Winter reading

Rain falls as I write these words, pelting down relentlessly as it has for the past 18 hours or so. This morning I began reading Harry Thurston, A Place Between the Tides: A Naturalist’s Reflections on the Salt Marsh. Thurston’s observations of each month’s happenings in a remnant of the Tantramar Marsh of Nova Scotia are arranged by month. I plan to read each chapter as its month comes up, a practice I followed last year with David Helwig's book-length poem The Year One. A reflective style, wealth of detail and intimate warmth (even when describing the depths of winter) make both works an inspiration and an oasis in the midst of the hurly-burly of urban life.

My own work appears in the January issue of Western Investor, including a story originally published in Business in Vancouver on the uncertainty that roiled the income trust market in Canada last fall. The current issue of California trade magazine Wines & Vines features my report on the 2005 wine grape harvest in British Columbia. I’ve contributed this annual report to Wines & Vines since 2000, and always enjoy the chance to cover the B.C. wine industry. (Assignments are welcome!)