Impressions of The Rock-ELSS
The Rock stands opposite the Elliot Lake Secondary School. It was there to watch the school first be built and the student population to grow to over 1000 students. It has watched the same population shrink to about half of that. Teachers and students have come and gone. Some students have returned as teachers themselves. One past student is now the music teacher, while another has become the Vice Principle, still another has become the school nurse. Other students have returned as parents of students now attending the school.
The Rock has seen it all. Graduation, dances, the great Elizabethan Banquet, school plays, the Aboriginal Culture week, first days and final exams. It has witnessed the highs and the lows. It has seen enter those who would lead the young to greater self-knowledge and self-worth through a wide education in the arts a, technology, sciences & mathematics, business, computers & mass media, and the humanities. It has seen those who tried to hide in the shadows of trees and bushes or a in parked car, ready to lead young minds down less favourable paths. Success and failure, the Rock has been witness to both.
Tears of laughter and grief have fallen on and near the Rock. Not all students graduate, not all students grow into adults. Not all teachers get to a well-earned retirement. Thankfully such events and the tears they give birth too are infrequent, though it would be better if no such tears need fall. Better the tears of teenage heartbreak or a minor set-back in the road to independent adult life. Better still the tears that come from joyous laughter that echoes through the halls, out the doors, and across the parking lot to be heard on The Rock.
Antique Impressions: Elliot Lake Ontario
The above scene was taken a few years ago looking across Elliot Lake from the senior’s manor. The colours and saturation levels were modified and combined with a texture layer to age the image.
Highway 108 Heading South_April23-2012
As I have mentioned before in earlier posts, the contrast between the natural environment and human activity can be very dramatic. You can drive outside of a community and in a manner of minutes feel like you are in the middle of empty wilderness. There are times when we take this for granted or just blend into the scenery. If you look carefully at the next image you will see a student sitting on the rock reading her book. Each year the grads paint their year and names on the Rock. There a multiple layers going back to the 1950′s.
Elliot Lake Secondary School Parking Lot _ The Rock
Time is dictated by rock, trees, and sky. Step a few feet from a road or a school parking lot and turn in away from human occupation and you are suddenly alone. You face an ancient and powerful environment. You can feel both its power and age.
On the Rock 2
Our humble efforts at leaving an impression on the world seem like faded aged paper. The details becoming less and less sharp as time goes by.
Antique Impressions: North Ontario Trees
North Ontario Trees
Clinging to dreaming old rock.
Spring slowly returns,
Trembling roots await the sun;
Chilled stone recalls summer.
North Ontario, Trees
Suspended between seasons,
Trapped on a page.
Time taped at the corners,
Old photographs recall spring.
On my way to work,
Passing those trees so often.
They have grown taller.
Spring slowly returns again.
My bones, like the chilled stone,
Recall the summer.
Should’ve I tarried longer ?
Note: More photos of current area just beyond the school parking lot. Poetry form - mostly Tanka.
Surreal Thursday: North Ontario Rock
When you live in North Ontario, you acquire a different perspective on things. You see things from a different angle. It is the rock. It juts and protrudes & intrudes from any variety of directions. It creates patterns that merge with the more organic forms that cling and grow on and between the rock.
Trees, shrubs, small plants, moss, and lichen live and thrive on and amongst the rock. Yes, it should be rocks, but really there is only one rock. The Precambrian Shield strong and united, even when fractured. It is one rock on which we stand, commute, build, work, play, and sleep. You never escape the rock.
The rock is everywhere, even when you try to hide it with pavement, concrete, asphalt, homes, schools, malls, and sundry buildings. It is older than dirt. More confident than the oldest tree. Only its sisters the sky and sea can compare. They however are temperamental, always changing. The rock simply is and will always be.
In North Ontario, time is measured by these things, sunlight, wind, precipitation, temperature, and the rock. The first four divide up human memory into manageable chunks. The rock measures out eternity.
Note: The original shots were all taken right next to the school parking lot, just a few feet from where I regularly park my car.
Antique Impressions: Birch Trees in April
The Birch Trees in Spring
Sing without the breeze’s voice.
Eager green buds swell,
Ready to be embraced
By the Sun’s hot promises.
