Hutterite Diaries Spinoff

It's true, one never knows what will happen once you get something published; the same is true when you answer the phone. Case in point, I got a rather unexpected call just before Christmas. I didn't know the person on the other end, and his name, Peter Slobodzian didn't ring a bell either. He told me that he and his family own and operate Q Lake Lodge here in Manitoba and that some of our guys, including my brother had fished there some time ago. As you can imagine, while he was telling me all this, I was wondering how I fit into any of it. Sure, I wouldn't mind spending time at a nice lake, but I don't care about fishing at all.

 "I'm also a substitute teacher and sometimes teach at Treherne School," he continued. "One day, while I was filling in for one of their teachers, I visited the library and found your book, Hutterite Diaries. Intrigued, I quickly read a few stories and liked what I read. Would you be interested in submitting articles for our Rural Outdoors magazine?"

A lovely surprise, for sure! In any case, I found my voice and asked him to tell me more about this magazine, since I'd never heard of it. Rural Outdoors is a publication he and his family publish a few times a year, as part of their Q Lake Lodge promotion. After chatting a few more minutes, we decided to meet for further discussions sometime after the holidays. After that meeting, I sent him a few of my stories for him to look at and decide if they'd be a good fit for his magazine. He was clearly excited about featuring a story written by a Hutterite, since he does business with some of the colonies.

Thus, the most recent edition on Rural Outdoors has one of my stories in it. It's one you've most likely read, if you've been following this blog for a while.  You can read an early version of it here. Or perhaps some of you, especially if you live in Manitoba, will get a chance to see it in Rural Outdoors. 

Feel free to share any of your own out-of-the-blue lovely surprises.

Sweet Maple Syrup Memories

Every year when my sister, Sonia starts collecting maple sap, I tell myself that I should write about it. And every year the season whizzes by before I can sit down and pen a story, then the urge to write disappears. For some seasons it's not quite the same, writing about them after the fact, like writing a Christmas story in February. I'm sure it can be done, and is being done often by some people, but I find it better to write about seasonal topics, right when I'm experiencing them. Should you want to submit such articles, there's always a better chance when the season, in this case maple sapping, is still going. Beside a few blogpost blurbs, nothing of substance came from my pen...or keyboard. Till this year, where I got on it right away.

I was fortunate enough in that The Manitoba Co-operator accepted my piece and published it this week. You can find it by clicking here. The article is on page 29. The newspaper can also be downloaded so the pages are easier to read. This works best.

Are you, or someone you know involved in maple sapping? I know there are quite a few colonies into it. I'd love to hear about it! How do eat maple syrup, just on pancakes? Or do you have some yummy recipe, like the maple butter I mentioned in the article. My sister sometimes makes maple candy.

Here's wishing you a super sweet spring, even if it doesn't include maple syrup!

Hutterites and/or their Writings Featured in Local Newspapers

Click on this link: A New Venture to read an interesting article featuring a friend of mine, Paul Wipf, the farm manager at Viking Colony in Alberta, Canada. The article appeared in the Country Guide, "Canada’s oldest farm publication, with roots back to 1886, Country Guide is about the business of farming, providing farmers with strategic business thinking."

The Manitoba Co-operator is a Manitoba based farm paper, "with roots going back to 1925, the Co-operator is an institution in Manitoba, received by most farmers in the province. Each weekly issue contains production, marketing and policy news selected for relevance to crops and livestock producers in Manitoba. The Co-operator also has Manitoba’s largest and most popular farm classified section. The Co-operator’s website www.manitobacooperator.ca provides daily agriculture news, event listings and a daily newsletter.
Manitoba Co-operator is published by Farm Business Communications with offices in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario."

From time-to-time the Manitoba Co-operator kindly publishes pieces written by Hutterites. Over the years, I've had a number of articles featured within their pages. I'm happy to say, the most recent one is in this April 16 edition: Earth Day Should Be Celebrated Every Day. Part of this article is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Hutterite Diaries, which will be available in book stores in about a month from today! You may also be able to read it on their online edition soon. I can't see it there yet...when looking for it just click on the above Manitoba Cooperator link, then go to the Crossroads section.

My sincere thanks to John Morriss, Editorial Director for taking an interest in Hutterite writings and publishing them in this long-standing and popular farm paper!