Monthly Blog - January, 2005

Word Struck!

02 January, 2005

I was out today with my husband (photographer and editor) to witness the ringing of the Ottawa church bells on the 150th anniversary of Ottawa receiving its name and becoming a city. It was a cold day, and the ice was everywhere! But we had hot mulled cranberry juice and coffee to keep us warm as we went outside, so that the mayor, Bob Chiarelli, could read the proclamation, and the Town Crier could ring the bells.

And now I am back home, inside a very warm house, reading a newspaper in which I have been asked to contribute articles, and drinking my hot chocolate while stroking one of my cats, Max, a black domestic shorthair who is always looking for, and receiving, affection.

And, I am thinking, I have always known that writing is a tedious, yet sometimes lonely and difficult life … but I keep coming back to it! I am the one who used to read dictionaries as a child, pondering over the words, wondering how they were used, where they were from, and how I could use them in my writing - for I was writing soap operas when I was nine—with all the dysfunctional chaos thrown in—not an exciting plot line I admit - but then again, I was nine!

And believe me, I have done lots in my life to avoid writing. Sometimes, I think, I have spent more time and effort to avoid doing it, that I have actually doing it - writing, that is!

I taught school for two years, conducted research in sociology for two years, and worked in a government department for 10 years, all the time wondering what it would be like to write on a full-time basis. Would I be able to do it? Not physically - but mentally, and with the vigor and passion that the profession demands.

And after 16 years of writing for newspapers, off-line and on-line newsletters, and being a columnist for the past two years - it is worth it! Oh yes, there are still times when I feel like I just cannot write another word, but I have turned those days into useful time - for I use them to think of new angles to an old story, to plot new ideas, or to read. I call them my "think days."

So this is my Scriptorium! My writing room! I come to this room every morning and write my stories every day, and now I have decided to add a monthly blog. I am using this website to show my wares. At the very beginning, I will publish the blog once a month, hopefully on the first Sunday of every month.

Of course, Canadian genealogy, history, and heritage is still important to me, and my columns on that subject can be read at <http://www.genealogycanada.com>.