COVER REVEAL…
Camino de Santiago de Compostela
WHAT THIS ALBERGUE NEEDS…
Eleven years ago, I walked for twenty-one days across northern Spain, on an ancient pathway beginning in the Pyrenees near the French border – the famed Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Two close friends (“sole sisters”) accompanied me, Rona and Lanice. We carried everything we’d need for the entire journey in our heavy (20 pound) backpacks. More importantly, we carried friendship, the loving support of our families we’d left behind, and a sense of embarking on a great adventure. If you’ve walked the pilgrimage route of the Camino de Santiago, you know what I experienced. If you haven’t, I urge you to consider taking this life-altering journey. The Camino de Santiago route is over 1000 years old, and it currently sees over 300,000 pilgrims each year. For bibliophiles, an interesting note: the oldest book written about this pilgrimage is the Codex Calixtinus, which was written sometime in the 12th Century about the Camino Frances and is kept in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
Fast-forward eleven years, past a second shared pilgrimage with the same friends and much joy and heartache in the intervening years, and I headed back to the Spanish camino route. This time, I would volunteer at one of the hostels (albergues) along the pilgrimage route, with one of my two sole sisters, Lanice. After 24 hours of training from the previous hospitalero, Jorge, we were on our own. This is what we’d planned for, why we’d taken a weekend training course back home, and why we’d saved to cover the costs of our own travel to Spain for. To give back to the Camino, in gratitude for those who had cared for us when we were on our journey. Lanice speaks decent Spanish. I have a pathetic smattering of French plus Google Translate on my phone, to create my “Camino blessings” to give out to pilgrims at breakfast. Our local hosts spoke only Spanish and Basque. What could possibly go wrong?
WHAT THIS ALBERGUE NEEDS
What this albergue needs
Is a stool.
Or perhaps simply a tall friend with a long reach who is
Happy to stop her own chores and fetch what is desired.
What this albergue needs
Is a working toaster.
Our locals tell us there isn’t a toaster to be found in all of the village.
But the pilgrims need something hot for breakfast!
“Pain perdu” served hot from the skillet, every morning
Solves the problem of stale bread and only requires us to rise another half hour earlier.
What this albergue needs
Is a candle
so we can sit outside at night and eat, and drink wine
And listen to someone play the guitar.
A headlamp and paper towel cone make a magical lantern
And cast a soft glow, inviting camaraderie.
What this albergue needs
Is a yoga studio.
Hours of sweeping and mopping
And scrubbing showers and toilets leave us with sore backs and shoulders.
Not to mention the pilgrims’ need for stretching out sore calf muscles.
But a plastic tarp from the donation bin and three thick blankets
Are adequate.
What this albergue needs
Is a bigger kitchen.
There’s barely room for one cook, and only one dish washer at a time. No wonder some pilgrims don’t wash and put away their dishes!
Yet, isn’t it fun to squeeze three cooks into the tiny space, with helpers chopping the vegetables on the communal dining table?
What this albergue needs
Is a clothes dryer.
And yet – a double spin cycle on the sheets and dishtowels and a few hours drying on the line in the warm Spanish sun does the job with the bonus of fresh scent and requires stretching and bending and, well, see Yoga Studio.
What this albergue needs
Is nothing more than what it has.
Two servants’ hearts, four listening ears, and two hospitaleras with enough love and laughter to fill this tiny space.
Maggie has arrived!
My very own pet badger! I named her Maggie, to honour my grandfather’s actual pet badger. She plays a key role in my upcoming picture book, Flip, Flop, Flapjack! Mine is definitely more cuddly and safer than Grandpa Jack’s badger, but she’s missing the allure of wondering if she’ll suddenly snap at you or flex her long claws…Maggie invites you to join her for hilarious antics, once the book is available (spring 2023).
COLLABORATION
Collaboration: noun
“the action of working with someone to produce or create something”
Creating a picture book with Red Barn Books means a true collaboration between author (yours truly), illustrator (Melissa Bruglemans-LaBelle (pictured) and editor Ayesha Clough. Check out Melissa’s art at http://www.touchofpaint.ca, and Red Barn Books at https://redbarnbooks.ca.
ARTIST SNEAK-A-PEEK
Oh how I wish I could share the illustrator mock-ups for my Flip, Flop, Flapjack! picture book that Red Barn Books is publishing next spring. The illustrator, Melissa Bruglemans-Labelle, is brilliant and I really love what she’s creating for my characters. However, I’m sworn to secrecy (truly!) but what I can tell you is how to find Melissa’s other art work – at http://www.touchofpaint.ca, or check her out on Instagram, at mbruglemans.
POETRY ANTHOLOGY
REVEALED, a poetry anthology, contains poems written by patients in Alberta hospitals. One of my poems was chosen for this collection. But far more importantly, the anthology is a fundraiser for Artists on the Wards. That’s a fine arts program that runs in Edmonton hospitals and includes art programming by musicians, visual artists and literary artists. There is a great deal of scientific research that supports the healing qualities of the arts, something that those of us in the arts know intuitively. More information about Revealed, and the Artists on the Wards, and to purchase a copy of the book, can be found at http://www.friendsofuah.org/aow. And wouldn’t you love the cover to grace your bookshelves and bedside table?
WRITING UP AND DOWN THE CHILDREN’S LITERATURE LADDER
When Words Collide is a Writer’s Conference, held annually in Calgary. This year, its 10th year, it’s all online, thanks to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. I’ll be part of a panel discussing the joys and challenges of writing for different age groups in children’s literature. Other panelists are Leanne Shirtliffe and Dee Lindsay Hahn, with moderator Liz Grotkowski. Join us – it’s bound to be fun, and I’m looking forward to learning from my fellow panelists. Register at http://www.whenwordscollide.org.
You Know You’re a Writer When…
When a news item or someone’s anecdote gets you excited, you start thinking of how you could create a plot around the idea, who would be the main characters and oh, how you can get them into trouble!
When you’re not writing, you are thinking about writing.
When you get a hollow, empty feeling when you imagine never writing another book or story or poem.
When you have the courage to believe that, despite all the books already out in the world, there might be room for one more – the one you need to write.
FLIP, FLOP FLAPJACK!
The true story behind the inaugural 1923 Calgary Stampede pancake breakfast.
Thank you, Ayesha and team at Red Barn Books, for loving my story and taking a leap of faith with me. I’m excited to work with you and Lea and Hugh Rookwood.
For another great picture book, written by Ayesha and illustrated by Hugh, check out (and buy!!) “Howdy, I’m John Ware”, at http://www.redbarnbooks.ca.
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT – YAHOO!
I’m happy to announce that RED BARN BOOKS is publishing my picture book, FLIP, FLOP, FLAPJACK! It’s the true story of the original Calgary Stampede Pancake Breakfast, started back in 1923 by WILDHORSE JACK (my grandfather).
FLIP, FLOP, FLAPJACK! will be published in 2023, and will be illustrated by Hugh Rookwood**. See all of the beautiful books by Red Barn Books, at their website – http://www.redbarnbooks.ca. **Illustration will be by Melissa Brugelmans-LaBelle.
MORE details to come, but I couldn’t hold back my excitement to be working with the talented team at Red Barn Books. Yahoo!
Brenda Joyce Leahy 