Book Review - Ride the Rising Wind by Barbara Kingscote: one woman's journey across Canada

In May of 1949, 20 year old Barbara Kingscote and 15 year old Zazy, her little black mare, set off from Mascoushe, Quebec for Vancouver,  British Columbia. Barbara planned a year long journey across Canada while awaiting placement at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph. They were sent off with good wishes, a map, provisions and $100.00. Along the way, Barbara would stop at small towns to renew her provisions, send and collect mail from her parents or sister. She and Zazy grew ever closer, listening to each others excitement or hesitations. 

They encountered many hardships: storms drenching them with cold rain, attacked by black flies in Ontario and other as determined insects on the prairies, the draining heat on the prairies where there was little cover, some unsavoury characters that she fended off bravely. But she loved her journey, met many Canadians who welcomed her into their families with meals and much needed rest, travellers who gave her rides or directions. Occasionally she slept on a porch, a floor or in a hay loft. On these happy visits, Zazy was stabled in a barn, sometimes with a stall. Many times they slept outdoors. Only once did they hear a cougar, but didn’t see it. She was always concerned that Zazy have oats, a farrier as often as possible to tend to her shoes and the ‘galls’ (saddle sores) that she suffered from. Because of the sores, Barbara finally sent most of her tack back to her home in Quebec and rode bareback the last 500 miles. In the winter of 1949, Barbara was able to get employment at a lumber camp as a ‘cookie’, assisting the cook with preparing and serving the meals to the men. Zazy was stabled there, not without some dissent. When the head man tried to get her stabled elsewhere, the determined little mare left to find her Barbara. Helen, the cook made sure that Zazy always had an oatmeal cookie and kiss on the nose. The men could get rowdy from time to time, with alcohol involved in stirring the pot. She described some of the difficulties there, but she was never injured and differences were resolved among the men.

Immediately after their ride, Barbara did enter Veterinary School and graduated in August of 1955. Zazy remained in B.C., with good friends for 3 years until Barbara could pay for her fare by rail to Guelph. This is a second read of this fascinating this coming of age book. Barbara Kingscote describes parts of Canada that most of us have never known. Her descriptions of the land, the wildlife, and the people they met along the way are poignant. It took me on the journey with her, a journey that ended in August of 1950.

“How did you ever take your first step out?”…….

 “I didn’t know how far it was?”

Barbara Kingscote, Ride the Rising Wind: 

one woman’s journey across Canada

Author’s note: no cell phones, no internet. Just paper maps, dial telephones in homes and towns, and the good will of strangers and intuition.  

Title: Ride the Rising Wind: one woman’s journey across Canada

Author: Barbara Kingscote

Publication Date:  2006 

Publisher:NeWest Press

Type: Memoir

Format: Paperback 

ISBN - 13: 978-1-897126-05-9

ISBN - 10: 1- 897126-05-0

Life and Limb ~ HEAT ~ Theme for July 2021

Here we are…….

Every child…..

A moment in time……

Taking stock……

The Covid19 pandemic is winding down, but not gone. Parts of the world are still reeling. Here in Canada, it is heating up in more ways than one. The temperature is the least of our worries, even though it is a big worry. Fires are lighting up and destroying life and limb. But a deeply serious and long lasting heat is rising from the thousands of children lost to their homes and families. The residential school programs of colonization made a vain attempt to reprogram an entire race through their children, while destroying life and limb. An exercise in genocide. Great bravery and commitment of many individuals surviving this horrendous rending of a long established and beautiful culture has been patiently, steadily waking this country up. 

I am one of the privileged whites who did not understand the depth of this devastation. When I put myself in the shoes of the Indian parents, the shoes of even one Indian child, I edge closer to knowing. Not just understanding intellectually, but knowing that devastation in my heart.

“Once parents came to be viewed as the ‘enemy’, 

their criticisms, no matter how valid, could be discounted.”

~ The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 

Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 

Volume One: Summary: Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future

Book Review: The Girls with Stone Faces by Arleen Paré

The Girls with Stone Faces by Arleen Paré revealed a small piece of Canadian artistic history that I knew nothing about, but learned in the discussion at our book group yesterday afternoon. Our host had generously researched Florence Wyle and Frances Loring, “two of Canada’s greatest artists…” Florence and Frances met in 1906 at the Art Institute of Chicago. Arleen Paré, the Governor-General award winning author of Lake of Two Mountains, tells us of encountering their sculptures for at least a second time……

“but this time I was 

struck stuck pinned to the air suspended

if I could have stroked 

every surface   but   there was a guard at the door   I knew only distillate awe

a welter of bliss.”

