The Magic of Orkney

The Magic of Orkney

The Ring of Brodgar

I travelled to Orkney with a dear friend in 2009. It’s an incredibly magical place; one I’m sure I’ve lived at least one life before. At least, that’s what one of my guides tells me.

So I was thrilled tonight to join Philip Carr-Gomme’s “Tea with a Druid 146” and find this brilliant Druid leader introducing a new and wonderful book about Orkney. Just hearing Philip talk about the book and closing my eyes to take in the author’s deliciously poetic language during meditation inspired me to buy the book. And I have! A Christmas present to myself!

Skara Brae 3100BCE

The book is called This Old Golden Land: an alternative Orkney guidebook for spiritual seekers, mystics, and pilgrims. It’s Indie-published and comes direct from the authors in Orkney.

If you’ve never been to Orkney—it’s a ferry ride from the northernmost tip of Scotland—I suggest you visit when the circle turns and we are once again traveling through this beautiful planet we call home.

All Aboard the Uchuck III

All Aboard the Uchuck III

As I’ve said before the best research is hands-on. That way, you can indulge your senses.
Last Saturday, we enjoyed a day cruise from Gold River (on Vancouver Island, British Columbia) to Yuquot at Friendly Cove. This is Nuu-chah-nulth traditional territory. The term, Nuu-chah-nulth means “all along the mountains” and refers to sixteen tribes from Alaska to Washington state that speak different dialects, but collectively are sea-faring people.
Uchuck means healing waters. “The Uchuck III can move along at twelve knots, and carry up to 100 day-passengers and 70 tons of general cargo including three or four cars” (Get West.) We watched from the upper deck as the crew loaded supplies using a crane for the folks at Yuquot. This included a new red ATV that was immediately put to work when we arrived. bowWhen we were underway at last, the two-hour cruise took us through Muchalaht Channel past controversial fish farms and logging swaths, around Bligh Island (named for a young Captain Bligh of Bounty fame), and through Cook Channel into Friendly Cove.
cruisingIt was a perfect day of sun and fair breezes and the calm waters certainly felt healing. The captain said that humpback whales often come into Muchalaht Channel. All around Nootka Sound, salmon fishermen were hoisting their catch to show off their prizes.
In 2014, I lived at the Nootka Light Station for two months, while working as a relief lighthouse keeper. Although it was a short stint, catching sight of the white and red Coastguard buildings felt like coming home. We had three hours to explore the Yuquot site, which includes an amazing pebble beach, a portion of the Nootka Trail that leads past a graveyard and rentable cabins at Jewitt Lake, the old church which has now been reclaimed by the Indigenous community as a cultural centre, and of course, the light station.
FriendlyCoveBut I am setting a murder mystery here, so was most interested in locations where one might kill someone without being seen and hide something precious. This landscape is not new to killing.
White SlavesIn 1788, Maquinna (the Mowachacht chief) sent his people aboard The Boston to repay many insults—including the murder of his brother-in-law—by European sailors. The entire crew was murdered and decapitated except for the blacksmith John Jewitt, and the sailmaker who hid below. Maquinna needed Jewitt’s skills so kept him alive, and Jewitt convinced Maquinna that the sailmaker was his father. Jewitt lived three years as part of Maquinna’s family, wrote his story on the dead captain’s paper, and eventually returned to Boston where it was published.
The long pier was teaming with people as the Mowachaht/Muchalaht community was holding their annual Spirit Summerfest campout in the grassy area near the church and many friends and relatives had come out aboard the Uchuck III to visit. There was also a celebration in the church as this year marked the 240thAnniversary of Captain James Cook’s arrival at Nootka Sound.
As the story goes, Cook arrived in what he first called King George’s Sound in the spring of 1778 with the Resolution and Discovery. Making the usual European blunder, he named the people and the place based on his suppositions. The Indigenous people—who’d been living here for thousands of years—called out and told the captain to go around to avoid the reefs. More precisely, it happened like this:
“Captain Cook’s men, asking by signs what the port was called, made for them a sign with their hand, forming a circle and then dissolving it, to which the natives responded ‘Nutka’. No.tkak or no.txak means “circular, spherical” (Sapir and Swadesh 1939:276) in The Whaling People. 
Though the village was teaming with people, Cook claimed the land for Britain. The British soon called all the people there, the Nootka, though there were 1500 Mowachacht people living in villages in the area. Yuquot was the summer home of Maquinna’s people and they wintered down the channel in Tahsis. The Mowachacht—“people of the deer”—began a lucrative (especially for the British) trade in sea otter pelts.
Captain Cook’s claim on Yuquot set the stage for later conflicts between the Indigenous people as well as the Spanish, who built Fort San Miguel on the rocks beside the lighthouse. Sadly, within forty years, the sea otter disappeared. Fortunately, they are now back in the area. I remember seeing them playing near the pier when I lived there. This charming sea otter photograph was taken by my friend Ivan Dubinsky, principal keeper at Scarlett Point Lightstation north of Port Hardy.
sea otter by ivan
On our return voyage, we sailed through the more turbulent waters of Zuchiarte Channel. I went up to the wheelhouse to ask about the ship, but Captain Adrien said that he’d only answer my questions if I took a turn at the wheel. So, under his direction, I steered the Uchuck III through King’s Passage.
captain
The wheelhouse is beautiful and it was a thrill to turn the wheel two spokes starboard and then back to port to straighten her out while keeping my eyes on the bow.
The fabulous photo below was taken by Low Light Mike, August 28, 2010. One of the crew had just polished the engine-telegraph (to the left of the wheel) a piece from BCCS’s Princess Victoria,a River Clyde vessel that sailed around Cape Horn in 1904.
Wheelhouse
We arrived back in Gold River at 5:30pm. It was a long glorious day, and I recommend taking a voyage aboard the Uchuck III so you can get a taste of history firsthand. For more photographs, cruise and booking information, check out Get West. Below is a site map of Yuquot and a directional map to Gold River.
All maps Friendly Cove and Map to Gold River