The Tanka poem has been considered the most important form and the oldest style of Japanese poetry. It dates back to the 1300s. This verse consists of five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables whose intent is to focus the reader’s attention on a single event, or image and the mood that is associated with it. In it its Japanese form it is considered a lyric poem. While sharing some of the same concerns as haiku verse, Tanka poems often are romantic in nature or concerned with the temporariness of love.
Click images for enlargement & detail.
Surreal Thursday: Heavy Snow Expected Friday ?!
Well, it is definitely a Surreal Thursday. My daughter continues to be sick and my wife had to take her in to emerge. There is a bug going around and some are getting hit harder than other. This was the Canadian Winter that wasn’t and the flu season seemed to be the same. Oops, ………. we are getting hit late. Yes the first image is a modified screen shot of Environment Canada’s anticipated weather for late tonight and Friday, ….. SNOWFALL WARNING IN EFFECT.
A developing low pressure system over the central plains of the U.S. will track over Lake Huron on Friday and reach Western Quebec by Saturday morning.
This system is expected to bring a significant snowfall to the Nickel Belt and Nipissing region on Friday (April 20). Snow in advance of this low will begin overnight with snowfall amounts near 15 cm expected for the Elliot Lake area while the Nipissing region will likely see between 15 and 25 cm by late Friday.
The snow is forecast to taper off in western regions late Friday afternoon and near the Quebec border late Friday evening.
Please note, our snow storms, and other messy weather, comes from the U.S.A. . There is this misconception that all the bad weather in the States comes from “up North” (Canada), the same way they blamed us for those terrorists that caused the 911 attack. We send you Snowbirds who flock to Florida , New Mexico, and Texas. America supplies us with illegal guns and sitcoms& reality TV and we supply them with oil, legal gay marriage, hockey players, and not so legal grass ( from BC’s golden coast, where the Rockies have a blue haze).
As you can see, it is all very surreal. So here a few more surreal images to complete the day.
Surreal Icicle
Confused icicle doesn’t know which way the warm winds are blowing.
Elliot Lake Lookout & Fire Tower
Can you read the secret message in this image ?
Surreal Horse & Signs
How not to place signs when you install an eye-catching sculpture. Shall we say surreal ?
Click images to get a 3d surreal experience of Canada. You have to supply your own D , here is the 3.
Birch Trees & Trailer
In Northern Ontario there is a unique mix of the natural environment and urban/industrial decay. This can be especially true in smaller communities where a small industrial area is next to the tree line. I took the original photos on the weekend when I was doing recycle drop off. The methodology for processing required using the Redfield Plugin and VirtualPhotographer Plugin .
Then & Now
The flower stand covered in a white bloom,
Shadows mark the passing days.
Now look where you step.
Note: Go to seekrazfor another take on Snow Cones.
Frozen Memories
The seasons shift and time is frozen in memory. Winter releases its grip reluctantly. Suspended between coming and going, familiar landscapes slowly alter as we gaze.
Overhead, the signs of the next change soar and hover in the air, finally coming to rest on the shifting ice. Horizon lines recede in the bright sun. Half remembered paths begin to fade.
Memories of seasons past, present, and future merge.
Note: If you click the third image to see the enlargement, you will see the seagulls sitting on the ice, just past the mid-way point .
Memories on Newsprint
These two photos were taken last weekend during our unexpected week of March “Summer” here in Elliot Lake. You can see the snowmobile tracks in the thinning ice. In the first photo, you are looking at Spruce Beach. The shot was taken from Spine Beach looking East. Below in the second shot you can see the view in reverse from Spruce Beach looking west.
I have called this post Memories on Newsprint because they are constructed realities that suggest a more distant past than they actually are. I have been experimenting with creating aged newsprint backgrounds & textures. I used photographs of recent newspaper pages and flyers to create these “aged” pieces. Time passes and we construct memories built from sensory experience and saved within emotional context. Below is another shot looking out from the Spruce Beach parking lot toward the “famous” rock and island beyond. Islands trapped in melting ice, like memories wrapped in yellowing newsprint and sepia tones.
Katrien does this post fit the chronotope definition ? Or are we all creating new examples/forms through the process of blogging ?
The Spanish River Inn -Again!