This slender volume and its poetry, stories their lives, their sculptures and even the hard work of sculpting, many sculptures life sized or larger. Arleen Paré’s poetry, in a very visual sense, describes beautifully only some of their sculptures wrought in stone, and some about the difficulties that these two women faced in the early 20th Century. 

My initial reading of Arleen Paré’s poetry was difficult as I found it unlike any other poetry I have read in the past. However, hearing her poems read aloud by members of the group, I felt and heard the flow that I had missed in my own reading. This is a book of poetry that I keep on my book shelf - not just for the poetry but for the Canadian history. I hope to see at least one of their sculptures in time.  

“And poetry can also be sculpture, 

or at least it’s more like sculpture than it is a conversation.”

~Michael Redhill 

(quotation used in the front of The Girls with Stone Faces)

Title: The Girls with Stone Faces

Author: Arleen Paré

Copyright: 2017

Publisher: Brick Books

Type: Poetry

Format: Soft cover, PDF and EPUB 

ISBN: 978-1-77131-464-0 (Soft cover)

ISBN: 978-1-77131-466-4 (PDF)

ebook ISBN: 978-1-77131-465-7 (EPUB)

Whirligig Weekend!

Canadian Writers and Authors ~

Storytelling, poetry, prose 

history, fiction and memoir

Two days filled 

with creative voices and ideas......

More to come......

one more event this afternoon..

Phew!!! My brain is awhirl with fascination and new ideas!

“To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what 

it’s about, but the music the words make.”

~ Truman Capote, Truman Capote: Conversations

Book Review: The Promise of Canada - 150 Years People and Ideas That Have Shaped Our Country

Intelligence and intuition has shaped our country, but was driven by the vision of many Canadians - some before Canada was born. I feel quite inadequate to write this review, but feel that The Promise of Canada by Charlotte Gray is an important piece of literature. From the vision and collaboration of George-Étienne Cartier and John A. MacDonald, the establishment of a federal police force in the Northwest Mounted Police, and the development of our provinces, Charlotte Gray only begins to show us that there has been so much more to the creation of the country that it is today. Simplicity has not been a watch word for all that has been accomplished. Literature and Canadian culture has been introduced and developed by artists such as Emily Carr and Margaret Atwood, along with publishing houses within our own borders. Universal medical care was created with the push by Tommy Douglas in Saskatchewan. Women’s Rights and Indigenous Rights have been discussed and debated and are hard won. Bertha Wilson was the first woman on the Supreme Court and Elijah Harper of the Red Sucker Lake First Nation said ‘no’ to the Meech Lake Accord and stood firm against his opponents in the Manitoba Legislature when he said ‘Our relationship with Canada is a national disgrace’. Charlotte Gray has peered beneath all the names and dates, and with her very astute researchers eye, has gleaned names and details that do not make the news. And still this is only a beginning.

I have never been a history buff, and was concerned that this book would not be of interest to me. I suppose that my high school experiences of memorizing dates and battles in countries that I really couldn’t relate to had something to do with that. However, this is one history book that I will keep in my collection, especially to read when the politicking and sound bytes gloss over the contributions that are are the meat of all that this country has become.

“There is no single story. Canadians have never been a homogeneous people, 

and Canada has been under construction since its earliest days.”

~  Charlotte Gray

Title:  The Promise of Canada - 150 Years That Have Shaped Our Country

Author:  Charlotte Gray
Published by:  Simon & Schuster Canada
Copyright:  2016 by Charlotte Gray
ISBN: 978-1-4767-8467-0
Format:  Hardcover
Genre:  Non-fiction

Book Review - Speaking in Cod Tongues by Lenore Newman

When I sat down this morning to write this review, I felt a bit stymied as I had not finished the book before book group met at my home yesterday. Now, I like all things food related. Growing food, preparing food, storing food and definitely eating food. Lenore Newman showed me another area of food that I had really never considered - the part that food has played in the development of Canadian cuisine. If we think regionally and within our own families, we have specific favourites. I can cite Saskatoon pie as one of mine from the berries common to the prairie provinces. There are numerous varieties of berries from the Maritimes to Vancouver Island, from far north borders to southern borders that have sustained all populations throughout history. 

