THE LETTER WRITER: A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION


Kathy Johnson, selfie
I set forth a humble and inglorious life; that does not matter. You can tie up all moral philosophy with a common and private life just as well as with a life of richer stuff. – Michel de Montaigne
Indeed, that is just what a common and private life is: a life of the richest stuff imaginable. ~ Montaigne biographer Sarah Bakewell 
Yep. That's what I'm doing here on this blog: setting forth a humble and inglorious life. Actually, just writing a letter to friends.  Also, keeping my favourite links in a convenient place for me. What can I say; it really is all about me.

Here, let me try for a decent headshot:

Better?





I live at Golden Grain Farm near Wadena, Saskatchewan, Canada. The property was named by children's author Thornton W Burgess (1874–1965). Apparently there once was a big three-storey farmhouse (long gone) with wraparound verandas that was his summer retreat back in the day, but it burned down. Now we live in a smallish 1970s bungalow. This sign hung at the end of the driveway when we bought the place, and it is still there along with this old eyesore hunk of junk farm implement.

More info about Thornton Burgess: click here.

 You were wondering about me — where I live, how old I am, and so on?

• born in 1959.
• live about six miles from TOWN.

• I wrote a lot of letters when I was a kid and a young woman, and at 12 I got my first diary. I remember it had a blue cover and was a day-dated one-year diary, but that's about all, and I don't have it anymore. At 15 my English teacher assigned a journal for the duration of the semester and I've been keeping one ever since, and still have them all. When I discovered email and online journals, my letter-writing habit changed. I use my webpage now. The only drawback is not receiving a response in the mail anymore.

• If I could do exactly what I wanted to do every day of my life, I'd be reading, writing, listening to music, playing music (though I can't play my guitar, piano, harmonica or accordion worth shit, it's still fun to try), singing (but not in public), listening to my favourite CBC Radio programs, watching comedies, dramas and documentaries (not horror movies or violent films, ever), communing with the flowers and birds and fairies, and sitting on the deck with a friend and a glass of wine on a summer evening.

• What I actually do is bake bread on Mondays, try to keep on top of the dishes, read and write at every opportunity, forget to play my piano and guitar most of the time, watch Doc Martin and Coronation Street and the odd movie when it's on a channel without commercial interruptions, spend as much time outside as I can when the weather is fair, and sit alone on the deck with my glass of wine on summer evenings, listening to the birds and hoping fairies really do exist. In September 2016 I came off a three-year stint in the editor's chair at the local newspaper and since then I've been taking full advantage of seven days of fabulous freedom every week.  

• It's possible that you have landed on this page without knowing that Saskatchewan is in Canada, so here you go: Canada.
• My home town is Margo; it's just 20 minutes down the highway.
 The link will take you to three women singing a Christmas carol at the village hall.
My sister Karen is in the centre, with Heather Nakrayko and Dawn Wallin.
Or here: take a little tour of Margo.
And look! Even MORE about Margo!
And yet more AGAIN.
• Some of the family: click here.



And that's all she wrote.

X's and O's, etc.,
Kathy




STUBBLEJUMPERS CAFÉ is my current blog.

@BlondiBlathers is my Twitter handle.

STUBBLEJUMPERS CAFÉ RECIPE COLLECTION is where I share my tried 'n' trues.

— Blog 2002-2008

— At The Canadian Encyclopedia, where for 11 years I was subject editor for the architecture, dance, film and theatre sections, I wrote a few profiles:

Stuart McLean
Nell Shipman
Little Mosque on the Prairie

A few things I wrote for the Wadena News:
You Never Know Who Will Come Calling
Constable Watkins Joins Local Force
No Perfection Unless You're a Sunset
On His Way to Wadena
And the Winner is Codie Prevost