The annual Muskoka party has begun

I love a good party, particularly when I’m the host. There’s something special about opening your doors and welcoming people to your home — folks you know well, those you’ve barely met, and even a few you have never seen before — then watching them all come together into a boisterous, ever-changing cluster of conviviality.

I love the rhythm of a good party. Not just the thumping, shouting, percussive roar of music and conversation and laughter at the party’s height, but the rhythmic unfolding of the whole evening. From those quiet, anticipatory moments just before the first guests arrive, through to the very different quiet after the last people have departed, there’s a cadence that parties follow.

It’s a rhythm I see taking shape every spring in Muskoka. I’m not the host at this party, but I am one of those who lives in the party house year-round, so I get to see the entire shindig unfold.

The first guests have been arriving for a few weeks now, the earliest showing up even before we’ve finished cleaning the house and melting away the snow and ice. Red-winged blackbirds and northbound geese pulled into the yard and immediately took control of the stereo, announcing through a series of warbles, chirrups and honks that the party had begun. They were soon joined by their numerous musician friends, and before long the early morning chorus could be heard tuning up as the sun rose every morning.

In the woods, some of our favourite guests arrived with food in hand, bringing arrays of wild leeks, spring mushrooms and fiddleheads. The decorators showed up on time, and soon the room was alight with the vibrant colours of trout lilies, trilliums and other spring flowers — guests who always arrive early and leave just as quickly. Their moment in the sun began to end this week as the maple leaves burst onto the scene, presaging the imminent arrival of those inevitable party-crashers, the blackflies.

The largest guests began arriving a few weeks ago. Some slip in unnoticed, blending in with the crowd as they do every spring and trying their best not to cause a commotion. They’re the ones who like to spend most of the party out back in the garden, where it’s a bit quieter and more peaceful. Others make a bit more of a splash, rolling up in Lincoln Navigators and Hummers, or even roaring into the airport from places unknown. For many who live here year-round, the sound of private jets landing on a Friday night is a sure sign that the party has really begun.

It’s not fully revved up yet, but will be soon. It’s going to get noisy and messy, as it always does. Like all big, boisterous parties, there is an element of chaos in this one, and just a hint that things could go awry at any time. Not all the guests like each other, and squabbles have been known to break out.

So we’ll do as we do every year — try to keep things in hand and ensure nothing gets broken. We’ll encourage politeness and respect, and urge those who have overindulged to go home and sleep it off.

And we’ll encourage the newcomers to mingle and get to know each other. Enjoy yourself, have fun and don’t step on the more fragile guests. It’s a big party here in Muskoka and as long as we respect each other, there’s room for everyone.