August

The first day of August used to give me a feeling of panic as I knew that before the month was done I would be back at school and the glorious freedom of summer would be gone for another year. Now after four years of retirement August holds a much different emotion for me. I still hate to part with July and the special summerness of it's days. Early mornings and late evenings are now holding a trace of fall and the days are getting shorter. The water of the lake feels slightly cooler and we are getting closer to our last swim. My garden has gone from the early stages of growth to large plants some like the peas and beans that demand daily picking which takes time away from weeding. I am obsessed with weeding and hoeing the rows of vegetables and take such pride in a clean weed free garden. If Burton had his way he would cover the entire garden with the rolls of fabric that miraculously keep the weeds away.Not me, I am all about the weeding and hoeing It is like the revising of a piece of writing. It is paying attention and removing what doesn't belong and taking pleasure in what remains and grows each time you look at it.So in this month I will enjoy three more weeks of gardening and swimming. I will go to Meg's to get Emma toward the end of the month and then greet September as I begin the harvest and get back to my writing. Oh the joys of the seasons!(and the gift of being able to ignore those annoying back to school commercials!)

A July Morning

I am writing a short entry this morning probably to avoid the heat of the garden. We have had a run of beautiful ,hot sunny days and it is wonderful but part of me longs for the crisp September days when I can return to my office and begin writing again.Several things are simmering in my writer's mind and I will let them take shape in my thoughts as I carry out the tedious task of weeding.Don't get me wrong I love to weed. I love the transformation of a row once I have removed all the weeds and hoe up the growing plants paying close attention to the miraculous process that takes a small seed to a green plant and an eventual vegetable on our table.Today I will tackle the parsnips. If you have ever seen a parsnip seed you will share my awe that a minute paper thin disc produces a root vegetable of such substance. It is one of the last seeds to germinate and I had to wait until the small leaves got big enough to stay rooted as I pull the weeds out around them. I know I should be out there doing it instead of in here writing about it. That is what writing is like sometimes . More time given to the thinking about it than the actual getting words on the screen.I had a good signing in Fredericton on Saturday and was pleased to meet a woman named Jodi-Ann . She had just finished a session of the Writers Workshop at UNB and was anxious to talk about the challenges of writing. I was happy to share my experience and offer some advice and encouragement. But it does all boil down to doing the work ,just like a successful garden does. I always say I want a Jim and Ida garden. Jim and Ida were my paternal grandparents and every summer they planted and meticulously maintained a huge garden. Perhaps my grandchildren will aspire to having a Burton and Sue garden. OK I'm going and if I can keep the vision of a long clean row of parsnips as my goal and I can get past the heat and the bugs I will have the reward of a lake swim and the joy of accomplishment.

A Wet Weekend of Signings

We have had some heavy rain for a few long wet days. The rain has put weeding on hold,the last bit of planting off and delayed mowing and other outside work. So when I had to go to the city for three book signings I did not feel like I was wasting time that I should be giving to the garden. Friday, I sat at Coles in the Brunswick Square Mall and watched scores of people file by . Feeling rather like a vendor with the most uninteresting table at a yard sale I got lots of smiles and nods from the passer bys, when they actually made eye contact. Some said hello and some even stopped to briefly acknowledge me. It is not that I don't appreciate the store's effort to welcome authors but once you are stuck there any positive interaction is left to chance. This is not to say that I have not had good experiences when signing in book stores. It seems that from every signing I take away at least one really meaningful interaction which makes it all worth while. On Friday I had two such experiences. The first was with a lovely family of four from Burlington, Ontario on vacation in NB for the first time.Initially the dad stopped with the purpose of having an author tell his daughter, who wants to be a writer, that she can't make a living at it. I was able to clarify that theory but was also I think, able to give her some direction as to how, despite that fact, she could indeed follow her passion. They genuinely asked questions about each book and my writing journey and after buying The Year Mrs. Montague Cried we said our goodbyes. At the same time a woman stopped to say that she had read all three books and offered some very kind words about them. So Friday's signing was successful even though at 2:00 sharp I packed up quickly definitely not having sold out at my table.Saturday I started out at Indigo. That store is very welcoming and I enjoy the young enthusiastic staff that mills around greeting customers . Jeremy regularly announced my presence to people as they entered the store and even if they walked briskly by with a polite hello, I never felt invisible.I took pleasure in being surrounded by books and perused a few as I sat waiting for the interaction that would make this signing stand out. My sister in law's sister and mother came in and they bought four books. Wonderful! I can always count on friends and family.But the experience of the day goes to a young girl named Sarah. Sarah came through the door and I saw right away that she was holding a copy of The Year Mrs. Montague Cried. She had been waiting to meet me and have me sign her book since seeing a week ago that I was coming to Indigo.She had some questions to ask me that she asked shyly with the help of her mom. She showed me her favourite part (March 17, page 115) and told me why it she liked it.I signed copies of Ten Thousand Truths and The Sewing Basket for her and she left excited to read them. Now really ,what more could I ask for? So then I went to the mall and sat in the doorway of Coles, again feeling like I was an obstacle to be avoided or negotiated around. I saw a few people I knew ,had one man come up and make an astute observation through squinted eyes (apparently he left his glasses at home), "these are books right?" So on these wet miserable days I spent six hours sitting with books that I spent countless hours writing and if it sounds like I am complaining I really am not.For years I walked by book stores dreaming of having a book on the shelves.I now sit at those stores with three. I look forward to being at Chapters in Moncton ,Saturday July 6th.

