They paved paradise

And put up a parking lot

With a pink hotel, a boutique

And a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you've got

'Till it's gone

They paved paradise

And put up a parking lot

Joni MItchell, of course.

We got tapped at the same ceremony, she for Companion, me for Member, of the Order of Canada. Her words popped into my mind this morning which shows I don’t live completely in the past - well, not the past past, more like the recent past. That’s an old song (1988). She’s old now, too (75), but not as old as I.

My son Matthew broke his ankle yesterday and will be some time recovering after surgery for a complicated break. I will have him live with me post-op. My selfish, self-seeking schedule will be disrupted. I may or may not keep as regular (irregular?) a blog as I have been doing.

Stay tuned.

Another book, another gift. - from a long-time loyal friend. Marla J.Hayes has two books now in the Tawnee Mountain Mystery Series from Short on Time Books (shortontimebooks.com) - '“Fast-paced and fun novels for readers on the go”. The first one, that I just read, is Cassidy’s Deadly Exit. Coming next in Spotlight Theater (sic) Mysteries is Grudges, Curses, and Ghosts. Deadly Exit is just eighty-eight pages, plus author-written highlights and sidebars on the fictional actress Cassidy Quinn’s career. These quickies are not Marla’s full-time preoccupation. Overcoming enormous personal odds, she is a Master Screenwriter with her first Hollywood movie coming soon to a theatre near you.

She was an obstreperous student of mine years ago in North Bay where she lives and where I taught two separate years in the summer writing program at Canadore College. Also persistent, talented and hard to ignore, she bas become my close friend and respected mentor.

I am fortunate to know her.

Her Facebook screenwriter page: https://www.facebook.com/ Marla-J-Hayes-Screenwriter-159428437438127/

Look her up.