So, as predicted, on Thurday of this week, we returned again to The Spanish River Inn. This time it was an afternoon visit. Tasha’s respite worker had arrived and Liz & I were on a “real date“. We did bring down some of her artwork for display at the Inn, but with the pleasant weather and another delightful meal, it was a very relaxing experience.
As you can see, I did get some exterior shots of the establishment and what you would see looking across the street. Martine and Brent will quickly admit that there is still work to do on refurbishing the exterior and making further modifications to the interior. (See: From mini-putt to Ottawa and back ) The next phase will begin in the Spring ( based on today’s weather, it would appear that Spring is desperately trying to grow up into Summer fast ).
Once we had taken in the Lynx Table and some other pieces ( See: Art of the Drum ), we checked out the Special of the day.
We both went with the Special, the Ham Apple Sandwich. Wow, what a sandwich. Honestly we were not sure what to expect. You do not automatically think of Black Forest Ham, slices of apple, and black pepper-garlic aioli . I had only the vaguest recollection of what aioli was. What it was was heavenly. Even my son, who can be fussy, would have loved this.
The lady in charge that afternoon was “Smiling Sue” Beckerton. My wife requested the French Onion soup – she really enjoyed the soup at the last visit – and Sue graciously and efficiently made the necessary modifications to the order. I went with the side order of fries and I can understand why Tasha had gobbled them up on our previous visit. These were “Real fries with skins” with a wonderful seasoning.
Dining Room Spanish River Inn
Our leisurely meal allowed me the opportunity to take a few photos of the pub/bar area, where the piano and guitar were waiting for the musically inclined.
On The Rocks at The Spanish River Inn
We topped the lunch off with dessert. My wife had the Raspberry Strudel, while I tried the White Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake. If you must run into a mousse up here on a Northern Ontario highway, this is the only kind that will leave a smile on your face. The cake was light and it is an excellent chocolate fix for an afternoon.The Deep Dish Pecan is still my favourite, but I can not live that dangerously twice in one week; well I can, but I really shouldn’t, even on March Break.
Pitcher Perfect
There is one particular building I must comment on. It has puzzled & intrigued me for years. I have been wanting to photograph it for sometime now, but the opportunity had never arose before. It is in bad shape and abuts the railway. As mentioned in the earlier post, part of Spanish’s development was tied to the railway and the Inn occupies the same site as the original hotel.
Brent explained to me that the “ugliest building in town” was once a train station. After the original one burnt down in the 50′s the “contemporary block building ” was constructed on the same spot where the first building had been. The town is in process of making arangements with the rail-line to do something with the building. They will have to see if it is in any way salvageable, or if they will demolish it and build something in its place. In either case, being in such close proximity to the tracks means permission is required to do any work. This also means that these images may be some of the last before changes begin.
In closing, it was a great afternoon of food, local sight-seeing & photography. As a bonus, we just got news that one of Elizabeth’s pieces has been sold. Oh, as to my vehicle, it had no trouble handling the impact of the mousse – my belt was only mildly irked.
Reminder: Clicking images will in many cases show larger more detailed image.
Update: Martine sent me this photo of the station.
Art of the Drum
In my previous post I featured sketchbook pages done by my wife, Elizabeth Kanski. Besides being an art teacher, Elizabeth has been an artist in Elliot Lake for many years. Liz’s work has concentrated mostly on the animals found in our area of Northern Ontario. Over time she has gravitated to working on a unique range of material. She has been asked to paint animals, Northern Ontario scenes, and specific personal pieces on such materials as, mirrors, walls, milk cans, paddles, saws, and various sizes and shapes of wood.
Her willingness to experiment and adapt has allowed her to expand her range and expose her students to many types of media. As mentioned in the last post, she worked with leather & hides and introduced traditional First Nation art & artisan-ship to students who were unfamiliar with it. This also helped promote First Nation culture within the school, helping to raise the profile of our students who come from nearby First Nation communities.
While you would think that there would be a greater appreciation of these traditions in the Northern Ontario community, it has not always been the case. We have seen many gradual changes in the relationship between First Nations and non-native Canadian communities. Our native students have only recently formed a Native Student Alliance at the school with the support of staff and community elders.
