Woodsmoke & Oranges & Holy, Holy, Holy

The Painter in His Canoe -- Kim Dorland

By woodsmoke and oranges, path of old canoe,
I would course the inland ocean to be back to you.
No matter where I go to, it's always home again
To the rugged northern shore and the days of sun and wind.

We nosed her in by Pukaskwa, out for fifteen days,
To put paddle and the spirit at the mercy of the waves.

The wanigans were loaded down and a gift left on the shore,
For it's best if we surrender to the rugged northern shore.

In the land of the silver birch, cry of the loon,
There's something in this country that's a part of me and you.
The waves smashed the smoky cliffs of Old Woman Bay,
Where we fought against the backswell and then were on our way.



We attended the season-ending concert of the Cantabile Choirs in Kingston last evening at the wonderful Isabel Bader Centre. It was a very worthwhile two hours of music with the guest a cappella quartet Quartom from Montreal and a range of pieces from different genres performed by the various choirs.

Did we have a favourite piece, or two, or eight? It's a tough call but an old Ian Tamblyn tune called Woodsmoke and Oranges, sung beautifully by the youth choir, got both of us kinda misty-eyed. We have spent so much meaningful time on the water and in wild places through decades together that the lyrics of the song "sent a shiver up my spine" -both our spines. It could be our theme song, if we had one.

For us paddling and hiking brings us into God's presence in a powerful, joyous, contemplative way like no other. It truly is holy, holy, holy, and it never gets old, even though we are.

Great concert and a great song.

Ian Tamblyn 'splains how this song came into being in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnxdDZUuybY

I could speak to you of spirit - by the vision pits we saw them
Walk the agate beaches of the mighty Gargantua.
I have turned my back upon these things, tried to deny
The coastline of my dreams, but it turns me by and by.

It tossed the mighty ship around, smashed the lighthouse door,
Sends a shiver up my spine, oh the rugged northern shore.
In the land of the silver birch, cry of the loon
There's something 'bout this country that's a part of me and you.

 

 

The Beaver Dam - JEH MacDonald