Island Research (part 1)

Island Research (part 1)

Hands-on research is the best way to begin a book. It’s real. It’s kinaesthetic. It’s inspiring. And it will help you discover whether what’s in your mind will work logistically, and on the page.

I visited Saltspring Island seven years ago and loved the energy, beauty, and people here. So when I decided to set a new book on the West Coast, this island began to flicker. I’ve been here now for almost twelve days, walking the beaches, talking to people, going to markets, and scene-searching. It’s like being a director. You have to decide where specific scenes will be set. Among the things I’ve discovered are these:

The House: (Refuge)

The HouseIn my mind, I saw an old family home on the northwest side of the island, with a large porch, lots of natural wood, board and batten, cedar-shaked, surrounded by pine and arbutus trees. It looks something like this and fits well with the history and culture of this island. But, I also wanted it to overlook the sea and have a dock where one of the characters could keep his fishing boat. The other day, after much beach ambling, I found one similar enough to work for me and make it viable.
Another one of the key characters is a potter, so Refuge will have a summer-kitchen/pottery studio. Yesterday, I visited a potter on the island and she showed me her kilns, her wheel, and we talked a little bit about the process of making pottery. I also bought two exquisite pieces. My potter is also a yoga teacher. The Saltspring Centre for Yoga is known for its teacher-training programs and retreats—I came to one several years ago. This character’s pottery business is called Dharma Designs and revolves around her beliefs as a yogini. The name Refuge describes The House well, as the main character, Gracelyn Lassiter, will leave her place of refuge to travel into the past and the unknown.

The Cemetery

IMG_4697As I said, sometimes you think something will work but when you actually see it and walk it, you realize it’s all wrong. When I first came here, I wanted to set the first scene in an old Anglican Cemetery. I researched churches and cemeteries and visited two. Neither felt right. Neither had cemeteries where someone could be buried in 2017. And then I realized that the person who died wouldn’t choose an Anglican Cemetery anyway. Walking through the graves I understood that this character was a very different man than who I thought he was. He began to take form. To speak for himself.

