPPOSE, ON THE SPIRITUALITY THEY FOUND DURING THEIR ADVENTURES. NOW IT IS A NEW SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, FOR TODAY'S INVESTORS ARRIVING IN THE LAKELAND…..TO EXPLOIT WHAT THEY SEE ONLY AS AN UNTAPPED RESOURCE…..NOT A CIRCULATORY VEIN OF ENLIGHTENMENT, SUCH THAT STEWARDSHIP SHOULD OUTWEIGH CAPITALIST FERVOR. WE ARE IN FOR A FUTURE OF EXPLOITATION, BUT NOT BASED ON THE REGION'S SPIRITUAL ESSENCE. BASED ON MARKET VALUE.

"COME NOT THE LEISURE OF THIS DRIFTING MOON, NOR BLAME THE LAZY LOITERING OF STARS, THAT PASS ABOVE THESE ISLES OF BEARDED STONE; NOR WONDER SHOULD THE SLOWLY WHEELING CARS OF ALGOL AND ARCTURUS CRAVE THE BOON, TO EVER REMAIN - AND NIGHT PAUSE LIKE A NOMAD WHO HAS FOUND, IN WOODLANDS STRUNG WITH MOONLIGHT WHOSE PALE RAIN, DESCENDS TO EARTH WITH NEITHER SCENT NOR TONE, THE HAVEN WHITHER AGELONG SHE WAS BOUND.

DARK ARE THESE GROPING WATERS, DARK AS WINE, FROM A WILD CHERRY'S HEART; A LIGHT WIND COMES, WITH SPEED OF FIRE AROUND A WOODED TURN, WITHIN WHOSE DROWSY HAUNTS A PARTRIDGE STRUMS, IN DREAMS, DISTURBING SLUMBER OF THE PINE. HERE THE WHITE POPLARS BOIL, ABOVE THE MOON-FIRES KINDLED IN A POOL, WHEREIN THE DYING HEMLOCK POURS ITS OIL, AND WHERE THE BROWN, DECAYING FRONDS OF FERN, LIE IN A DREAMLESS SLUMBER, SWEET AND COOL."

THE POEM, ENTITLED SIMPLY, "MUSKOKA" WAS WRITTEN BY MADONALD, PUBLISHED IN HIS 1926 BOOK, "OUT OF THE WILDERNESS," INSPIRED BY HIS DAYS SPENT ON TOBIN'S ISLAND, LAKE ROSSEAU.