Author of the famous poem, "Footprints", Margaret Fishback Powers, suggests that it is never too early to start writing in a journal.  "As soon as a child can print, print one line a day," she advises.*

Reading:  Footprints, The True Story Behind The Poem That Inspired Millions,  Margaret Fishback Powers, HarperCollinsPublishersLtd., 1993

http://www.footprintspoem.ca/

*Interview with Maralee Dawn & Friends, July 14, 2012

Photo:  lbwalker James N. Allen Park, Haldimand

http://www.sesquiotic.wordpress.com/   Entertaining and educational.  Today James Harbeck compares the words bookshop and bookstore.
"You decide" whether The Neat Little Bookshop is a bookshop or a bookstore ~ and let us know!

Mr. Harbeck writes an excellent blog that is available by email.  Anyone in love with the English language will love Harbeck.

Diaries ~

Fanny Kemble 1834

Authors often draw on diaries or journals when writing books.  British actress, Fanny Kemble, published eleven volumes of memoirs as well as her poetry and plays.
In the bookshop we are intrigued with the stories we hear ~ family histories, local tales.  "I could write a book," is a common pronouncement and often the information indeed is worth recording.

Published books are obviously not every one's calling.  However, jotting down facts in a scribbler ~  information, anecdotes, personality traits ~ facts that will fill in blanks for future generations or even amateur historians is a worthwhile past time.  Journals don't require great writing skills.

~ Reference:  A Book of One's Own People and Their Diaries, Thomas Mallon
Fanny Kemble (1809 - 1893) Portrait:  Wikipedia

Commonplace Books ~

"One forerunner of the diary has historically been used more to regard art than create it.  It was the practice of making a record of one's reading, or of whatever information came one's way, that gave rise to those diaries still known as commonplace books.  The special interest of those kept by artists is obvious:  What piece of reading or news may have triggered a particular line of verse, or perhaps a whole painting?  For writers, especially, commonplace books are the records of influence, but they have for centuries been kept by blocked writers and non writers as well."

~ A Book of One's Own People And Their Diaries, Thomas Mallon, Ticknor & Fields, 1984.

Note:  English Poet, John Milton (1608 - 1674), kept a commonplace book.  He drew on these notes for his later work.  Milton's commonplace book is now in the British Library.

ANTICIPATING FRIDAY the 13th ~

Street-Scape Visuals Talbot St. (Hwy. #3)

Stoplight Hwy #3 at Cayuga St.



Royal Canadian Legion Branch 159

Ottawa St. & Hwy # 3

Hwy. #3 at Ottawa St.

Hwy. #3 at Cayuga St.



Cayuga Street, Steps From Hwy #3

 Downtown Businesses Anticipating Friday 13th

Early Blacksmith's Shop*,  Talbot Rd. (Hwy. #3)

Cayuga's Early Beginnings ~

"Cayuga is situated on the banks of the Grand River, where it is crossed by the Talbot Road (Hwy. #3).  Early settlement to the area took place in 1784.  The migration of several families to Haldimand began with the hasty migration of the United Empire Loyalists from their homes in the Mohawk Valley.  Small settlements began to emerge along the Grand River.  Due to the location of Cayuga it's believed that the area was initially settled in the late 1800s for its vantage point as a stage stop and its river access.  According to the 1879 atlas there were only five houses in the village in 1842. . .
"Lumbering was the chief and only industry.  John Welch and Michael Finley kept taverns in the village. . .Sam McClung opened a school in 1842.
"In 1850 Cayuga became the County seat for Haldimand county and in January, 1851, the Court House was completed and opened."

~ Karen Richardson, contributor to Stories along the Grand, The York Grand River Historical Society, 2010.  $20 Available at The Neat Little Bookshop.

*Now The Blacksmith's Garden, owned by Jim Gibson

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View From the Bookshop Window ~
29 Talbot St., Cayuga, ON
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