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Wayback Times wants to hear from our readers.
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welcome all Letters to the Editor, be they bouquets or barbs,
or content suggestions.
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- Sandy
and Peter Neilly also invite readers to share their varied antiques
and collectibles memories.
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Editor, or e-mail it to us. Please include your name and address.
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- By Sandy Neilly
- Welcome to Issue 66 of the Wayback Times. This is, of course,
the September/October issue meaning summer holidays are over
and schools will be opening their doors once more. Our lives
will, perhaps, be a little more routine; a little less carefree.
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- Although it's almost impossible to believe that the warm
weather season is just about behind us, hopefully it will leave
us all with some great summer memories that we can conjure up
in the dark, cold days of January when hot weather and humidity
are things we fantasize about.
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- Despite the fact that we're all reluctant to see the summer
wane and the daylight hours get shorter, most of us are happily
anticipating the splendour of autumn, that blissful and beautiful
season filled with glorious colours, fresher air and a noticeable
absence of many insects, (especially the biting kind).
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- The worst thing about autumn is that it's far too short and
the upcoming days of winter dwarf its brief visitation even more.
Perhaps this is what makes it so special to us, especially here
in Ontario with our wonderful mixture of deciduous trees responsible
for producing those miraculous displays of colour.
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- One of my fondest fall memories is of my paternal grandparents
who would fly up from Jamaica to Toronto every autumn to attend
the Royal Winter Fair. They owned and operated the Chatham Hotel
in Montego Bay and looked forward to leaving the heat of the
island to come and enjoy the crisp, fresh air of their favourite
Canadian season with its abundance of just about everything fresh
and colourful.
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- During their visits, I always loved it when we would pile
into our family car on a weekend afternoon and travel the back
roads of rural Ontario. A canopy of brilliant orange, scarlet
and gold leaves would often cover the tree-lined dirt roads we
traversed in search of delicious produce (especially pears) and
to admire any horses that might be grazing in the pasture. (My
grandfather was an avid rider and loved horses. It was on these
outings that I learned the meaning of terms like "swayback"
and "roman- nosed.") We would visit old friends and
family and there were probably occasional stops at antique shops,
but being very young I likely wouldn't have had much appreciation
for the nature of such a detour. Who wanted to look at old stuff
when there were real live horses out there?
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- However, the years have changed much of that. My grandparents
have been gone for a long time, and although I still enjoy horses
(from a distance), I much prefer to look at "old stuff.”
What hasn't changed at all is the enjoyment of exploring the
back roads of our beautiful province. With fall antique shows
and country fairs in full swing, this is a delightful time to
pack up for at least a day and head off into the autumnal colours.
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- It's a perfect opportunity to search for an elusive treasure
you've been thinking about or to add to a collection you enjoy.
Our antique shops and markets are usually filled with an incredible
variety of wares at this time of the year, following the seasonal
good weather purchasing that the summer encourages. Shop owners
are preparing for the inevitable onslaught of antique seekers
as the cooler weather approaches, bringing many customers indoors
to hunt and explore. Now is the time to buy!
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- In this issue of the Wayback Times, not only will you find
many interesting articles to read, but you'll also come across
a wonderful assortment of seasonal shows to attend in many of
our picturesque small towns, or outside in the fresh autumn air.
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- You might enjoy reading about the town of Port Hope, a charming
and wonderfully preserved example of Victorian Ontario that offers
just about anything a visitor could wish for – delightful
restaurants, inns and antique shops, many set on the banks of
the Ganaraska River, which runs through the town. The variety
of architecture alone makes a visit worthwhile … and certainly
the antique shops make it a must.
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- We wish you all the best of the season; crunchy apples, farm
fresh corn, peach cobbler, sweet cider … and, most of all,
good fortune in your antique hunting.
- In reference to the saying, "It's the journey, not the
destination . . .” keep that in mind; but for this fall
season, you should make the best of both.
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