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.