Eleven years ago friends who lived on a farm north of Sharbot Lake in one of the wildest remaining areas of Southern Ontario told us about another old farmhouse not far away from theirs which might be for rent for the summer. Providentially, it was, and I took a few months away from congregational ministry to live in the middle of nowhere. Ruth continued to work but arranged to have Fridays off, arriving every Thursday evening and leaving very early on Monday morning. For both of us that summer was soul-restoring at a time when we needed to experience God through the beauty of nature.
We became friends with the owners who live in a modern "cabin" at the very end of the same road and on Friday we drove up to see them. Our goal was to enjoy a visit with them and snowshoe to the nearby Mississippi River (the Canadian version). That's what we did, gratefully following their snowshoe trail through stately pine trees and hardwoods to the fast-running chutes of the river. The snow was nearly thirty inches deep (75cm), much more than we have on the ground in our area.
While the river roared there were no other human-made sounds, nor sightings of other people. It was glorious to be there and many positive memories of our place of refuge flooded back to us. It was lovely to share conversation with the friends who now live there year round and love the setting and its solitude. There was nothing "dead end" about our time there and we were reluctant to leave.
On Saturday we were up early once again to drive to Toronto and the Art Gallery of Ontario. There is a current exhibit called Impressionism in the Age of Industry and it's described this way:
Pulsing with life, Paris in the 1870s was transforming – thanks to wider streets, increased traffic, an explosion of factories in the suburbs and faster, more frequent steam-powered trains. No one in France was immune to the rapid pace of change, least of all artists.
Impressionism in the Age of Industry: Monet, Pissarro and more explores how French Impressionist artists and their contemporaries, famous for their lush landscapes and sea vistas, were equally obsessed with capturing the spirit of the industrial age. The groundbreaking exhibition features over 120 artworks, including paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, sculptures and period films.
With masterpieces by beloved artists like Monet, Pissarro, Degas, Van Gogh, Cassatt and Seurat, the exhibition also highlights new favourites like Luce and Caillebotte.
While the exhibit was thought-provoking and the AGO is a treasure we talked over lunch in nearby bustling Chinatown about the contrast of our two experiences. Yes, we enjoy our forays to the Big Smoke of Toronto and the cultural stimulation they provide. But our preference really is the "Sleeping Beauty" of Creation, and more so as we age. At the entrance to Impressionism one of the featured artists is quoted in his excitement about the noise of the increasingly urban and industrialized world of the 19th century. He couldn't have known how pervasive and invasive that noise would become.
Thank God for the tumbling waters of Ragged Chutes and all that area means to us.
Claude Monet, Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877
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