About six weeks earlier, Tiffany had contacted me on Facebook Messenger; she wondered if I had any public author events scheduled in the Twin Cities area this spring. Audrey, who adores sock monkeys, had read The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea and she’d loved it.

I have a couple of school visits scheduled, I told her, but nothing that is open to the public. Then I asked, off the top of my head, whether she and Audrey ever went to Wild Rumpus bookstore in south Minneapolis. I said I’d be happy to arrange a “meet and greet” there sometime in March.

We agreed to get together on Saturday, March 17th, at 10:30 in the morning. Located in the Linden Hills neighborhood, Wild Rumpus is always busy on Saturday mornings. I checked the store’s online calendar in advance and didn’t notice any special events planned.

The store was especially crowded when I arrived. Two elaborately costumed people wearing silver masks nudged past me. Rambunctious toddlers darted between the shelves chasing clucking chickens. The cats—Booker T., Trini Lopez, and Walter Dean—had gone into hiding. The caged cockatiels were squawking.

I told Tiffany in advance how to recognize me: I’d be the woman carrying a sock monkey. It worked. Audrey spied me first; the rest of the family followed. We tried to visit in a corner of the bookstore, but found it too loud and distracting. With Audrey again in the lead, the seven of us exited through the little purple door toward two sun-drenched benches on that chilly spring day.

Each member of the family wore a touch of green; they were Irish and looking forward to a meal of corned beef and cabbage. Audrey had a green and white shamrock scarf tied around her neck and a shy, but delightful smile on her face.

Looking back on it, I remembered that a few weeks earlier on a flight home from Newark, I sat down next to an attractive, well-dressed woman, perhaps in her early fifties. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she said in a calm, all-knowing voice.

Her professional name, I discovered, was Guru Mata. She is a Hindu spiritual healer from New Jersey who was returning to her birthplace, in the Twin Cities to celebrate her widowed mother’s 70th birthday. I rarely speak to strangers on airplanes; however, much to my surprise, she and I engaged in a wide-ranging conversation about matters of spiritual faith and healing that lasted almost the whole flight. “In life,” Guru Mata asserted, “there are no coincidences.”

Perhaps not …

A few days later, there I was … sitting on a bench with a young reader who loved sock monkeys. Ironically, Audrey’s sister’s name, McKenna, is that of a main character in my earlier book, Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog. Dangling from Ellia’s fingers was a shiny plastic, silver link necklace with a silver heart charm. (The plot of Tango turns on the loss and discovery of a silver link dog collar with a silver heart identification tag.)

On the bench Audrey told me what she’d liked most about The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea: ALL the sock monkeys, the details, the mystery, and the fact that the ending wasn’t a fairy tale’s happily-ever-after ending, but happy enough.

“During all the years I struggled to write this book,” I told Audrey, “I held out the hope that someday, some way, a child just like you would love the story of Annaliese Easterling and Throckmorton, her simply remarkable sock monkey, and I’m so pleased that you did.”

The family thanked me for coming. I signed Audrey’s copy of my book and also the copy of Tango I’d brought along for McKenna. I suggested that the story of the little dog’s adventures on Prince Edward Island might be a good family read-aloud. In my imagination, I can picture this book-loving family doing just that.

I walked away smiling, and waved goodbye, feeling blessed.

frame copyright: tanais / 123RF Stock Photo

This version is based on a recipe for “Gooseberry Jam” from the old (1965 edition) Fanny Farmer Cookbook. When we first made this, we didn’t have the “red currant juice” it called for, so I pureed some fresh strawberries in a blender instead. We also didn’t use weight measures (pounds) as the recipe called for, but volume measures (cups) instead.

We grow the gooseberries in our back yard. One robust bush yields an enormous amount of gooseberries. When they’re ripe, the lines on them get a purplish tinge, and when they’re really ripe the whole berry can be a deep purple. You might find gooseberries at a roadside stand or farmers’ market.

Gooseberry Jam (photo: Olga Volodina | 123rf.com)

a jar of our Gooseberry Strawberry Jam

Boil together for 5 minutes:
    4 cups of sugar
    1 quart (4 cups) of strawberries, washed and pureed

Add:
    8 cups of ripe gooseberries, washed

Boil 40 minutes, skimming as necessary. Set aside, covered, for 24 hours. 

Drain off the syrup into a separate pot. Pack the berries into jars that have been boiled. Boil the syrup until almost as thick as honey and pour it over the berries in the jars. Put on the lids and cover tightly. Store as you would any jam.

In Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog, the setting is Prince Edward Island. What foods are found on this island in the sea?

Try some clam chowder? Here’s Martha Stewart’s recipe.

There’s a lovely book called The Anne of Green Gables Treasury (written by Carolyn Strom Collins and Christina Wyss Eriksson) which is unfortunately out of print, but I’m confident you can find a used copy. It has ideas for crafts, activities, and parties, all set on Prince Edward Island, a setting our two books have in common!

blessing the boats

may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that

Is there a place that has a lot of meaning for you? Good memories? Beautiful vistas? Tourist attractions that are fun to visit?

Instead of making yourself the main character, choose your favorite animal and let them take a trip to your favorite place. What would they discover from their animal point of view?

Yorkshire Terrier Saves Owner From a Bear 

A different bear story: Yorkie Fights Off Bear 

Spunky Yorkshire Terrier Saves Her Owner’s Life 

Yorkie Doodle Dandy: A Canine WWII Vet

[Photo credit: Konstantin Gushcha | 123rf.com]

Tango, my beloved dog who passed on last year, the model for one of the main characters in Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog, was a Yorkshire Terrier.

Do you know much about this breed?

Do you realize that it has been a popular pet since Victorian times, first being recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1885?

Here’s much more intriguing information about Yorkies.

[Photo credit: Sergio Schnitzler | Dreamstime.com]

Fox on Prince Edward Island [credit: Dennis Jarvis]

This would make a wonderful story. Write a story about your wish with a beginning, a middle, and an end. When it’s done, read it over a couple of times, imagining you are a friend of yours reading this story. Do you see places where it could use revising?

When you’re done, share the story with your family and your teacher.

Have fun writing!