Call for Volunteers
Our festival is fast approaching and there are plenty of volunteer opportunities. If you’d like to support Fredericton’s inaugural literary festival and join an already fun and dedicated bunch of volunteers, please drop us a line at info(at)wordfeast.ca!
last days of a covered bridge … French Village Bridge
More sad news for New Brunswick’s covered bridge heritage … In the past months there has been lots of discussion about the fate of the French Village Bridge, also known as Hammond River #2, near Quispamsis, Kings County.
~
Built in 1912, the French Village Bridge is one of only 60 covered bridges remaining in the province. In October, 2016, the bridge was severely damaged when a loaded excavator broke through the decking and undercarriage of the bridge. Although the government began repairs, rot was discovered in the sub-structure. After holding public meetings to consider options, the government recently announced the bridge would be demolished and a modular bridge would take its place.
~
The covered bridge is endangered in New Brunswick. In 1900, there were about 400 covered bridges in the province. By 1944, there were only 320. In 1992, when we visited some of the bridges for Canada’s 125th birthday, there were 71. In 2017, as I write this, there are only 60 remaining. Loss of the French Village Bridge will bring the number to 59. Vandalism, flood, accident, fire and age claim more bridges every few years.
~
~
The French Village Bridge is one of those included as subject matter for my upcoming poetry book in the shelter of the covered bridge. As a result, it is one of the bridges we visited to gather information on the plants and animals found there. We are also interested in the human history of the bridge, so we took photos of the carvings inside.
~
When I look at the small amount of information I have on this bridge, I am saddened and angered to know how much will be lost. Although economic considerations are important, the loss of built heritage includes loss of community character and part of our material culture. When ‘ROGER’ and ‘B’ and ‘E’ carved their names into the beams of the bridge, they probably thought the bridge would last many years into the future.
https://janetims.com/2016/05/16/a-drawing-of-a-covered-bridge/
~
~
Copyright Jane Tims 2017
getting the better of … a squirrel?
At readings of my book within easy reach, I often include the poem ‘beaked hazelnuts’ and tell my audience:
If I don’t pick my hazelnuts by August 6, the squirrels will get there ahead of me. They watch the calendar!
~
hazelnuts viewed from the underside of the shrub canopy
~
The Beaked Hazelnut is a wiry shrub found in mixed woods. The edible nut is contained in a bristly, beaked husk. We have three clumps of the shrubs in our yard, probably sprung from the stashes of squirrels over the years!
For my battles with the squirrels over the hazelnuts, just have a look at
https://janetims.com/2011/08/07/competing-with-the-squirrels/
and
https://janetims.com/2011/08/18/competing-with-the-squirrels-2/
~
This year, I also watched the calendar. And on August 5, I picked most of the hazelnuts on our hazelnut ‘trees’. Picking is tricky because those pods are covered with sticky sharp hairs that irritate thumb and fingers.
~
~
Never-the-less, I have a small bowl of hazelnuts to call my own (I left a few for the squirrels, more than they ever did for me). Now I will wait for them to dry and then have a little feast!
~
beaked hazelnuts
(Corylus cornuta Marsh.)
~
hazelnuts hang
husks curve
translucent, lime
they ripen
~
this year, they are mine
~
uptight red squirrels agitate, on guard, we watch
the hazelnuts ripen, slow as cobwebs falling, nut pies
browning through the glass of the oven door
green berries losing yellow, making blue
dust motes in a crook of light
float, small hooked hairs
shine
~
two more days
~
hesitate
and red squirrels
bury their hazelnuts
~
~
From within easy reach (Chapel Street Editions, 2016)
https://www.amazon.ca/Within-Easy-Reach-Jane-Spavold/dp/1988299004
~
Copyright Jane Tims 2017
Tendrils
My cucumber vines are still thriving …
~
And the tendrils are still so charming!
~
This one wants to pull up a chair!
~
On Friday, I had my first cucumber salad from my vines!
~
Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
Book giveaway
Are you a Goodreads subscriber? I keep track of the books I read there and maintain an author profile. I have also decided to try their ‘giveaway’ tool.
~
So, if you live in Canada, United States or Great Britain and you would like to enter to win one of four paperback copies of Meniscus: South from Sintha, you can enter between August 6, 2017 and August 14, 2017. Meniscus: South from Sintha is the second book in the Meniscus Series. Odymn and the Slain are off on an adventure to return some of the Slain’s former ‘acquisitions’ to their homes. Well that was a really bad idea!!!!