Speaking in Cod Tongues is a veritable buffet of foods that have become a Canadian creole. The term most people are familiar with is fusion, however Lenore Newman feels that our Canadian food experience has gone much deeper than just fusing two cultures. She has travelled across Canada examining the historical part that food and dining has played in Canada’s development as a country, the rise, fall and rise again of community markets, as well as the regional preferences and cultural effects of Canada’s multicultural landscape. She, with great dedication, has eaten her way across Canada.  Most frequently she has studied the cuisine in restaurants, but has discussed some home cooking cuisine. You will not find recipes in this book, but what you will find is a fascinating perspective about the foods we take for granted each day. This includes the marginalization that can and has occurred with gentrification in urban areas and the exorbitant costs of food in the far north. 

Christmas is a time when families gather around tables, parties always involve food, in fact any gathering whether large or small, involves food. Speaking in Cod Tongues, in 237 pages, simmers and bubbles with humour and a light touch. There are notes, references and an index following the text. I am continuing to read Speaking in Cod Tongues and it is now an important part of my personal library. Lenore Newman answers the question - What is Canadian Cuisine? Indigenous peoples and those Canadians that have come as immigrants to this country, by necessity and creativity have cooked up a delicious Canadian creole experience.

“But creole is deeper. It’s when cultures co-exist until they form a cuisine 

together. And I believe that Canada has developed a bit of a creole.”

~  Lenore Newman,  Author of  Speaking in Cod Tongues

Title:  Speaking in Cod Tongues

Author:  Lenore Newman

Publisher: University of Regina Press, University of Regina

Copyright:  2017

Format: Paperback

ISBN-10: 0889774595

ISBN-13: 978-08897745599

Type: Non-Fiction  

Saturday Evening in Celebration

Our Canada. An evening of symphony and literature celebrating Canada’s 150th Birthday was an evening shared with friends. Alix Goolden Hall, a historic former church, was a fitting venue for this grand display of Canadian talent. The music was crashing and mellow, expansive and focussed. Between each piece authors charmed with readings from their works. It is a treat to hear brand new music, and even more satisfying that it was Canadian talent entertaining us with story, poetry, music and song. 

“I love Canada. It’s a wonderful political act of faith 

that exists atop a breathtakingly beautiful land.”

~ Yann Martel

Safety in Celebration

Canada is celebrating today.
Under velvet dark skies, fireworks bloom across the land.
Right now, even children, up past their bedtimes, are in awe of the coloured stars.
Instantly, cheers go up with each starburst.
One child, tired and full of hotdogs and candy floss, curls up under her big sister’s blanket.
She knew she was safe with her family on the wide open lawn with her community.
Interest in the sparkling sky, running and playing with her cousins floated softly in her dreams
There would be much chatter in the morning with her cousins, but for now she slept.
Youthful curiousity in her country would bloom and grow as bright as the night’s starbursts.

“Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.”

~ Samuel Johnson, Works of Samuel Johnson

An Aura of Calm

Living on the prairies of Saskatchewan
and the plains of Texas    where land and sky
wrapped under and over me, I felt in awe of the grandeur

A return to Canada's land of 
   mountains, vast expanses of water and soaring trees
a new home wrapped around me.

The gardens of prairie and plains passed into memory
Only small patches of land existed - would that suffice?
Definitely - always aware of the satisfaction of growing food, flowers and an aura of calm.

“To dream a garden and then to plant it is an act 

of independence and even defiance to the greater world.”

~ Stanley Crawford, A Garlic Testament: 

Seasons on a Small New Mexico Farm

Book Review: Nellie McClung by Charlotte Gray

Nellie McClung, by renowned biographer Charlotte Gray, is one of a series of Extraordinary Canadians. This book provided food for much interesting discussion this afternoon. It was difficult for Charlotte Gray to develop this biography as most of Nellie McClung’s diaries had been destroyed. The reason for this destruction is not apparent, but did limit the author. Despite this, Nellie McClung is an easily read and well paced book outlining the strong role that she played in winning women the right to vote. Manitoba, where Nellie McClung resided, was the first province to legislate the vote for women. She was also involved in the Temperance movement at the time. As she and her family moved into Alberta and then into Victoria, Nellie maintained the strength of her beliefs, not all of which are acceptable today. According to Gray, Nellie McClung did support the eugenics movement when it was popular in 1928.

