Virginia Hastings Production Blog

Life in the Valley

Life in the ‘Valley’ 

“Whenever I’m away, I keep you in the small of my heart.”
-Madison Violet


What a busy summer we have all had. Everyone that I talk to seems to have had a great summer, both personally & professionally. This has been a summer we cannot complain about; the skies were blue, the sun was hot, and living in Muskoka with the lakes and the trees – we really are so fortunate.

As the seasons change there always seems to be a sense of opportunity for a personal cleanse. It is a time to re-shape how we do things, where we want to go, and how we are going to get there. Fall is my least favourite season, and in fact I would be much happier with three seasons. I know, I know, you think I am nuts. That is the general reaction I get when I say such a thing. What I do like about fall is that it means we are getting closer to winter.  I am a winter lover; I love it and the sports that it comes with. I enjoy the solitude, too. It is a time to ‘hunker-in,’ and although I am a people person, and enjoy my social life, I am by nature a bit of a hermit.

Winter is the most enjoyable in my community. I live in a great neighbourhood that turns into a little ‘winter wonderland’ - an absolute winter haven apart from the rest of Muskoka. I live in Hidden Valley, and I am surrounded by friends who are all like-minded lovers of winter. We make sure that we get outside almost daily on our downhill skis, snow shoes, cross country skis, dog sleds, to our ice huts, on our snowmobiles, or out for a beautiful ice climb. We are similar in many ways, and yet each of us excel in a particular winter activity - which is a gift, as we are all able to pass it on and share it with one another.

As the winter season comes to an end, and the water and the snow starts to thaw, so does the sap in the trees; and in this neighbourhood you are hard pressed to find a property without sap buckets and lines tapped in, and an outside cook stove boiling the sap.

When I drive into my neighbourhood and pass by all of this activity I never take it for granted, and I smile every time I come home to it. Sometimes I am coming home from a short trip to the grocery store, other times from a longer trip away. The reaction that I get from the latter is understandably stronger. I talk about my ‘home’ a lot. My home is not just the physical structure in which I live; rather, it is the community in which I live. I can often be heard explaining my neighbourhood as a ‘giant house’ and each house within the neighborhood is a ‘room’ in that house.

We are a very close-knit bunch. I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world to live where I do, and to live in a neighbourhood where I don’t just ‘tolerate’ my neighbours and make small talk with them. I sincerely love them, and consider them family. We celebrate everything together; new babies, new love, new homes, successes and alternatively we are there for one another through the hardballs life throws at us. We break bread together often, we have themed costume parties, we have a dog & kid sitting routine set up to help each other out, we borrow butter from one another, we walk together, often solving the world’s problems.  And perhaps I am biased, but I think the coolest, smartest, and kindest children live here. Each one is full of personality, character, and marching to the beat of their own drum. I am so lucky to be an ‘Auntie’ to many little people. When I’m away from home, I do not get homesick often. When I do, it is because of how much I miss my ‘home’ and all of the wonder and people that comes with it.

I really do consider myself one fortunate person…where else could someone be surrounded by all of these things, in such a fabulous environment, and be able to say, “I’m home.”