the best thing about...my mom

I've been saving this for my last post of the "Best Of" series mostly because I had no idea how I was going to pick just one thing that is great about my mom. But here goes...



The best thing about my mom is she's the most optimistic, giving, looney, habitual, nervous, thoughtful, compassionate, committed person in my life.
She's a warm tornado of vibrant, compulsive, zesty energy whizzing past people leaving wide smiles. I look to her as a role model for inviting more love into my heart. You can see when she's in a room that people are drawn to her selfless sparkle.

Starting next week, I'll be beginning my count down to the Great Kayak Expedition. Circumnavigating Manitoulin will be a grand challenge. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger. (?)

Yesterday my first published article came out in Adventure Kayak magazine. It was so thrilling to see my name in print. I actually got a little stage fright thinking of my memoirs that will be coming out next month!

The best thing about...waiting

The best thing about waiting for 2 weeks for any emails regarding my writing submissions is when I get two acceptances in one day! The bad news is they were for the same article. Who knew that SEVEN months after I submitted my sailing story, Crossing Huron, they would finally answer me. And why did they take seven months to respond? They said they get a lot of submissions. I did send them a quick email in January - 3 months after I submitted the article - and asked if they had decided yet. What I should've done was say that if I don't hear from them in a week, I'd be submitting it elsewhere. At the time, I felt that sounded rude and I didn't want to get on the wrong side of an editor at this young stage of my writing career. So now I'm certainly on the wrong side of two editors. So clever!
In any event, I've learned a lesson and I'm still writing. And still waiting...

The best thing about...April 24

The best thing about April 24 is the lake opened up and I can now begin kayaking! Yea! However, the deck has now lost it's cover of snow and is obviously in serious need of painting. Boo!

This has been a long couple of weeks for me waiting for replies - any reply - from my numerous submissions out there. Each evening I anxiously turn on the computer and wait for the 10 minutes or so for it to warm up and finally show me my email box. Sadly, I've had NO word at all. It's frustrating when a few editors are SO late in getting back to me when they all but promised they'd accepted my submissions as soon as I sent photos. I'm becoming less thrilled with writing for magazines since I'm not much of a photographer, but so many of my articles are not accepted due to lack of good pictures.

Anyway, must continue to write and not think about it. Forget about them once I've submitted and move forward. Keeping forward motion can sometimes be exhausting.

The good news is I've won the annual family challenge for correctly guessing the date the lake opens. A mystery prize in a box is waiting for me to open tonight. I'm hoping it's a "get out of dishes free card" good for at least a month. Do we know how to party or what?

The best thing about...Easter

The best thing about Easter is all the extra time at home. We had 4 days off in a row and oh, there's so much that can be done in 4 days! First, let's shave Dad's head. Yah! Then, we can feed the deer apples from the window (the deer are going to be coming in through the window pretty soon. Cheeky monkeys) Then we'll collect sap from the maples, boil it for 7 hours in the garage, constantly stirring, checking, tasting, coddling it all day. Then during the last hour of boiling, let's forget about it and watch a movie inside. Wow, look at the fog out, where'd that come.....ahhh! Yah, when the fog smells sort of sweet, you know there's trouble amuck. Maple syrup will turn into glue, burst into flames and destroy a pot. We had the trays of snow all ready to go in the freezer, popsicle sticks standing by for dipping. The girls almost saw a grown man cry. Dad stood heartbroken, holding the burnt pot and slowly shaking his head. Why? Why? Oh the humanity! There's always next year.

The best thing about...writing memoirs

The best thing about writing my Quetico Park memoirs is when I sell some of my stories to Boundary Waters Journal!! Woohoo! I had submitted some of my ramblings to test to see if a) they were any good and b) to start an audience of my work so I can use that to sway a book publisher to pretty please take a chance on me. I'm actually sort of nervous for the next issue of Boundary Waters to come out now, since this is my most personal writing that will be published.

Now back to work to feverishly write something even more personal in hopes the magazine will consider doing a mini-series. I've run out of good photos of my time there. This week I dug through boxes and pulled out old albums in search of a picture the editor would like. Finally found one, but apparently I was too busy paddling to take any good picts. This photo of me was taken by my friend Heather Ojala. What a trip that was! Now Heather will be nervous wondering if I will write about said trip! Ah, when we were young and foolish...

The best thing about...my dad

The best thing about my dad, Doug Johnson, is his great life-advice. He's usually wise, witty, perceptive and unvarnished. He is my lighthouse. Though, sometimes his advice is not what I want to hear. (I especially hate taking Oil of Oregano)

Went to the Paddling Film Festival last night and totally pumped for the season. I think a new kayak may be in my future. If I'm going to travel around the entire Island, I'll need to be comfy and fast. And just because I already own a different boat for each week of the short summer, doesn't mean I'm obsessive. Okay, maybe a little water obsessed. Still, I think I should get a longer kayak. (I just wont ask my dad what he thinks)

The best thing about...spring

The best thing about spring is you still get to play in the snow, but the sun feels hot on your face. As you ski across the lake, you know it won't be long before you're skimming across in a canoe. Lots of snow still left to melt, but we can now see out our front windows - though not today because of the blizzard.

The best thing about...feeding the birds

The best thing about feeding the birds is when a visitor casually walks by the window to have a snack. I just came in from a skate ski on the lake on a glorious day off, when this big dude came, ate and stopped to pee while he was leaving. You can see my skiis behind him leaned against the canoe rack. The dog was sleeping outside on the other side of the house and missed the whole thing. But the buck has come back and is munching seeds again. The dog is beside me now watching him from the window. It is hard to concentrate on my writing when the entertainment is 5 feet away.

The best thing about...a blog

The best thing about writing a blog is when a person from Japan emails you and asks, "what is snowshoeing?" Amazing and humbling and reminds me why I like to travel.
Thanks for reading my blog!

So today was one of those gooey warm cookie days. One of my major cases at work took a delightful turn. My run was faster and didn't squeeze the life out of my lungs. And a literary agency asked to see my manuscript. I am trying to keep my feet on the ground here. They only asked to see it after all. I'll wait to blow my horn after I hear they actually want to represent me. Which will be 1 - 2 months.
Waiting, waiting.....

The best thing about...snowshoeing

The best thing about snowshoeing is looking behind you. Something about that narrow tunnel stamped into a fresh sheet of white snow makes me feel like an explorer. The sole human visiting a magical place with drooping spruce branches and secretive silence. I was here.

the best thing about....My Brother

A while ago it was suggested to me, "You haven't got a blog yet? What are you, new? You've got to get a blog!"

Well, I didn't really buy into it at first. Why be at a computer when I could be snowshoeing or skiing.

The more I heard about it though, it grew on me. It could be a great motivator to write more. I'll write everyday.

Well sadly, my life is not that exciting. But today I've come up with one of those aha moments. It came to me while I was listening to the news about more shootings and all the bad things in the world. I'm so overloaded with negative things each day, I'd like this spot to be a POSITIVE place. So I'm launching my new "The best thing about..." series. My plan is to write every day about what I like about someone or something. I would love this to be a community thing where you post the best thing about your....whatever the topic.

So, the best thing about my brother, Mike Johnson, is that he makes me laugh at his slightly weird, always creative, sometimes bizarre, usually astute way of seeing the world. And that helps me to be a better person.