Even Elizabeth’s early work with other materials was not always welcomed. Years ago she entered a juried art tour. Artist from outside our town were brought in from one of the nearby cities to act as impartial judges. She was not accepted . Her work included some painted cans and a table that she had constructed from local wood cut by an individual in town. The only critique given at that time was that she should try using more “traditional” materials. At the time, she was devastated. I was flummoxed. I suggested the next time she should paint on cave walls to ensure she met the criteria.
I suppose the lesson in this is that as the Stephen Sondheim song goes, “Art isn’t easy”. One person’s innovation is too “untraditional” to another. One person’s cultural worth is unrecognized by another. Society is full of assumed beliefs, values, and ideologies. They have unintended consequences on everyone., whether you are a local art teacher & artist, senior citizens or teenagers.
The pieces presented in this post includes some of recent work, as well as some older pieces. Elizabeth signs her work using her family name Braune.
Surreal Thursday: From My Wife’s Sketchbook
My wife, Elizabeth Kanski, is a Secondary School Art teacher and artist. We are a small composite school in a small northern Ontario community. This means my wife is the art department. She instructs grades 9 -12, all levels, and all ranges of students. This year she initiated two new programs that she had to create from scratch. She is constantly expanding here range of skills and adapting to a wide range of students. They go from the potentially university bound art student to the special need student.
Last semester she initiated the Native Studies Grade 9 Art course. There was supposed to be extra government funding to help support getting materials and accessing local First Nation artists, artisans, and elders. The application went in last june. We are still waiting. Our principal must somehow balance his school budget to accommodate the shortfall. Some of the money came out of my wife’s pocket and the school is trying to reimburse as money arrives. Government funding is surreal.
The program my wife is initiating this semester is an integrated arts class for Special Ed students. They are creating masks and a variety of puppets. They are developing stories based on faerie tales and native folklore. The goal is perform at feeder schools in the area. Once again the ministry has wide open parameters, but she needs to create this from scratch.
As a teacher and artist she must continually learn new skills and then figure out how to present and instruct a wide range of students. This year she learned drum & moccasin making. She is now acquiring skills and information on black-light theatre.
This year my wife and I are both retiring. She thought she might go one more year. Her health and the recent sabre rattling coming from the Provincial Government has reduced her steam. She worries about the students she leaves behind. She will make herself available for the new much younger teacher who will be challenged to fill her shoes.
Enjoy these pages from her sketchbook. To teach you must be able to do and then figure out how to instruct to the needs of the student. Sometimes you sketch out or doodle out ideas. The art of teaching is staying surreal and real at the same time. Enjoy the day !
Antique Impressions: Sumac
Sumac is a common, well-known and easily recognized feature of the rural North American landscape. These small trees with thick twigs and an almost tropical appearance are familiar to most country dwellers. Their shape and large cone-like, dark red berry clusters are distinctive and their bright red autumn foliage is hard to forget. Yet few people know that these little trees have provided a delicious and refreshing summer drink throughout much of the world for thousands of years. Sumac :The wild lemonade berry (Link)
All of the true (edible) sumacs have dark reddish or purple fruit borne in erect, tight clusters. (On some of the western species, the clusters are pretty small and may not be as tight as on the eastern species, but they are still distinctly red.) The surface of the fruit is fuzzy or grainy.
Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America. The word sumac traces its etymology from Old French sumac (13th century), from Medieval Latin sumach, from Arabic summāq (سماق), from Syriac summāq (ܣܘܡܩ) – meaning “red.” The First Nation people also used the leaves and drupes of the Smooth and Staghorn Sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures. Sumac stems also have a soft pith in the centre that is useful in traditional First Nation pipe-making and the plant was also used in traditional healing & to make dyes.
Sumac was used as a treatment for half a dozen different ailments in medieval medicine, primarily in Islamic countries (where sumac was more readily available than in Europe). An 11th-century shipwreck off the coast of Rhodes, excavated by archaeologists in the 1970s, contained commercial quantities of sumac drupes. These could have been intended for use as medicine, or as a culinary spice, or as a dye.
Variations: Seagull in Flight
Seagulls are birds -
Closely related to the terns -
See how they turn .
The acrobats of the sky
Float motionless in midair.
