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A Wonderful End to Summer
- Bonny Beswick
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- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
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While fireworks fill the sky on the last night of The Greatest Show on Earth, also known as The Calgary Stampede, a man with a past is shot on his front doorstep. Love has many forms, but which one led to an innocent man’s death?
As far as police work goes, Homicide Detective Janice Maidstone can’t imagine working with a better partner than fellow detective Scott Amble, but there’s a problem. It’s a race against time, as one or both of them may soon follow their hearts and seek new lives outside of the city.
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The Last Lazy (?) Days of Summer
I can’t believe how much stuff I accumulated to go camping. Decades ago in the back-packing days, I could fit everything I needed in a back-pack, and carry it up and down mountains. Now, the stack of gear almost fills my CR-V. It’s a good thing I don’t have a passenger because they’d share the front seat with my writing stuff, electronics, my indulgent pillow, and the last-minute groceries.
My first campsite was at Beauvais Lake Provincial Park in SW Alberta, only a few minutes from my sister and brother-in-law’s cabin (just in case I needed to bail in the middle of the night).
I picked a spot as far from the table (where food smells might be strongest) as possible. To my relief, the fancy tent mechanism on my Reactive 3 Second tent https://ca.reactiveoutdoor.com worked like a dream. To see it, check last month’s blog for a photo.
The ground was really hard and rocky so I had to pull out my mallet (sure glad I remembered to pack it) to put tent pegs in the ground. I took a chance after checking the forecast and didn’t put up a tarp. Good decision because it neither rained nor was hot enough to need the shade.
The Monstabed mattress, tested for a few nights at home on the floor, is incredibly comfortable, and though it's actually a little too big, pushing out the sides of the tent, I don't care! It's height reduces the headroom in the tent, but I don't have to haul myself up off the ground and my knees are much happier.
In the good old days, squirming out of a tent, hunched over, wasn’t a problem. But this new tent has a 6” lip to step over. Great, because it will help prevent bugs from crawling in, but it’s going to take some practice stepping over it without tripping. I’ll get better, but that first weekend, I tumbled gracelessly on my face about 40% of the time.
It took less than 90 minutes to set up camp, from the time I pulled into the campsite, to when everything was set up (bed made with sheets, blanket and pillow), tablecloth clamped to the picnic table, fire crackling in the grate, and wine opened. Not bad for my first effort!
My second camping experience was at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park in the southeastern part of the province.
August is a toasty time of year in Alberta’s southeastern corner. Unfortunately, my campsite had very little shade, and I couldn’t make the tarp work to give me more shade. I’ll have to practice before my next camping trip.
The night sounds at Beauvais Lake are far different from those at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. The sound of breeze through the towering spruce and fir at Beauvais contrast with the wind across dry grass and cotton wood trees in the southeastern part of the province. I tuned my ear for the snuffling of bears in one place, and the slithering of snakes in the other (yes, I know I likely couldn’t hear a snake!).
In neither place were there noisy parties or annoying generators running. Instead, there was the quiet of forest and prairie, happy children tearing around after each other, people walking dogs, and murmuring voices from neighbouring campsites.
At Beauvais, there was the possibility of large predators – bear and cougar. I didn’t see any of those, although a moose wandered through the back of the campground one evening.
At Writing-on -Stone, at the crack of dawn, twin fawns, still with faint spots, and a little rock rabbit picked their way through the tall grass behind my tent. They were the cute wildlife encounters. On the other hand, I got surprised by a rattlesnake on my walk back from the vault toilets one evening. It was a feisty one – even from about 8 feet away, it rattled and struck out at me. Alas, I didn’t want to get close enough to take a good photo in the low light.
Since these were my first camping trips in many decades, I was concerned that I wouldn’t enjoy it. I’m thrilled to say, though, that even packing and unpacking gear hasn’t damped my enthusiasm and I’m already checking out campgrounds and sites for my next outing.
In between my outdoor experiences was the When Words Collide Festival in mid August. This multi-genre literary festival is one of the largest in Canada and for good reason. With three days of amazing lectures, workshops, panel discussions, special Masterclasses, and opportunities to pitch to agents, there’s something for every stage of writer and every fiction afficionado.
There was even an opportunity to show off “The Aquamarine Necklace”, the first in the Janice Maidstone mystery series. It was available on Author Alley in the Merchant Room at the festival. “What Love Made Us Do” will sit next to it in 2027!
You can already get your tickets for next year!
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What’s happening with book signings and talks?
On September 24, I will be doing a talk on the “experience of writing and publishing “at the Millarville Public Library at 7:00. I’ll have copies of both “The Aquamarine Necklace” and “What Love Made Us Do” available.
Here is a list of the book signings I have scheduled for “What Love Made Us Do”. Other locations will be added as they are confirmed.
Schedule of Book Signings
Saturday, Sept 26 1 – 3 PM: Owl’s Nest, Britannia Shopping, 815A 49 Avenue SW, Calgary
Saturday, October 10, 1:30 – 3:30 PM: Analog Books, 322 6 Street S., Lethbridge
Time and Dates still TBD:
November: Found Books and Shop, 206 1st St W, Cochrane
December: Mountain Goat Books, Farmers' Market West (Greenwich Village), Calgary
February 2027: Tuesdays Bookshop, 2462 213 Street Bellevue, Alberta
Summer 2026 is already a blur. Every day had something special to offer and I hope you felt the same. As much as summer was rewarding, we’re heading into my hands-down favourite time of year, and I can hardly wait to see what it brings.
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