A man carried stacks of National Geographic magazines from his truck to a table in the Deer Lake Library. They dated back to the 1950s. One issue caught my eye. The face on the cover was not one I expected to see on a NG cover.

It was the April 1976 issue. Inside, unrelated to the boy’s face, was a feature on Robert Frost, which included excerpts from his poetry, matched with beautiful New England photographs. I began reading the feature on the spot and was encouraged to take it home.

This week I found time to read it. In case it’s been a while since you’ve dipped into Frost, I’d like to share a few of his words:

Oh, give us pleasure
in the flowers today;
And give us not to think
so far away
As the uncertain harvest;
keep us here
All simply in the springing
of the year.

Being November, the piece might more aptly read (with apologies to Robert Frost):

Oh, give us pleasure
in the frost today;
And give us not to think
so far away
As the uncertain crocus;
keep us here
All simply in the falling
of the year.

Or, being a writer, I might remind myself and my writing friends and students:

Oh, give us pleasure
in the flow of words today;
And give us not to think
so far away
As the uncertain kudos;
keep us here
All simply in the writing
of the thing.

How do Frost’s words relate to your life?

And . . . about that boy on the cover (photo by Linda Bartlett). His name is Paudie Boland of Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula. I wonder if he’s still there (he’d be 40 or thereabouts by now). I wonder if his grandfather’s farm is still in the family. Hmm. A writer could talk herself into a trip to Ireland with thoughts like these.

My travels as a Canadian author have taken me to every province and territory in the country. Last week returned me to the west coast our easternmost province. Readings and writing workshops took me to its northern tip (only one road goes there), south to Port aux Basques and to many gorgeous spots in between. Sandy Chilcote of West Newfoundland-Labrador Public Libraries fame saw to it that I got to see places well off the beaten path, too – among them: Port aux Choix, where we spotted a whale; Phillip’s Garden, a 2200 year old Paleo-Eskimo site, and L’Anse aux Meadows, where the Vikings landed 1000 years ago; and Big Falls, a favourite spot for salmon fishing. We saw sun, rain, snow, rainbows, and fog – I’m tempted to say all in one day, but that MIGHT be an exaggeration. With all the fall colour, it was all fantastic.

Of course I met lots of enthusiastic readers and writers, too. I especially enjoyed the workshops attended by teenagers and seniors (and a few people in between). I’d enjoy doing more of those in any of Canada’s other gorgeous spots.

No matter how beautiful the place, how welcoming and friendly the people, how rewarding the workshops and readings, it is always great to be home again, too. Thanks to Newfoundland Public Libraries and to Canada Council for making this trip possible.

But I am ready to go. To Newfoundland. On Saturday. Or I will be when… Never mind.

Talking to a group of Keene teens a few years ago (Keene is near Peterborough, Ontario), I was mentioning how much I enjoy traveling roads I haven’t been on before, as I had that morning, and realized that what I’d said applied to my writing life, too. That’s why I’ve ended up writing such a range of stories, I think. An idea comes to me, I think, ‘I can’t write that. I don’t write…’ Fill in the blank: historical fiction, horror, biography, poetry. But it turns out that a great deal of the pleasure in writing is venturing into territory one hasn’t explored before, in terms of content, style, or genre.

I’ve enjoyed time in Newfoundland before – for National Book Week, for Children’s Book Week, and to present a session at an Eastern Horizons conference. But next week will take me on roads I haven’t yet traveled – from Corner Brook up the west coast to St. Anthony’s – and I’ll make a return trip from Corner Brook down the coast to Port Aux Basques, too. If you live in that part of the country, and our paths happen to cross on those just-waiting-to-be-traveled-by-me roads, please be sure to say hi. Mention that you read about my upcoming trip on my blog. Or, better yet, tell me you’ve been enjoying reading my books!

I’ve done plenty of ’shameless self-promotion’ here and would like to devote today’s post to the books of other authors I have had the pleasure to work with.

Rough Magic by Caryl Cude Mullin is not the kind of young adult novel I would ordinarily pick up and read, but when the managing editor at Second Story Press asked if I would like to edit it, I was so taken by the writing that I had to say yes. And so began the task of helping Caryl sort through the tangle of characters, points of view, and time lines so that her gem of a story would shine through. She dealt with comments, suggestions, and questions with great diligence and humour, and I hope I’ll have the chance to work with her again.

Kathryn Cole at Tundra Books was the editor of Bird Child by Nan Forler. I first met Nan in 1994 when she participated in a workshop I was leading in Toronto. I knew then that this was a writer whose work deserved a wide audience. She has since been in workshops I’ve led in Kitchener and Rockwood, and it was a real treat to see her first picture book launched last month.

