Remember Clara and Helga Estby of The Daughter’s Walk (and Bold Spirit: Helga Estby’s Forgotten Walk across Victorian America, the fabulous non-fiction story of this mother-daughter journey written by Linda Lawrence Hunt)? They took a road trip, well, a road-walk following the railroad tracks from Mica City just south of Spokane all the way to New York City. It was 1896 and the walk was 3500 miles long and they could not accept a ride, not even on a cart. They began with five dollars and earned their way across by modeling the new sporty clothes (worn without corsets and showing the tops of high button shoes!) or working as maids in hotels in Denver or Chicago. It’s a remarkable story of resilience and also managing unexpected challenges along the way.
Unexpected challenges have been on my mind this month. My cousin made the road trip from Oregon to Minnesota with me. What a gift. The first glitch was my getting a sore throat in Montana then arriving in Bismarck (where my grandmother once worked as a photographer) at Urgent Care getting antibiotics we thought was for bronchitis. A few days later when my cough had deepened– the day of my oldest friend on her way to spend four days with me – I trekked to urgent care in Minnesota and learned I had pneumonia! My friend had to turn back as she is susceptible to pneumonia and at 87 couldn’t take the risk. A few days later on the Fourth of July, instead of a big family gathering and fireworks, my brother landed in the hospital (and is still there almost a week later) with heart issues.
Good things did happen. I’ve spent time with nephews and their children I’d never met. Loved the quiet time with Rupie, reading and resting. My sister-in-law and cousins fixed tea and honey and cooked for me many days. The library events in my home town were splendid. But I start back to Oregon soon with memories of a different sort than what I’d planned.
I think of Jerry’s coping saw. The saw whose blade must be both strong and flexible and allows one to change directions quickly without a lot of friction. Helga and Clara had to change directions quickly when Clara sprained her ankle and especially when their planned objective – to arrive at a certain time in order to win $10,000 – was thwarted and getting home for them meant even more challenges and misery waiting when they arrived there. Still, that journey changed both of their lives.
It’s got me thinking. Why should I expect free-sailing on this journey of life? Yes, I can plan and organize and anticipate potential problems but others beyond my imagination show up, not because I did something wrong but because…life. I didn’t expect to get pneumonia or face the sadness of not seeing my friend on the very day of what would have been Jerry’s 96th birthday. I hadn’t planned to spend time with my brother beside his hospital bed discussing family histories of heart problems while watching soccer and old westerns on the hospital TV.
I remind myself how much worse it could have been – or yet might be as I head home. Perhaps our character is carved by how we weather those unexpected disappointments, griefs, health problems that come with longer living. I think I’ve quoted for you Wendell Berry’s definition of parenting: “A vexed privilege and a blessed trial.” I’ve come to think of life that way too. It is a privilege to live this long in this country with these resources all of which have their vexing moments. And I’m blessed, which doesn’t remove my wish that the trail I’m on had fewer trials. The 18th Century poet Robert Burns said it well.
But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ leave us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promised joy!
From “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns, 1785
Maybe we are left with more than grief and pain though. We’re left with hope that sometimes the very best laid plans that go awry can also bring us unexpected joys even if they’re hidden in the memory of those we anticipated, but that never arrived. Doesn’t stop me from praying for safe travels as we head west with hopefully fewer problems than Helga and her daughter Clara had! Nor stop me from praying that your journeys leave you breathless with amazement more than remorse.
Cover Reveal!
It’s here and it’s official. This is the cover of book three: Beyond the Breaking Waves. I truly love this cover. It gave me chills. Maybe because it’s the last book in the Women of Cannon Beach Series. Maybe because it’s the book I wrote after Jerry died. There is a haunting quality to the cover with a startling beauty. That is the coast for me and maybe for Mary Gerritse, the anchor of this series. She loved the landscapes and yet her journey faced a multitude of challenges she overcame to carry on. I had the privilege this week of hearing from a descendant of Mary’s, living in Italy, who had found and read book one. I tried to send her book two but she said mail from the states to Italy takes its own journey and might never arrive. Hearing from her makes this final book, in final edits right now, even more special. I hope you like the cover. Pre-ordering will happen in a while. The book will release March, 2027.
