Muskoka Traditions

Preface A young man roars past a crowded dock, flashing a smile at the girls as he palms the wheel of his fast new boat. He circles once around the bay then rides his wake to the dock, powering into reverse at the last minute and nestling the boat snugly in its berth, confident that the girls are now aware of both his boat and his skill. Today the young man is driving a brightly colored fiberglass wakeboat; 70 years ago, his grandfather did exactly the same thing in a varnished mahogany gentleman's racer. It's yet another tradition in Muskoka. Muskoka is growing and changing, and longtime residents sometimes wonder where it is heading. The cottages and boats grow bigger and more numerous every year, and so many of the traditional ways of life seem to be fading into memory But look more closely and it becomes clear that those traditions remain alive, and provide the roots that support so much of life in Muskoka. Owners of modest cottages shake their heads at the excesses of their new neighbors, just as their predecessors tuttutted over the idea of a cottage with electric power. Artists still try to capture Muskoka's beauty, boaters still absorb that beauty as they putter along the shoreline, and at any given moment there is somebody in this district who is moved by that beauty to break into song. The farmers are fewer, the loggers have acquired new technology, and many boat-builders have become boat restorers, but the people of Muskoka continue to ply those trades as they always have. This is not a book about unchanging ways. In fact, much has changed in the time it has taken to write this book. Hugh and Joan MacLennan have now retired and are seeing what Muskoka looks like in the spring. There is a new chief engineer at work on the Segwun. But the work they did goes on, the themes remain, and the traditions continue. Muskoka is changing, and always has been. This book celebrates both continuity and flexibility By acknowledging where we have come from, we can consider where it is we want to go. We can decide how to respond to the rock, water and sky that continue to draw us to Muskoka.McMullen, Bev is the author of 'Muskoka Traditions' with ISBN 9781550464443 and ISBN 1550464442.