Catching wind currents,
Like pieces of bread
Thrown in white clouds,
At just the right angle
Their bodies
Appear effortless.
Most gulls
With perfect timing and precision
Belong to the large family,
Larus.
“Ravenous sea birds” float above,
While positioning
Around the oceans worldwide.
Distantly related to auks, and skimmers,
Seagulls can be misleading inland,
At just the right angle.
Easing human-bird conflict,
Swedish city toilet train seagulls.
Impossible antics inland
Are so numerous.
Conflict appears effortless
At just the right angle.
White feathers bright with sunlight
Twist with ease in the air.
Ravenous white birds
Drink
Sea & Fresh water
Without conflict -
With the exception of some
Central Pacific islands.
White vehicles ,
See how they turn ?
See how they turn !
Droppings
At just the right angle
Catch the wind currents.
In Southern Ontario / GTA
Gulls in large numbers
Are Larus all year round.
Catching wind currents,
The CN Tower recedes,
As they await the Blue Jays.
Many people
Consider the gulls.
A Nuisance ?
Sanitation engineers with wings ?
See how they turn motionless .
Impossible antics are numerous.
Numerous Provincial and Federal laws
See how they turn
Without conflict ?
Note: This found poem uses several sources. Each link leads to location. The CN tower link leads to an earlier post about the tower. The bird on the wire link leads to a very interesting news photo from the Canadian Maritimes.
On Ice
The weather changes and shifts. The ice is still holding up in our area. No way of knowing what the conditions will be by the weekend. These images were based on photographs taken from the boat launch near the West View Park in Elliot Lake Ontario. Experiments in colour and texture., they hopefully represent how warmer temperatures are on ice.
Note: My plans for this post changed when the combination of a phone call and a glitch in the computer resulted in lost work and revised images. Enjoy the day & the days yet to come.
Spanish River Inn
We started off our March Break on Saturday with fine dining. It was a wonderful evening. The food, the setting , the company , and the musical entertainment were all excellent and very memorable. My wife is less satisfied with my cooking efforts now, sigh. I even made sour-dough banana pancakes Sunday morning, but she kept talking about the food from the night before. So we will have to return again …, and again, and again to The Spanish River Inn.
For those who are not that familiar with the area, the community of Spanish, Ontario, is located in an area that is known as the North Shore (above the North Channel of Lake Huron). As you drive west from the Sudbury District , along the Trans-Canada Highway, 17 and enter the Algoma District you will pass through Spanish, but don’t do it ! Stop at the Spanish River Inn & Restaurant. Better yet, stay a while and enjoy the food, hospitality, and area. (Town of Spanish Home page )
The Town of Spanish is situated at the mouth of the Spanish River where it empties into the North Channel of Lake Huron. This river and its ecologically rich delta have had a positive impact on the development of the community of Spanish. The river has played an important and continuous role in the local economy from the days of the fur trade, through the timbering era, fishing, and now contributes to the tourism industry.
According to legend, the Spanish name was derived around the year 1750. As one of the many theories goes, Ojibway warriors penetrated the South-West to Spanish-occupied territories, and on their return to the North Channel, they brought back with them at least one person who spoke Spanish. Marrying into the community, possibly a local chief/community leader, they raised a large family. Whatever the truth is, French explorers and traders discovered that the native families in the area had Spanish words, names and phrases as part of their vocabulary, hence the French referring to the Spanish River and the community of Espanola.
Early settlement of the area gained momentum in the latter part of the 1800′s with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in February 1884, between Lake Nipissing and Algoma, now known as Algoma Mills. According to an article in the Ontario Gazetteer, by 1903–1904, the Spanish River Station (the railway designation for Spanish) had a population of approximately 200 with two timber companies operating in the vicinity: Huron Lumber Co. and Spanish River Co. W. H. Graham operated a general store, William Coget ran the hotel and the local blacksmith as well as the Postmaster was Gustavo Hamilton.
The Spanish River Inn Retaurant & Motel stands on the location of the original hotel. The ghosts of the past may walk this modern establishment, but that is because of the hospitality, wonderful foods, and lively entertainment that is provided here.