What Have I Accomplished Here?

I don’t want to say too much, as things change between the musing and the actual writing and then again during revision. But, these are some of the things that have come to light while I’ve been working here:

  • Names and descriptions of most of the major characters
  • Backstory (names, dates, and connections) for the major characters along with the emotional wounds that drive them—thanks to The Emotional Wound Thesaurus for help with this. Most of this never shows up in the story but it’s vital for the writer to know.
  • How my character lives in her Ordinary World before tragedy strikes and she must venture out on her journey.
  • The first few scenes: where they are set, what happens, and why (cause and effect)

I’m wondering if I should call the island Saltspring or perhaps make it a fictional place and call it, say, Pepperpot Island. Personally, I like to read about real places that I can visit. But, what do you think?

See Ya Later, Saltspring!

What Now?

Tomorrow, I’m off to Vancouver Island to revisit the lighthouse at Yuquot/Friendly Cove where I stayed for two months in 2014. This is where Gracelyn must go to unravel her mystery. So, I will tread in her footsteps because that is where the magic happens.

Follow The Rainbow Road

Saltspring Island is one of the most unique and beautiful places on Earth. Today on our morning ramble, we discovered a pathway of poppies glittering in the sun. Is there a better way to begin a day?
p.s. The Rainbow Road is where I’m staying;)
 

Saltspring Island: I’m Coming Back

Saltspring Island: I’m Coming Back

I tend to live in seven-year-cycles. So, it’s no surprise that I’m returning to Saltspring Island this summer to research a new book. My dream dog, Puddy, came with me last time. It was his last trip. Puddy loved to travel, especially aboard the ferries. This summer, I’ll be taking Skaha along. Puddy was eleven—Skaha is ten-months-old.

Saltspring is the largest of the Gulf Islands in the Salish Sea. An artist’s haven, with an agricultural and environmental legacy, it is wildly beautiful and inspiring. Memories of 2011 below. What awaits us in 2018? I can’t wait to find out.

Sweet smokes seeps from your mouth to mine
Filling me, willing me, to come, with you
Shaman farmer crafter chef poet eco-warrior
I want to know you; grow with you
Dirty my fingers in fecund folds
Drop seeds, bulbs, words, deep in sea-rich soil
Then wait through sun and wind and rain
Gestating magic cradled by leathered hands
You are man and woman, yin and yang, androgynous lover
Mesmerized by diamond shrouded seas, sun-kissed hair blowing free
My flesh accepts your strong and briny light, your long and silent night
Braid my hair with gems and blossoms, bound fast with vines
Amber, sapphire, scarlet, peach, cobalt, pearly white
Scrape my skin with black slate stones transfusing flesh and blood
And when rootless I dance off, leaving only my bare footprint in your sand
Fill it with Byzantine light, a beacon to lure me back.

EU Airline Claims

EU Airline Claims

If you’ve been reading my blog this summer, you know that I travelled in Ireland and the return trip to Canada was a nightmare. I wrote about the experience in this post:
http://bluehavenpress.com/2017/08/06/dear-air-transat-we-are-over
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I didn’t leave it there. There is an EU law that you should know about.
At the airport, we were only given a piece of paper that mentioned the EU law because we asked for it. And we only asked for it because someone else in the queue knew about it. Passengers started talking and informed each other. So that’s why I’m informing you.
Although I was feeling very ill when I came home, I submitted a formal complaint to the airline.

Your Right to Compensation

If you’re travelling in Europe and you experience a delay of over three hours you have  rights and are entitled to compensation. This is a solid article from “This is Money” about those rights and how to make a claim.
There are some organizations that offer to help you with this, but we just used this form and filled it out ourselves.
I’m happy to say that we received an email from Air Transat within three weeks offering us each compensation (600 Euros). This is the amount owed for:

a delay of 4 hours or more More than 3,500 km between an EU and non-EU airport €600

A cheque arrived about three weeks later. It’s important to know your rights and to act. I’m sure there were many other passengers on this flight who were so happy to finally be home, they just let it go. Know your rights.