Home Again, Home Again

I have done it again. I went west and spent 10 days away from home so I could see my girls, my daughter and my son in law. I also attended a nieces wedding, visited family and had a book signing. A very busy 10 days away and this morning I am looking at a long list of getting back home tasks. The sun is shining despite the cold wind and I am thinking back to a year ago. Happy 1st anniversary Meg and Cody. So I will do laundry, put clothes away, rearrange my kitchen(just because I can) and get back to work with the goal to finish the book I'm working on before garden time. It was wonderful to be a part of Emma and Paige's lives. I loved walking Em to the bus and meeting her after school. I loved taking Paige to her playschool. I drove Emma to a birthday party , took her to gymnastics and took her to see The Jungle Book. Busy fun days of being their grandmother. Louisa and I also had a getaway and visited Mary and Elias for two nights in Castor. Mary organized a book signing in Castor at her pie shoppe. It was great. I met several loyal readers as Mary and Elias have been selling, pushing and giving away my books for several years. I met three lovely ladies that have bought books and borrowed books from the small library in Castor. They purchased one more each and we had a lovely chat. They told me about the Castor Reading Club that has been in existence for 85 years. Ardeena has been a member for 60 years . She holds the status of being the oldest and longest standing member. She went on to tell me that W. O. Mitchell was her high school English teacher. " He didn't like me ",she said. "I was too blah, like melba toast. But I did write an essay that he said was good." She was a beautiful 88 year old woman who was far from blah. She was elegant, well spoken and a jem in the small town of Castor. A jem shining her beautiful light and reading hundreds of books in the sixty years of being a part of a small town reading club. This author is thrilled that the club is now reading my books. I sold five books in Ben and Simon's Pie Shoppe in Castor Alberta signing them to Mel, Mary, Kaye, Ardeena, and Lorriane. Thank you so much Mary and Elias! My brother in law then donated a copy of The Year Mrs. Montague Cried to the principal of the nearby Donalda K-12 School.I signed it for the school library. As April comes to an end I now look ahead to May. I will enjoy each day as the sun warms and the season blossoms. Caleb has harrowed and ploughed the gardens. The earth will warm and welcome seeds and my daily focus will go from writing to gardening. Another cycle will turn and for that I am thankful and emotional. I have been given this life to live and I will do my best to truly embrace it. I have strong memories of the hugs ,kisses and smiles my two beautiful granddaughter gave so generously. (until I had to leave)Emma refused to go to the airport as she does not like the goodbyes and Paige withheld hugs and kisses at the airport as her way of containing her emotions. They look forward to coming to NB in June and seeing all the people they love so dearly .So now I will happily get to work.