Anna Kerz workshopped her junior novel, The Mealworm Diaries at the week-long workshop that Peter Carver and I offer in Nova Scotia each year. Similarly, Caroline Pignat workshopped her historical fiction novel, Greener Grass, there. These books, too, are getting rave reviews.

I had nothing to do with the first published books by Cheryl Rainfield and Erin Thomas, but they too have brought fine writing and acute critiquing skills to workshops I have led. Their books are part of HIP Books’ Dragon Speaker series.

I currently have two more manuscripts on my desk awaiting my editorial input – an adult novel and a children’s non-fiction. I’d better get back to work!

Congratulations to Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, who has been promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada “for her influence and contributions as a landscape architect who sets new standards of excellence through her environmentally responsible landscape designs.”

Members of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects will have the opportunity to hear her speak at the organization’s 75th anniversary conference this week -where I too will be speaking.

CSLA member or not, you can read all about Cornelia and her work in Love Every Leaf. Don’t I wish that my late father-in-law, Humphrey Carver – a CSLA founding member who was keynote speaker at the 50th anniversary CSLA – could know about the connection that has been forged between his old friend Cornelia and me!

When my gardening plans got rained out this afternoon, I opened up my copy of “Best Books for Kids & Teens” which had just arrived in my mailbox. As I always do, I turned to the index in a hopeful (and egocentric) search for my name. (“Best Books…” is the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s annual publication of a catalogue intended to help teachers, librarians, and parents choose the best from the hundreds of books for young people that are published in Canada each year.) I had two new books last year – A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It and Love Every Leaf: The Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.

Happy day: two page numbers by my name in the “Best Books…” index. Even happier day when …

… I flip through the pages and find a star beside Love Every Leaf (signifying a “title of exceptional calibre”)!

So, if you don’t yet have a copy for the student or garden lover, artist or environmentalist in your life, go out and buy one! Now that it’s stopped raining, I’ll be heading out to my garden!

Last night, at the CANSCAIP Mentor’s Dinner honouring my husband, Peter Carver, I learned from Rick Wilks of Annick Press that A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It has been short-listed for the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Award.

Let’s hope that the young readers at Market Lane Junior School in Toronto make their selection for the prize wisely!

I asked my son the other day, “If I say ‘Cornelia Oberlander’, do you know who I mean?” He’s a busy guy, working on his MBA while working full time, so I wasn’t sure how much he took in of the book I had written about her. “Yeah, she’s the Green Roof Lady,” he said. I don’t think Cornelia would be unhappy with that description.

Today Cornelia emailed me and others a link to a National Geographic article which cites examples of green roofs all over the world (including one of her creations). Including lots of great pics (as any National Geographic article does), it’s an article that will help inspire the building of more green roofs – for their many benefits to urban environments and to the health of the planet.

Happy Earth Day! Okay, I’m a bit early, but with the spring rains nudging open the buds outside my window, it feels like a good day to celebrate.

My apologies to anyone who has gone in search of my South Africa or Europe photos, only to be asked, annoyingly, for Facebook login information. I specified that I wanted “Everyone” interested to be able to see the photos, but apparently Facebook doesn’t interpret “Everyone” the way I do. (Facebook may soon lose me; it has proven annoying in more ways than one lately.) If I get around to posting them elsewhere, I will let people know. In the meantime, thanks for your interest!

Perhaps my next posting will be about my novel in progress, that is patiently awaiting my return.

I’ve just finished reading The Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson (winner of the Best Book In Africa Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2007). I bought it while in South Africa, thinking it might offer me useful insight into the complex world of that beautiful country, and it did, to some extent, though of course there is a lifetime of learning to be done here.

The Native Commissioner is George Jameson, “deeply unsure of the morality of his work [during the early years of apartheid], but unable to escape it”. The novel is the story of his son, eight years old at the time of George’s death, piecing together a picture of his unknown father from papers in a box his mother has passed on to him.

There is a line in the novel about those white people who don’t seem to get that Africa is not just its wild animals and its dramatic landscapes; Africa is its people. It stood out among many great lines, perhaps in part because I had recently finished sorting through hundreds of photos taken in South Africa into “albums” – Kruger Wildlife, SA Plant Life, SA Scenery – knowing that different people will be interested in looking at different things. There’s also a SA Carver Family Connections album that I’ll send out to family, so maybe I’m not one of “those white people…”. Still, the line did give me pause.

I will go ahead, nonetheless, and offer up my South Africa albums for anyone interested in having a look.

Scenery

Plant Life

Wildlife