“Neither Far Out Nor In Deep” – Robert Frost nails it

 

 

During these pandemic days of summer, I'm living a safely isolated life on a shore, near water.

Safe. Isolated. Away from my safely isolated kids, my newborn grandson, my close family and friends. Being careful and responsible. Sigh.

 

Living an isolated life means you have a lot of time to think about things, especially during a period packed with so much fear, so many unknowns. When listening to or reading the news is like submitting to a daily bludgeoning. When it feels like there’s no end in sight.

 

Yes, it makes you think. Sometimes too much.

 

Right now, the best place for me to think is near water. What is it about staring out at unknown depths that helps me find comfort? Maybe it’s the feeling of permanence along with change – waves, tides, horizon, sky. Day in, day out, but every time I look, the scene transforms.

 

“The people along the sand,” wrote Robert Frost, “All turn and look one way. They turn their back on the land. They look at the sea all day.”

 

That’s me. Staring out at the sea and wondering when this fraught pandemic time will ease back into something approaching normal – or, as I like to call it, The Beforetime.

 

“They cannot look out far. They cannot look in deep,” Frost wrote. “But when was that ever a bar to any watch they keep?”

 

Lots of questions, and few answers, but people just turn away from “the land” – a stark, unchanging reality – and keep looking, hoping, believing that the answers are out there.

 

Or in the context of pandemic times, that we’ll learn to live safely with the virus, find a vaccine, kick its butt, get on with “normal” life and leave this “land” behind us.

 

Until then, like Frost’s “people along the sand”, I’ll turn my back on the land, do my part, and keep watch for something better.

Hello to Ms. Wadlegger’s Grade 7 Class!

I’m delighted to hear that you’re reading Wild Dog Summer, and thanks for getting in touch. As you’ll see from my blog, I had a chat with a class in Alberta earlier this year, and they posted lots of questions about the book and also about my life as a writer. It was a great way to connect!

Feel free to browse my Shout-Out to them (February 24, 2009) and my answers to their questions (February 25, 2009). You might find some of your questions already answered.

In fact, feel free to read any of my blog posts – they’re all about writing and reading. For instance, my most recent post presents a conversation with the photographer who creates the covers of my books.

Above all, feel free to post your questions as comments. I’d love to hear from you, and I’m always happy to answer questions and talk about books and writing.

Let me start by asking you a few questions. First, what do you think of Wild Dog Summer? Are you enjoying it? What do you think is going to happen next? Do you know anyone like BJ? Or Craig?

I’m looking forward to reading your questions and comments – write soon!

Freedom To Read Week

Do you ban books without even knowing it? An article written by a children’s librarian and published in the most recent issue of Children’s Book News (the newsletter of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre) urges us to be aware of our own tendencies towards “banning” books.

Example: I am on the organizing committee of an annual writers' festival. In a recent discussion about which writers to invite, the name of a successful Canadian author was suggested. She writes contemporary fiction aimed at a female market. “Romance” writing? Perhaps, but not exclusively. “Chick-Lit”? No, not that genre, either. But as a few of us tried to describe this author’s work, one of the committee members rebuffed our efforts with the statement: “I don’t read that kind of thing.” The message was clear: “that kind of thing” is inferior. I disagree: I’ve spent some great reading hours with the work of this award-winning author and I would highly recommend her books. (And after our March 4th launch, I'll tell you who she is!)

We all have our tastes and preferences; we all have our favourite authors and genres. What works for me may not appeal to you at all – but suggesting that someone else’s tastes are inferior is the start of a slippery slope towards censorship, especially for those in a position of power: a teacher or parent, perhaps. Sampling the menu of reading experiences means developing a taste for the literature that nurtures us, and that goes for children as well as for adults. There’s nothing wrong with our likes and dislikes, and certainly nothing wrong with discussing and defending them. But let’s be open and tolerant too. Instead of judging, let’s celebrate the fact that everyone has the freedom to read.