Back in the Lake

I took my first lake swim of the summer of 2013 on Tuesday. It was almost a month later than last year so I will try to make up for lost time. Today will definitely be a swimming day . Lots of things are up in the garden and the weeding has begun so after a morning in the garden I will make my way to the lake and jump in again.Burton retires in a month and he will get to be here every day too and enjoy the quiet beauty of the home we have created . As much as I love to be alone on my writing days I do love working outside when he he working somewhere nearby. We are establishing some retirement rules that should help me adjust.Today I will enjoy the bright sunshine and head to the lake at least a couple of times, floating in the refreshing water looking at the vast blue sky thankful for another day and another summer!

The Days of June

We are in to the days of June. Spring has held back some of its sun and warmth and only teased us a few times with the promise of summer. I have not jumped in the lake yet and am behind my last two years swim date. I have most of the garden in but nothing has come up yet.I thought I was possibly done book four but after sharing it and looking at it through my friend Barb's eyes realize it is not finished and I will take any rainy days of summer to work on it and maybe not get it done until I go back to work in September. Yesterday I saw that The Sewing Basket made the list of books on Woozles Battle of the Books 2014. That is great. I love that students in Nova Scotia will read it as they prepare for the Battle of the Books. Thank you Woozles! No NBArts grant this year for this author but luckily I am not in this for the money.

Getting Back to Business

The rain and cold air is keeping me inside and I must say I am glad . The newly tilled ground lies waiting to be planted and I anticipate the busy growing season ahead. But today I am in my office and back to work.I am attending to some writing business and then plan to work on the finishing of A Fear of Drowning.What a crazy, busy couple of weeks I have had culminating in a nasty head cold.Meg and the girls arrived a few days before the launch and we kept busy every waking hour. The weather was great the day of the launch and everything came together nicely. My sister in law Louisa brought author Lisa Dalrymple out from the city and she spent the night with us. She fit right in to the craziness as soon as she arrived and we all enjoyed getting to know her.The market was full again for the launch of my third book and I enjoyed every minute of it. Back at the house the stories and laughter continued. The next day Lisa and I participated in the many events of WFNB's Words Spring. What a great weekend! Meg and the girls left Tuesday and I took a deep breath. But my deep breath started a coughing jag that has just now started to lessen. I am blaming Paige for giving me her cold.So I will work today and look forward to the weeks ahead filled with gardening, some book signings,my first swim of the season and much more.

The Week of the Launch

It is Sunday morning. The sun has been shining for days which has been wonderfully uplifting after a cold,wet and dull beginning to Spring. The week begins with my making an extensive list for every day of what looks to be a very busy week ahead. My daughters inability this time to keep a secret gave me the heads up on her arrival for the launch which truth be known the real surprise would have been if she didn't come for it. My husband is famous for bringing her home for every important writing event I have had. The first time she popped out of my cousin's dining room the night I was to receive my AWC award and completely surprised me. She arrived late the night before my first launch and had my granddaughter jump on my bed waking me up. In August my daughter in law picked them up at the airport at night and they walked in to the yard the next morning surprising me as I was kneeling in the garden weeding bean rows. So after a series of surprises I have come to expect them. This time knowing the week before that they are coming has sent me in to a whirlwind of getting prepared for them . I have been avoiding for quite some time the final cleaning out of the bedroom that was Zac's then each of my teenage boys. I jokingly say I have not been in that room since 1995.My boys expressed their musical and cultural tastes by posters and painting a variety of interesting things on the walls. In the last while I have used this room as a catch all and just opened the door long enough to shove something in that I had no other place for. But this week I decided to reclaim that room for my granddaughters.Luckily one of my creative sons is a drywaller/crackfiller and he has prepared the walls for me to paint. We bought bunkbeds for the girls and by the time they arrive Tuesday night it will be an entirely different looking room.I am celebrating the way life takes us from one stage to another and enjoying the frenzy of getting ready for my launch. Amid the craziness I vow to relish every moment.