Beach Lady
& a bit of news
Dear friends,
It has been a while since I have written to you; thank you for your forbearance. In my defense, there has been purpose to my absence. I have news…
Two years ago on September 6th, I landed my canoe at a lovely beach on the Merrimack River. It was a beautiful, hot late summer day—a perfect day to be by the river. As I came to shore, I saw four folks in portable chairs dug into the sand. Summer-brown skin shone warm. Eight bare feet paddled in cool water. Bud Light enlivened four hearts.
Two were well-worn women of about my age, sisters, with their 90-year old mother. With them was a “boy” friend of similar age, still pretty sharp with long white hair and belly bulging over a Captain America bathing suit. They made quite a scene. If you don’t believe me, I have pictures (withheld here for their privacy).
One of the women—the one with a dragonfly perched on her arm—asked what wildlife I had seen, then confessed that her daughter calls her the “Chipmunk Whisperer.” We got to talking.
Then she kind of cocked her head, looked at me a little sideways, and in a different voice asked, “Are you an author? I think you need to be an author.”
Exactly a year later, I was contacted out of the blue by a wonderful publisher, asking if I wanted to write a book. In May, we signed a contract. Since then, I have been writing, with an intensity that is new to me. Putting words to ideas and stories that have been waiting for 20 years. On Friday, September 6, I finished the first draft—two years to the day after I met Beach Lady.
So this post is for you, Beach Lady. I don’t know what you heard or how you knew, but thank you.
So that’s the news. More soon—I am heading into the mountains this morning. I’ll take pictures.




Yay! How wonderful that you're done uour first draft. 😍
That’s a huge accomplishment. Looking forward to hearing more about it!