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"Out of My Mind" by Leigh Parker There are many connotations connotations to that phrase "out of my mind" -out of my mind with worry, with fear; going "out of my mind"; getting you "out of my mind"; or perhaps just what comes rolling "out of my mind." Hilda Simnick - Who are you? I sit in the basement, clearing clearing out clutter, when I come across the painting again. It's a watercolour by Hilda Simnick, a little window, just a window, a part of what Ï imagine is a brick house. It's one of the many articles of hers I come across periodically periodically that tug at my mind, posing unanswered questions of this enigmatic woman. I first heard the name, Hilda Simnick, at an auction at Stapleton's Grist Mill, about four years ago. The auction had to be held on two nights because of the volume of furnishings furnishings and other articles to come out of her home when she died. I don't recall buying anything at the furniture sale, but I do remember waiting in awe and anticipation as a very large and very ornate grand piano sold for about only one hundred dollars. The sale of the other "odds and sundries" was one of the most fascinat- ■ ing I had ever witnessed. Who was this person? She had tried every craft imaginable - knitting; knitting; sewing, embroidery, Bunka, tatting, watercolours, oils, oil pastels and rug hooking. hooking. The sale went on and on, as more and more bits and pi eces of her life were brought out on display for all the world to see. It somehow seemed intrusive that we should all be privy to those things she held dear to her heart. I bought boxes of paintbrushes, paintbrushes, watercolours, yam, and several "mystery" boxes, whose contents I didn't know till I brought them home. Over the next several days, I pored over the selection, marvelling marvelling at the amazing collection collection of someone's private life. I sat for hours, sorting through her boxes of paintings, mostly flowers and landscapes, many reminding me of my own tentative tentative efforts to put colour to paper. In her own handwriting with many paintings were little little notes, '"painted Apr.7th - Visual Arts with watercolour on Rice Paper by Hilda Simnick also won 50/50 draw at Ladies' Bowling Monday night $9.85" There weré cards and letters from family arid friends, contents of vanity and dresser drawers, tools and utepsils I didn't always readily recognize. I hold in my hands needlework held by her hands. I marvel at her many accomplishments, realizing I have only a very small portion of of these sn ippets ippets of her life bought at the auction, and I honour her work. Who was this woman? Who knew her? Did she have friends? Who are they? A mental picture began to form of this person who had inadvertently inadvertently become a part of my life. Some months later, on my travels around Bowmanville, I drove down Jane Street. Our younger daughter, a couple of years earlier, had seen an interesting old house there, at the end of a dead-end street; an out-of-place but fascinating fascinating house, right in town; a place in need of repair, but in an oasis of green. It was a magical place; a dense growth of huge, unfettered trees and shrubs, tangled vines, and flowers spilling out of their beds. A smallish Woman in a long skirt was working in a little vegetable garden. We watched transfixed for several minutes, having been in those few moments transported to another place in time. Now I drove down that MASARU KARATE CLUB CUSSES MONDAY, TUESDAY & THURSDAY EVENINGS FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT RICK JONES EMAIL: rick.teruko@sympatico.ca TELEPHONE: (905) 786-2793 FAX: (905) 786-1031 ORONO CHIROPRACTIC and EXERCISE CENTRE Ernest Schroeder, B.Sc. DC. Doctor of Chiropractic 5331 Main Street, Box 150, Orono LOB 1M0 Telephone (905) 983-5510 BEREAVED FAMILIES OE ONTA RI O-DERII. 1M REGION SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 9 th PORT OF NEWCASTLE MARINA Mill Street exit at 401 south follow the signs 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. For more information phone 579-4293 , street again. Oh, no! The, house was gone, completely vanished and a workman was running down, cutting down, running over and laying bare this wonderful refuge. Incredulous, I questioned what was going on, to be told his boss had sent him to "clean up the place". "It belonged to Hilda Simnick," he said. "You know, the one whose belongings were auctioned auctioned off a few months ago. Her house was filled to the brim. What a time we had getting getting the old grand piano out! " My heart sank! Gone, everything gone! It was her place and they just tore it down and "cleaned it up"! How did this happen? What a museum it would have been, filled to the brim with turn-of- the-century furnishings; memorabilia of the past, and unusual items of every description. An oasis in the middle of town. "It'll probably be bought by a developer who will build a condominium here," the workmaft was saying, bringing bringing me back to the stark reality reality of what had transpired here. What an atrocity! I turned away heartsick that no - one had realized the special special nature of this place. And now, it was all gone, just an empty lot in the midst of the subdivision, I go 1 back periodically, not really wanting to, for fear of what I'll find, but curiously drawn back to see first hand the monster that had taken over there. An ironic twist - nothing has been built there. 1 don't know why. Perhaps it's poetic justice. Perhaps, they've seen the figure of a little little old woman, pumping water from the well, tending her flowers in the twilight. Thank you, Hilda Simnick. 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