Wooden Quilt Hanging at Spanish River Inn
As I said in the opening we started our March Break with a delightful evening. It wouldn’t be us without a small glitch in the plans. Our respite worker got the times a bit mixed up and her cell-phone had a hissy-fit, more like a no hiss/dial/reception fit. So we had to convince our daughter that we couldn’t wait and she was going on an outing with mom & dad instead. What can I say, it was a full moon week – see last Thursday’s post .
We passed friends & teaching colleagues on their way out, as we entered. They had huge smiles on their faces. They commented on the banner sign my wife had made that was hanging up inside. (The banner was for a special gathering of in celebration and reconciliation of Native Residential School students that was occurring this weekend).
Inside we were greeted by the owners, Marine Fabris and her husband Brent St. Denis. You could feel the warm and inviting atmosphere that was established for all visitors to their establishment. My wife presented them with a paddle that she painted in honour of our visit that it could be added to the work that was already hanging on the walls of the dining room. What you see first on the walls are enlarged photographs of Spanish in the early years of development.
The dining area is open and spacious. Previous owners of the motel tended to emphasize the fishing tours and trucking trade. The atmosphere at that time reflected this male gathering place. Now it is warmly lit and no longer feels like a dark smokey man’s den. If you weren’t assured that this was a whole different world, you just had to look at the special of the evening.
My wife chose the special, my daughter had the chicken tenders and home cut fries, and I had the steak. Like my wife’s meal, it came with asparagus and a warm potato & cabbage slaw. The medium rare steak was perfect and was complimented by the peppery slaw and vegetable side.
Martine’s son, David Hillis, is the chef. I know you are thinking, well this is a small community clinging to the highway, so the chef is just a cook, au contraire. David Hillis is a , a 23 year old graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa . He has taken extra studies in pastry making and as part of his training had the opportunity to prepare food for the Governor General, the current Prime Minister of Canada (I don’t hold that against him), and dignitaries.
Spanish River Inn Raspberry Strudel
The challenge that David faces is taking all his skills and adapting to his range of clientele . With retires on fixed incomes, to tourists, fishermen, and truckers, it is an intriguing challenge. His goal is casual fine dining. Fortunately, David’s background includes a maternal grandmother who was famous for her huge Friday night family meals. Her family dishes of rustic French cooking prepared him well. He understands both the fine dining and the family kitchen tradition on which it is based.
David is also an accomplished musician and singer ( Hint: CBC/Food Channel there is a tv show waiting to happen here). His other goal is develop a cultural hub of food, visual arts & entertainment. This brings us to the musical portion of the evening. See: Chef wants restaurant to grow into cultural hotspot
The featured performer for the evening was Rusty McCarthy. He is a blues/folk/jazz guitarist who has performed with Mary-margaret O’hara and Allannah Myles .
Well we had promised my daughter Tasha music. Where there is music and Tasha there is also dancing. After dancing with her mom, she dragged Brent out on the floor and eventually got to dance with the chef.
So what else can I say. We topped the meal off with fabulous desserts My wife had the raspberry strudel and I had the Deep Dish Pecan Pie. You know, I can remember when David and my son were taking swimming lessons at the Elliot Lake Community Pool. In fact, I can remember being a newly minted green teacher with a study period that had a grade 12 student named Martine.
I think I’ll just stop now and leave you with the smiling face of our waitress, Tara Muncaster. Martine says Tara is gold and would like to clone five more of her. What do you expect, but a golden employee at a gold standard restaurant ?
Note: You can see larger sharper images if you click the photos. You can find the Auberge Spanish River Inn on facebook. If you come to visit be ready to dance.
Northern Ontario Gothic
You may be wondering what is Northern Ontario Gothic . It is best if we start with the term Southern Ontario Gothic. The term first arose in 1973 when it was used in Graeme Gibson‘s Eleven Canadian Novelists (1973) to recognize an existing tendency to apply aspects of the Gothic novel to writing based in and around Southern Ontario. In an interview with Timothy Findley, Gibson commented that Findley’s novel The Last of the Crazy People shared similarities with the American Southern Gothic genre, to which Findley replied, “…sure, it’s Southern Gothic: Southern Ontario Gothic.”
Southern Ontario Gothic is sometimes simply seen as Canadian Gothic Literature, since the largest body of work appears to be produced by a group of core writers whose narratives are set in Southern Ontario.
