Good times — a way to avoid elections…

Finally found a way to avoid all the election talk. I took a two week vacation that included three BC Lions football games and two visits to the Stratford Festival (saw R+J & Finally There’s Sun as well as the two parts to Three Tall Women). And some time at a wonderful cottage (actually a house built in 1894) on Moira Lake on the edge of the Canadian shield that a good friend lent me. Also managed a couple of visits to the 7/62 craft brewery in Madoc as well as a winery on a limestone outcropping. Added to this were three visits to special art exhibitions: Divina Dali (spectacular examination of his study of Dante’s Inferno), Inspirations (a multi-media experience well worth the moment) – both these in Montréal, and a look at the life of DaVinci which included some amazing virtual reality moments along with stunning museum pieces – held at the mall on Tsawwassen First Nations land on the west coast. If you get the opportunity, visit as many of the above yourself – you won’t be disappointed.

My vaccine card worked well. Had some wonderful meals in Stratford, Montreal and Ottawa as well as special baking from a shop in Madoc. Of course, there were a few hotel breakfasts, but even Hampton Inns and Best Western didn’t do a bad job of those. And Hertz provided a Subaru Forester upon which I put almost 2,600 kms. I had a USB Stick so most of the time I had my own music and didn’t have to listen to any news casts…

So I am refreshed, revitalized and ready to get back into my study.

Oh, one other thing. Had a very productive and intense conversation with my editor while in Kingston. We covered many topics and a great deal of ground. The result? I am setting aside Book III for at least one year – as my first editor used to say before he passed away, there are two questions that must be asked: why/what are you writing? And, for whom are you writing? Until a writer can answer these in a definitive way, there’s really no book. My most recent editor asked the same questions and I couldn’t give a succinct answer to either.

I will try to re-orient my writing energies into more succinct contributions to this Editorialog as an alternative.

Enjoy your autumn…
g.w.