Regardless I am grateful for the bravery of Nellie McClung, the Famous Five and other suffragettes both in Canada, the U.K., the United States and around the world. This at a time when women were seen as non-persons. It truly was a world run by men, for men and about men. Women were, because of that, completely economically, socially and even politically dependent on the other half of humanity. Thank you Nellie, and thank you to Charlotte Gray for this book.

“The economic dependence of women is perhaps the greatest injustice 

that has been done to us, and has worked the greatest injury to the race.”

~ Nellie L. McClung

Title:  Nellie McClung
Author:  Charlotte Gray
Publisher: Penguin Group
Publication Date: 2011
Format:  Soft Cover
ISBN: 978-0-14-305455-9 (pbk.)
Type:  Biography
Series:  Extraordinary Canadians (Series Editor: John Ralston Saul)

Happy Canada Day!!

The Event:
Canada Day - building a flag to believe in.

The Scene:
Red or white t-shirts every where ~ all parts of the Canadian flag

The Location:
The grounds of the provincial legislature in Victoria B.C.

Extras:
Victoria residents, tourists from near and far composed of moms, dad, kids, grandparents, dogs, horse drawn carriages, ……………

Catering:
Food trucks lining Menzies street.

Photography:
Cameras large and small, cell phones and tablets.

“There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.”

~ Arthur C. Clarke

One Flag Flying - U.S.A.

Independence Day ~ the Fourth of July, a federal holiday in the United States, as Canada Day is here in Canada.

I wanted to continue my theme about addiction tonight

but how does that fit honorably into an Independence Day celebration?

Independence Day ~ celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776 declaring independence from Great Britain. 

Since then,  during the American Revolution and on July 2, 1776 the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred, with documents signed on July 4, 1776 ~

political debate and finagling have 

developed American federal laws and national personality and 

added more territories to make up the great land that we know as the United States of America.

Two topics ~ so very diametrically opposed!

A celebration of national pride by all citizens of the U.S.A.

vs

addiction, one more chronic disease of major proportions

that affects too many of America’s citizens.

I guess any more discussion about addiction on this lovely summer celebration day would best be left until tomorrow.

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”

~ Abraham Lincoln

One Flag Flying

Canada Day, originally Dominion Day ~ The joining of provinces, and passage of legal acts, that began the process of loosening ties to Great Britain.

I wanted to write about addiction tonight but how would that fit graciously into any Canada Day celebration?

Canada Day ~ celebrating historic political achievements that 

birthed the Country of Canada from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec). 

Since then, on July 1, 1867,

political debate and finagling have 

developed our federal laws and national personality, and 

added more territories to make up this great land.

Two topics ~ so very diametrically opposed!

A celebration of national pride by all citizens of Canada 

vs

addiction, one more chronic disease of major proportions

that affects some of Canada’s citizens.

I guess discussion about addiction on this lovely summer celebration day would be best left until tomorrow.

“I rise in support of a Canada in which liberties 

are safeguarded, rights are protected and the people 

of this land are treated as equals under the law.”

~  Paul Martin

Canada Day Muse

All politics aside,

I really like Canada - or do I?

I have only done two things of any great import today

Many would say I have not really celebrated Canada Day.

No, I did not go to 

a parade

a gathering or 

any special celebratory event.

No flag waving.

I worked at Detox today

I gardened this afternoon, pulled weeds. rearranged daffodil bulbs.

And I did them both because I 

enjoy them both and 

did them both with personal integrity.

(Well, the work I also get paid for).

Those that I cared for today, Canadians all, 

and yet a marginalized group in many ways, 
have the same rights as any other Canadian.

The land from any sea to any other sea is pretty much the same around the world.

It grows things or it doesn’t.

It is flat,

mountainous or with

rolling hills connecting mountains and hills.

Often I have at least one complaint of just about any system in Canada and 

the right to complain is mine if I choose.

I have also found that just complaining about something is rather unproductive.

And then, we all also have the right, and many times the responsibility, to work for change within our own circles of 

community and 

employment.

It’s how the place is operated and by whom that makes a difference.

The myriad of political party members working in Canadian parliaments since July 1, 1867, of any political stripe, have built 

the infrastructure of this country that we Canadian citizens live with ~ and with lots of tinkering for many reasons.

I suppose putting politics aside is not necessarily wise.

And yes, I do like Canada.

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in 

my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what 

I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country.

  This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”

~ John Diefenbaker