Notable writers of this sub-genre include Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, Jane Urquhart, and Marian Engel. Like the Southern Gothic of American writers such as William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty, Southern Ontario Gothic analyzes and critiques social conditions such as race, gender, religion and politics, but in a Southern Ontario context. Southern Ontario Gothic is generally characterized by a stern realism set against the dour small-town Protestant morality stereotypical of the region, and often has underlying themes of moral hypocrisy. Actions and people that act against humanity, logic, and morality all are portrayed unfavourably, and one or more characters may be suffering from some form of mental illness.
The Gothic novel has traditionally examined the role of evil in the human soul, and has incorporated dark or horrific imagery to create the desired setting. Some (but not all) writers of Southern Ontario Gothic use supernatural or magic realist elements; a few deviate from realism entirely, in the manner of the fantastical gothic novel. Virtually all dwell to a certain extent upon the grotesque.
Notable works of the genre include Davies’ Deptford Trilogy, Findley’s Headhunter, Atwood’s Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin, and Munro’s Selected Stories.
I am of the opinion that the distinctive nature of Northern Ontario, even in larger urban setting, creates a distinctive character that influences the Canadian Gothic outlook. The key elements of Southern Ontario Gothic, supernatural, magic realist, and the grotesque combine with a spiritual/mystical view of the natural environment. While reading the posts about Anne Boleyn’s ghost ( see blog: Splatter ) , I noted that here in Canada our supernatural/ghost narratives are closely tied to forces of nature and places of strong physicality. Our most well known spectre is Sasquatch ( native culture never viewed this entity as simply a creature of the woods, it was a spirit of the woods).
When you consider the raw power of the Group of Seven you will note how the Northern Ontario landscape has both a physical and mystical reality. It is this force in conflict or in balance with human construction and society that is most strongly identifies Northern Ontario Gothic. The works of Charles de Lint exemplifies this character.
In both de Lint’s novels and short stories can be found a wide range of urban fantasy and magic realism narrative elements. They are all interwoven with a view of society and nature that can be attributed to the Northern Ontario experience and world view/attitude.
The visuals in this post are an attempt to explore some aspects of this Northern Ontario Gothic view.
Snow Caps & Winter’s Touch
Winter is not harsh,
Those in her charge
She covers with
Rolling blankets,
White sleeves, and snow-caps.
Winter is not harsh,
She communicates with reeds
Of crystal light:
Her meaning is clear.
Winter is not harsh,
If we reflect upon
Her gifts,
Hear her lullaby
In misty white:
“ Rolling blankets,
White sleeves, and snow-caps.“
Note: This is for all those of you have been so supportive during my anxious whiny moments this weekend, and for all my followers(new & old) and regular visitors & commenters who have made this blog such a pleasure to do ( not to mention addicting). May none of you find your winters harsh.
Captain There Be Snow Here
Winter has reasserted itself in Northern Ontario.
Like a boot in the front hall,
It has posted a greeting that is hard to ignore.
With an artist’s hand
It has left signature highlights
For us to admire & marvel,
As we shovel & trudge.
Highlights high & low
Entrance & beguile,
With transformations of icy alchemy
Winter climbs the wall
With white fingers
Curling like frozen smoke.
That are knocking at the window.
***** Hopes this balances things after the whiny stressed post from earlier today. ********
Impressions of A February Walk
Last Sunday I accompanied my wife as she canvassed for Heart & Stroke. Liz was a bit over-enthusiastic about the number of nearby streets she would cover. She did not anticipate the changeable weather or some personal health concerns. We still have a few more places to go this weekend. In any case, for me this walk-about serves as a photo-safari. A few people may have thought it was a bit odd a canvasser to have a camera dangling from his neck. I just told them I am assisting my wife ( and making an unofficial documentary ).
Our unusually mild winter ( Who knows what the cause is – Prime Minister Harper & his Conservative has reassured the Canadian populous that there is no climate change, Kyoto Protocol was an unnecessary, unworkable, & terribly unfair, and Oilsands will save us, somehow) has made our February Faw more photographically fascinating. You can stand on the corner and watch the weather swing about from Early Spring to normal Winter like the flow of traffic. The Natural world and man-made artifacts mingle in a daily shifting environment. It is as if they are trying to tell us something.