A Podcast Interview
On July 12th “A Woman’s Heart with Lisa Granger” podcast will feature an interview with me about With the Enduring Tides. The fun thing is that after the interview, Lisa and her husband visited the Oregon Coast and she took a photo of herself and Haystack Rock. How cool is that! Enjoy the interview on both her site or right here on my site!
Events
follow Jane on Facebook author Jane Kirkpatrick for events and other news in between Story Sparks issues.
Emma Day with Jane Kirkpatrick
July 29th – 11:00-2:00pm Emma Day at Granny Fi’s Shortbread, 21338 Pacific Hwy. E, Aurora, OR 97002. Ticketed fundraiser for the Aurora Colony. Join Jane and other program people for an entertaining tea celebrating Emma Giesy and the Aurora Colony.
The Dalles Wasco County Library
August 22 – 3:00-4:00pm. Jane will return to a library that helped her research and write A Sweetness to the Soul. She’ll talk about that book and With the Enduring Tides. 722 Court Street.
Word Whisperings
Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
by Yuval Noah Harari
Random House Publishers, 2024
This is a long but tantalizing book read in snippets for me because each paragraph has something to make me think about power, truth and mythology. AI has entered my writing life as controversy over when to use it, how AI was trained on books using copyrighted material without permission, the lawsuit related to that, and even AI generated books being written and rejected.
On a personal note, when I was the director of a mental health clinic, among other things, I learned there that words had power. I’d write letters to legislators and administrators about policy issues and concerns and they would call me and say “no one ever explained it like that before. We need to find a solution.” This book in some ways helps me see the power of words and information, how we gather it and what we do with it and how AI can interrupt human means of connecting. Not light reading but perhaps in this time, an essential read.
Rupie's Renderings
It has been a month! Motels. New dog parks. Urgent Cares? I’m blacklisted from them. But Squirrels. We don’t have those squirrels in Central Oregon. Rabbits. Deer running through the yard and I can’t chase them? And oh, the smells in these places my mom calls the Midwest, not to mention bugs! Dozens of bugs so that on my walks I’m jumping up in the air snapping at them. My mom says I get more exercise that way. Met relatives. And I got to go into a restaurant for the reunion whatever that is! Just looked like a lot of people eating chicken. It’s been a road trip with a lot of coughing! But my mom is better now. And we get to start another trip next week.
I’ll miss the little people and my mom’s family here but I’m happy to be thinking about home and our neighbor’s dog and the walks in Redmond. But one has to be adaptable as a four-year-old – which I am now. As adaptable as my dad’s coping saw though I sometimes have trouble coping with my mom. Why can’t I be off leash? It’s a dog’s life. Woof! Woof! Hope your Fourth was Festive!
Closing Doors
I drove this time, he the passenger. We reached a crossroads and I pulled close to a rock wall like the stone walls in British mysteries. As I made my way along the rocks, 1960s beads brushed my shoulders. In front of the car, I wondered if the crossroads had anything to say to me. Which way should I go? Silence. Then I turned to see Jerry standing next to the open passenger door. He stood outside it. With gentle words he said “You need to close that door.”
My first thought was a retort that he should close that door. He’d opened it. But then I felt his care and knew he would not be getting back into the car and it wasn’t that door he spoke of. I would have to close the doors we’d opened together and I would have to drive on alone.
I’ll spend some time with this dream. The 60s beads? What’s that about? I woke content perhaps with the kindness of his words. Which doors to close? Ready to open new ones? He opened so many doors for me or perhaps we opened them together but now it’s time to close some. I just don’t know which ones. It’s another journey, another road trip. Always grateful I am not alone and grateful you let me share my journey with you. Have a good July! Travel light.
