We are under construction. Jerry's long-awaited shop is being built. The foundation is poured, floor smoothed and no dog prints mark it. The sidewalls went up last weekend; trusses arrived and the building is "under cover" which is good since it rained this morning and tomorrow we're expecting snow. We await an inspection before the shingles go on. And when it's finished we will drive the truck, Jerry's boat and a classic Nissan Pathfinder in and then unload the horse trailer, flatbed trailer and used U-Haul that contain all the things from the ranch/barn and shop Jerry felt he could not part with. I hope they'll fit inside this 31x36' building.

Even before we formed the foundation we had discussions about its purpose, its size, the cost. Jerry drew plans. We had architect meetings. We invited a friend and life-coach to help us explore the tensions between Jerry and me regarding the purpose, size and cost. Then back to the architect to design a smaller building. A contractor conference, a look at rules and regulations. Plans drawn and then we sought permits, a task we thought would take us weeks but only took two. Perhaps because we'd done that work before the work.         

In some ways, this kind of construction is what our soon to be grand-son-in-law's body is going through right now. He's on his fifth round of chemo, finished rounds of radiation as he enters his third year fighting 4th stage testicular cancer. He's 26. And while he works to deconstruct the cancer, he is also building. Building through careful eating, vitamins, staying positive, building his blood, accepting the prayers of many. He was healthy, a hard working young man who adores our granddaughter and whose medical challenges have shown her rising to the occasion as his advocate. We had a few days with them this month and oh the ache of staying here, in the now, trusting that all that can be done is being done in this construction project called his life. And hers, too.

It's said that writer Terry Tempest Williams keeps a bowl of water at her desk side to remind her that she is always transforming, always changing as does that life element, water; as do writers as we work. As are our bodies, young and old. I love that image. We are all constantly constructing this building project called our lives. There is merit in conferring and exploring, in trusting, informing ourselves while constantly listening to that inner voice that speaks just to us and says "Begin. You can do this. Build with confidence. Sing with joy to your rafters. You will touch lives with what you build."

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If you' re ever in Kansas City put the Steamboat Arabia museum on your Must See List! The Arabia sank in the Missouri river in 1856 loaded with over 200 tons of cargo headed to supply 16 frontier towns. It hit a snag and sank in 15 feet of water. Everyone survived. In the morning the plan was to return and unload the cargo. But in the morning the cargo was gone. The ship sank into 45 feet of mud. There it remained eventually beneath a cornfield as the Missouri River changed her course. Then in 1988, five men and their families, following the route of an amateur archeologist, unearthed the Arabia. What they found and the story of how they uncovered all the treasures, is one of those follow your dream stories.

The quickness of the sinking and the oxygen-less mud beautifully preserved the barrels of dishes and the lots of boots and hats. The French perfumes retained their fragrances. Silks from the Orient dazzled with color. The team ate pickles and even popped a bottle of champagne that still bubbled. Porcelain buttons, trade beads, china, lamps, doorknobs, even bed keys (bed keys?) were in pristine condition once the workers washed off the mud. Even though the families originally planned to sell everything, after seeing this treasure from the past they decided to preserve the 20% they'd unearthed, cover the rest back up until later, and create a museum. What a gift they've given to those of us who love history and who wonder what might have been purchased in a store on the Nebraska prairie in 1856. No need to wonder. It's all there to see. 1856.com. I love these threads of history, don't you?

This month I want to highlight several books rather than just one.  An evening with booksellers  throughout the Northwest listening to Brad Smith (Paulina Springs bookstores) ask Ivan Doig (Sweet Thunder) and Barry Lopez (Arctic Dreams) and me questions about writing and life proved magical. Hearing Ivan Doig speak of how characters meet him then take on lives beyond what he imagined or listening to Barry Lopez describe how he imagines a reader standing at the edge of a landscape he hopes to share with her, how he gently puts his hand at the small of her back and moves her into that sunset, that majesty of mountain, while he as the author steps aside, will long be treasures I carry with me in this writing life. I was honored to be included.

Jane & Sandra Dallas

Later in the month at Women Writing the West in Kansas City, MO, I had a few minutes to take deep breaths with Sandra Dallas a writer of incredible talents who remains as humble and gracious as though she wasn't a New York Times Bestselling author, three time WILLA Award Winner and Wrangler winner for both a quilt book and a recent middle grade book. Her latest release is Fallen Women. Fiction and non-fiction and writing for children, she does it all.  

I also had a chance to meet new writers - new to me. Carmon Peone lives on the Colville Reservation in Washington State. She's learned the Arrow Lake language, loves horses, is an artist (I won a necklace/earring set in the raffle) and her three books beginning with Heart of Courage are stories that blend those native insights with the trials kids often face. Married Into It  is a book of poems by Wyoming poet Patricia Frolander. She taught a class at the conference but I suspect our kindred spirits derive more from a move she and her husband made some years ago from Denver to her husband's family ranch in the Black Hills of Wyoming. Her poems speak of the landscape, its beauty and its challenge. I'm hoping she'll soon write a book as she has another story that won't let her go.

In Eastern Washington and Idaho, at the invitation of ...And Books and More bookstore owner Judy

Cat @ Clarkston, WA Library

Wutzke in Clarkston,  WA, Jerry and I had four days of presentations, DAR gatherings, a fund-raiser for the Asotin County Museum (Asotin means "place of the Eels" in Nez Perce), and just talking stories.  We stayed with Jean and Jerry Hendrickson - who love books and history and whose view is of the Snake River. While in Asotin, I met Paula Coomer, a writer that I'd spoken with by phone years before when both of us worked in the world of reservation life. She says Homestead encouraged her writing (she now teaches creative writing) and I'm grateful. Blue Moon Vegetarian  is her latest coming out in December and it will join novels she's written. Interesting how our paths took both of us from the great native story-telling landscapes into telling stories of our own.

It's a joy to meet and re-greet those in my profession whom I admire and can encourage as well. I'm reminded of the Aurora Colony's Diamond Rule, to every day make another person's life better than your own. These writers -established, young and up-and- coming demonstrate that. I hope each day I find a way to do it for another.