Antique Impressions of the Manufactured4
Re-visiting the topic of the manufactured in the environment. As with the previous entry in this series the above image is from one of the small industrial zones in Elliot Lake (Ontario). Viewing industrial settings and artifacts through the conceit of Antique Impressions emphasizes the impermanence of human creations. it is ironic that as a species we have such a huge impact on the global environment and at the same time so much of what we create or discover can vanish so quickly. See: Technologies that we’ve lost – and the quest to find them again
Makes you wonder what will happen to the internet and blog world in the future. Will there be an Indiana Jones IV and Hashtag of the Crystal Blog Raiders as a holo-novel one day. (Sounds like a What if Wednesday topic.)
I hope this talk of the impermanence doesn’t leave you in the emotional dumpster (metaphor).
To see some intriguing art/photo work that goes beyond the digital darkroom see : Darkroom No. 2 It is the Refrigeratormagnate blog-anniversary. He may even explain how to stop a stop bath or how to start a stop bath, or stop starting a stop start bath,or pick a peck of pickled bath salts in a stop bath.
Winter Ice in Black & White
In the wee hours of the morning (Friday, Jan. 27) there was a fog mist. Such fogs can bring hoar-frost, but not this time. Bare pavement was slick with a paper-thin layer that just looked wet.The car windows were fine. What also remained of the fog was a layer of ice on smaller branches of bushes and trees. The image above was taken from our kitchen window. It was a busy day with family members coming down with a bug. I anticipated with the mild weather and mix of sun and cloud that outside of a few morning shots the ice coating would be gone by the early afternoon. Not so,As the sun began do descend trees began to glitter in the sunlight.
The rapidly changing light produced an array of changing scenes ( I slipped a pun in there for John 
). Some shots came out better as B&W; others looked interesting in colour. Some cropping and adjustment were necessary, the zoom only helps so much. You can click on the images to see them in more detail, the neighbour’s aerial was also coated with ice.
Winter’s Cold Comfort
Winter’s cold comfort
Creeps up, surrounds us
First with Hoar-frost.
Ice and sun-light fight for dominance
Winter spreads her white comforter .
Winter’s insistence wins the day
With cold nights and wind chill.
Birch trees face the grey sky;
Snow-squalls twist paper-thin strips.
Winter leaves a marker;
The white line is drawn.
Snow trails lead us,
Our quest for treasures
Undaunted, obstacles will melt away,
But not today.
The wolves are at the door,
The snow piles up.
Wind rattles the hinges -
Howling sunlight
Brightens the afternoon
The house cat waits for the arrival of Spring.
The window reveals small creatures
Scampering through snowflakes.
The sunlight reveals black seeds.
Wings flutter, golden light hangs
Between snow laden branches
And window sills.
Long shadows are drawn across the snow
Winter’s markers point the way.
Winter’s cold comfort
Creeps up, surrounds us -
Snow, shadows.
The house cat waits for the arrival of Spring.
Note to viewers: For those interested in technique/method, the first image consists of ten layers. Two were texture layers and two layers were versions of the original image. The rest of the layers were different bits and pieces.
For those who missed the earlier post on Hoar-frost click the link - Hoar-Frost in Black&White.
The second shot is of a frosted passion-flower blossom, what a contradiction. Not only has the mild weather extended fall season, but some tropical plants are blooming right up to winter’s first touch. For an interesting comparison see Nandini’s posts – Snow & Rose – Yesterday and Today & Himalayan Snowfall (Part II) – Landscapes & Trees .
Real winter arrived late this year. Even though the snow and the minus 15-20 degrees Celsius ( without wind chill ) may impress some, our amount of snow is below normal and “the dry cold” only lasts a couple of days with temperatures rising to zero or above. The thermometer has become a see-saw.
The wolves were painted by my wife.
For other perspectives on winter and nature see:
The Lantern Room posts – Winter Solstice Stonehenge & Winter Seaview
Linda Jeffers Photography post - Top Of The World
right in front of me - Winter Photos
Imagery of Light – Two Snowy Trees & Icy Pink Granite
HoiPhai posts -Weekly Photo Challenge: Winter & Update to Weekly Photo Challenge: Winter
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