Along Isaac Lake in the Bowron Lakes Provincial Park
I discovered Canadian poet Pauline Johnson when I was a teen and fell in love with the lilting lyrics of her most famous poem, “The Song My Paddle Sings.” Born in 1856, Johnson was the daughter of a hereditary Mohawk chief and his English wife. She identified with her native roots and loved the wilderness, where she traveled by canoe. She made a meager living with her stage performances of the poetry she had written.
When I first read “The Song My Paddle Sings,” I’d never been in a canoe, but I had lived in the Canadian wilderness and seen the same beauty she had found. Here’s a taste:
West wind, blow from your prairie nest
Blow from the mountains, blow from the west.
The sail is idle, the sailor too;
Oh wind of the west, we wait for you…
Further on:
I stow the sail, unship the mast:
I wooed you long but my wooing’s past;
My paddle will lull you into rest.
Oh drowsy wind of the drowsy west,
Sleep, sleep
By your mountain steep,
Or down where the prairie grasses sweep!
Now fold in slumber your laggard wings,
For soft is the song my paddle sings.
As the poem continues, Johnson describes the quickening river until the moment of descent into a set of rapids:
Be strong, o paddle! Be brave, canoe!
The reckless waves you must plunge into.
Reel, reel
On your trembling keel,
But never a fear my craft will feel.
You may read the entire poem here. It’s found in the public domain.
Lanezi Lake in the Bowron Lake Provincial Park
I memorized that poem as a teen, not because it was assigned in school (it wasn’t) but because the words spoke to me, called me to experiencing something similar myself. My husband and I bought our first canoe in about 1989 and, in 1982, traversed the 110-kilometer (70 mile) Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit in central British Columbia, Canada, paddling alongside my sister and brother-in-law for nine days.
In camp at Bowron Lake Provincial Park
I remember the sore muscles, the not-so-drowsy wind, the waves, the pounding rain, the mosquitoes… oh, but I also remember the misty dawns, the peaceful silence, the fishing, the great food, the camaraderie. I remember the long lakes, running The Chute, watching my sister and brother-in-law’s canoe capsize after hitting a submerged log in a swiftly-moving river, and sitting around campfires with fellow canoeists from around the world, hearing their tales.
Running ‘The Chute’ in the Bowron Lake Provincial Park
My sister and I were eager to see a bear or two. They’re common in the BC wilderness, after all, but we didn’t see a one on that particular trip. The other canoeists told us of the bear they’d seen before we arrived, or the one after we’d left, or at a different campsite than we’d stopped at. Toward the end of our trip, we discovered the campsite around the point empty in the morning, and found out later that the residents had witnessed an epic grizzly and moose battle while we slept a quarter mile away!
What does all this have to do with romance, you might ask? These experiences — probably all the way back to “The Song My Paddle Sings” — inspired Sweet Serenade, my summer Riverbend Romance novella, published in 2015.
#GIVEAWAY: Comment and let me know about your most wilderness-type experience. Have you been canoeing? Tent camping in the wilderness? What’s your comfort level with the outdoors? One commenter (anywhere in the world) will win a digital copy of Sweet Serenade, so let me know in the comment if you’ve already read it! The winner will be announced in next week’s Sunday Edition.
About Sweet Serenade:
River guide and canoe builder Reed Daniels stands by as his lifelong friends pair off. After all, he’s waited this long for the right woman… what’s a little longer? But when newcomer Carly shows up at the gang’s bonfire, he’s mesmerized. Could she be the answer to his prayers?
Water-sport enthusiast Carly Thorbergsen is starting over in Riverbend. Hired as a canoeing and hiking guide, she’s ready to focus on work and leave the personal stuff behind. That is until the competition, Reed Daniels, offers her a ride in his cedar-strip canoe. No resisting that!
But no matter how much they have in common, Carly can’t erase her past, and Reed is bound to discover the truth. When a date finds Carly and Reed running rapids on the outside of the canoe, they come face to face with the real reasons their new relationship might capsize.
Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
Hi Valerie, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your canoeing adventures- my husband and I first me (at university) on a canoe paddle on the nearby creek and have enjoyed many canoeing adventures since. My most wilderness experience- an 8 day hike through the Central Plateau (pure magic), or another hike through a canyon just behind Mt Kosciuszko (that one was wild!). I feel very blessed to live in a country with lots of wild places to explore.
Blessings:)
PS, have Sweet Serenade, don’t worry about putting me in the draw.
Hi Valerie! Thanks for sharing the inspiring poem and your canoeing experience. I am not fond of canoe, since I can’t swim! As a college student I did you out on a canoe at chirch camp at a tiny inland lake. Since this was a maiden voyage, as we approached the center of the lake three tiny mice stuck their heads out of a crack under my girl friend’s bench and she shrieked. Thought the canoe was going to tip over as we made a hasty retreat to shore! That was my last canoe trip! Water scares me more than mice! Definitely not a bear! Best wishes! Enjoy your summer! I enjoyed reading your entire Riverbend Series.
I’m not the biggest fan of the outdoors and roughing it, but I do enjoy the fellowship that comes from those situations. My kids also love being outside and exploring, so I try not to let my dislike stop them from having those opportunities.
Your canoeing experience sounds really fun. I’d love to do something like that with my sister and her husband. Sweet Serenade sounds promising too.
I love canoeing on lakes, and my husband and I bought kayaks a few years ago. I enjoy kayaking too, on a peaceful river or lake, seeing God’s wonderful creation.