~
~
I’ll let you know the results since some of you may be curious.
~
Copyright Jane Tims 2017
wildflowers – Bladder campion
One of my favorite roadside flowers is the Bladder campion, Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke. The flowers are white, with five deeply lobed petals. The flowers protrude from an inflated, papery calyx, greenish, purple-veined and bladder-like. This time of year, the flowers are almost past.
~
~
I love the scientific generic name Silene, derived from the name of a Greek woodland deity. Another common name for Bladder campion is maidenstears.
~
~
The leaves of Bladder campion are edible, used raw in a salad or cooked in a stew.
~
~
Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
wildflowers – Canada lily
A drive this time of year through Grand Lake Meadows, along the old Trans-Canada Highway, will show you one of our prettiest wild flowers — Lilium canadense L., the Canada lily.
~
~
The flowers are a glimpse of orange in vast fields of greenery. The flowers are down-ward pointing, reminding me of a chandelier of light. They bloom from June through August in the moist wetlands of this part of central New Brunswick.
~
~
~
As the meadow winds flip the flowers upward, you can catch a glimpse of the dark red anthers and the spotted interior of the petals.
~
~
Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
review of ‘within easy reach’
~
My book of poetry within easy reach (Chapel Street Editions, 2016) has been reviewed by James Deahl (Canadian Stories 20 (116): 66-67, August/September 2017).
~
~
~
~
Copyright Jane Tims 2017
Next book in the Meniscus Series!!!
It’s the dead of winter. It’s bitterly cold and food is scarce. Just surviving until next morning is all you can think about. But no matter. There are just the two of you.
~
~
Then your boyfriend declares he is going on his version of ‘walkabout’ for three months. And seven strangers, survivors of a spaceship crash, land on your doorstep. The trials of winter just went critical.
~
~
Meniscus: Winter by the Water-climb, the third book of the Meniscus Series, follows the continuing story of Odymn and the silent Slain. If you enjoyed Crossing The Churn (the story of the meeting of Odymn and the Slain) and South from Sintha (the story of the Slain’s attempt at redemption), you will love the third story. There are lots of new characters and Odymn’s parkour and foraging skills are put to the test. The book includes new drawings, a map, a glossary, a list of characters and a guide to Gel-speak.
~
Meniscus: Winter by the Water-climb is now available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. A quick read, written as a narrative poem. The paperback is $11.99 (US) here and the Kindle version is $4.96 here .
~
~
An except from the story:
…
Odymn measures the gap.
Not far.
Perhaps two metres.
Just beyond her comfort zone.
Odymn considers
surface of the stack.
Icy, slippery.
Bubbles ooze across rock.
The En’ast wood,
a hundred metres below.
Odymn tosses a chunk of stone.
It lands,
skids to a stop.
Rubs her hands on the dusty rocks.
Needs dry fingers to cling to edge
if her feet keep going.
Crouches. Arms behind her.
Launches and leans.
~
~
I hope you will take a leap with Odymn and explore the strange world of Meniscus.
~
Copyright Jane (a.k.a. Alexandra) Tims 2017
reading tonight!
For those of you in the Fredericton area, it looks like a dull, muggy day. Just a reminder … tonight at 7 PM, Roger Moore will be reading from his books at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Nasonworth (Highway 101, just beyond New Maryland). There will be cookies and ice cold refreshments, and the free will offering will go to ‘Grace House for Women’ in Fredericton. Hope you can come out to hear Roger read! The church hall is cool and the acoustics are great!
Roger at the creative business of writing
~
Roger has written almost thirty books and chapbooks. His book ‘Bistro’ was on the short list for the 2016 New Brunswick Book Awards and he has won the WFNB Alfred G. Bailey Prize for his books of poetry. His poetry can be very funny, but he writes on serious topics. Some examples of his work? His ‘A Cancer Chronicle’ provides insight into the battle many will face during their lifetime. ‘The Empress of Ireland’ explores the history and emotions of the famous St. Lawrence River shipwreck. His most recent book ‘One Small Corner’ is the outcome of his artist’s residency at the Kingsbrae Gardens in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick. Roger is a born teacher and gives of his experience generously. I am so happy to call him my friend.
~
~
Copyright Jane Tims 2017
nichepoetryandprose 