The Coast Way

Snow, high zero

Well, we're not exactly snowed in, but it is snowing and blowing and some is staying on the ground. And I have nothing to do today except sit in front of the fireplace and sip tea and read. How I've yearned for this day.

Yippee.

The Canadian Club luncheon was wonderful yesterday - because of the people, as always. So generous and gracious. Met a woman who's over 90, though I'd never guess it, who was Den Mother to several generations of children who traveled alone to this area of Quebec from the Lower North Shore. I talk about hat part of Quebec in DEAD COLD/A FATAL GRACE. It's where Gamache meets the fisherman who changes his life. The desolate, rocky, bleak landscape the first explorer called The Land God Gave to Cain. And yet, if you visit, you soon see the grace, the beauty. In the people, who ask for nothing and want for nothing. The beauty is in the small things, as it so often is. The lichen on the rocks, the tiny wildflowers, the flash of a fish as it leaps.

There's only one high school for the whole coast. Kids as young as 12 and 13 get sent away, far away, to school. And this woman, elderly now, met them at the train stations and busses, and took them in. And cared for them. And let them know they were safe. As people on the coast have done themselves for strangers for years.

I walk around grasping my dog-eared copy of The Cruellest Month, speaking to groups and signing copies as though what I did mattered. And I know it's not trivial, and it does matter. But it's very good for me to be reminded of the work other people do. That matters.

Still snowing. It's a quiet, peaceful day.

Was that the noise of an angry sheep?

Rain, snow, sleet, frogs, chickens, dinosaurs - yech

Dreadful weather. But we're at Hovey Manor, overlooking the slightly snow-obscured lake. The fireplace on - have eaten a breakfast of crepes and local maple syrup with fresh smoked bacon and strong coffee. Yum.

I want to stay. By the fire. Reading. I'm so tired.

But it's off to Sherbrooke to speak to the Canadian Club. That's about a 45 minute drive. Not too bad. And I need to remember what a real honour it is to be asked. And people are driving through the same c**p to hear me speak. And I could be going to have root canal done. Or a permanent. Or forced to buy more microban.

There - that feels better. I think part of my laziness is that Michael gets to stay behind and 'guard Hovey', as he says. 'Making sure it's still here for you.'

Lovely man.

When I get back mid afternoon Tim Belford is coming over to Hovey to have High Tea with us. He's the host of Quebec AM - the CBC Radio morning show in Quebec City. He lives nearby and is a wonderful guy. Very funny. Loves wine. And sheep. Ooops - maybe I shouldn't have said that. He'll be interviewing me for his show - but mostly the three of us will yak and get caught up. I used to host the show he's doing - and doing it so much better than I ever did. One of my big innovations for Quebec AM was a segment called 'Name That Noise.'

Yes - I was that good.

Well, I'm off. You know, I have to say I'm enjoying this blog. Keep well. 10 centimetres of snow on the way for tomorrow - we might be snowed in to Hovey! Here's hoping. I'll let you know tomorrow.