I love to go camping! It’s something my husband and I enjoy doing together. My only issue is the bugs. They seem to like me better than anyone else!
Not so much doing the water thing like you. I like sitting looking at it but not traversing it!
A long canoeing, camping trip. Wow! I’ve only ever been on short canoe trips. I’m impressed.
Like you, I love living in a country with wild spaces. They feed my soul. I’d love to see Australia one day!
LOL, I haven’t found mice in my canoe yet. Oh my, that would be a little nerve-wracking! I don’t swim really well – that’s why we wear life jackets! Glad you enjoyed the Riverbend stories.
The fellowship can be really special, for sure! I love the outdoors, but not the bugs. Oh, and snakes, but we don’t have many around here. Eliminate those, and I’d be a happy camper. Literally!
We made some excellent memories on that trip!
One of these times we might rent kayaks for an excursion. I don’t like the thought of being pinned into it, though!
We love love love being outdoors, away from engine noises and radios and cell service… at least for a few days. I am a bit internet-addicted (okay, a lot, haha). But yeah. The bugs. I could do without those for sure.
We planned to go on more, but sadly that was it. Then hubby had surgery, switched jobs, we moved, etc… and the canoe became a Sunday afternoon toy again.
My parents started taking me camping when I was just a couple months old! My most wilderness-y camping trips have been a couple backpacking trips. One time we camped in a place that had experienced a lightning strike just the night before! On another trip, a young bear tried to swipe our weekend food supply before we even got started on the trail! My mom took it and hid in a nearby restroom :-) That was the same trip that my sister (around 8 years old at the time) refused to carry her sleeping bag, so my dad had to add it on top of his load. Lots of good memories!
I think I’ve already read Sweet Serenade. The synopsis sounds real familiar.
My parents didn’t camp, though they enjoyed berry picking and walking in the woods (hiking would be too strong a word LOL). But we took our kids camping early and often. They, in turn, take their daughters tent camping and consider us old and soft for having purchased a holiday trailer. But I don’t see them sitting outside in the rain when we’re camping together. They’re all too glad to come on in and relax. LOL.
Valerie! Like your thinking! My in-laws had a motor home and we went camping with 5 couples from church. One couple was seasoned tent camper and teased us. That night a mini tornado went through camp and blew down their tent. Even though my father in law didn’t tell us the motor home had a leak, we hat least could make coffee and breakfast. They had no problem joining us. Alway tent camped, when our new tent sprung a leak, and the water in our tent was up to the bottom of our six month old baby’s playpen. Needless to say we packed up and went home. Fun memories. Now we stay in motel rooms.
We don’t worry to much about the weather when we are camping now! We still love the wild places, so I think we will use our holiday trailer for many years to come. We are heading out in a couple of weeks for about 10 days by the ocean, and it’s perfect for that. Last fall we did a ten-day road trip through the Pacific Northwest and stayed in hotels every night. That’s the first time we’ve ever traveled that way!
I really enjoyed reading about the canoe adventures in Sweet Serenade, though any canoe I’ve ever been in has been in calm waters, like a lake, or creek. I’m not much of an outdoor person, though do suffer from summer allergies. I don’t do well with heat either, though part of that could be conditioning again….getting used to being outside.
I’m not fond of heat, either! I totally get that part! And allergies would definitely inhibit my enjoyment of the outdoors. Thankfully not much of it bothers me. Glad you enjoyed Sweet Serenade!
I enjoy walking in parks, but we don’t do serious camping or hiking. We camped a little when we were a lot younger. In my twenties , my cousins and I slept outside without a tent in Yosemite when bears came into the camp ground!
Hey Diana! It may not be any comfort, but the tent wouldn’t have made much difference to the bear! ;)
We used to camp when I was growing up, plus I was a girl scout so summer’s were spent in a tent cabin and wilderness galore! I loved (and still do) all things outdoors, swimming, fishing, canoeing, catching frogs, cooking by campfire, and LOTS of mosquito bites…lol! Sadly, I haven’t been for so long. My husband isn’t really a water person or camping type guy. The closest “wilderness” we’ve been is just recently when we took our 20th year anniversary trip down to Southern Oregon. We stayed in a cabin backed up to a burbling, clear creek about 30 miles from anywhere. The cabin reminded me of a “tiny home”, 550ft square feet with separate bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette & living room with a huge picture window facing the creek. And a gas BBQ grill outside to cook on. They had canoes free for use for anyone renting there, but we had so many other things we wanted to do that we never took the opportunity. I think it would have been so peaceful and relaxing :-) The wildlife we saw was a pair of ducks who visited us each day/night, doves who greeted us in the morning, various birds taking baths in the creek, and little ground squirrels who popped their heads up to watch us as we walked by. I was scared that we’d run into a bear since we were so far from “civilization” and surrounded by lots of trees, lol!
I’d love to go camping by roughing it; tent, cooking over a fire, catching our dinner, but I’m not sure my husband would agree to it! Maybe the closest we could do it one of those pop-up trailers with a small kitchenette and running water/bathroom :-) Or rent an RV and stay at a KOA somewhere!
That sounds lovely! We don’t usually cook over a fire, although we have done it. We did it quite a lot on that canoe trip, actually. We have a camp stove that we set up outside our holiday trailer these days. The stove inside our trailer is really slow at heating water compared to the camp stove!