Ashes on the Great Water is a book about the first canoe trip ever from Saskatchewan to New Orleans. Encompassing eight months, 5200 kms, one province, two countries, 13 states and 3300 miles of wilderness adventure, Ashes on the Great Water is a memoir about experiencing death and turning it into the creative force of life.
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"Good people, good music."Words my uncle Mitch lived by. And the music that sang in his heart had a Cajun beat.
One of the events in his life that shaped him the most was when he visited New Orleans in 1992. One of the people who shaped my life the most was Mitch. New Orleans was where he discovered the people and the music of Louisiana. When he returned home, Mitch started a radio show that shared the upbeat flair of Louisiana's rich musical heritage. The friends he made in Cajun country became friends for life. |
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My uncle Mitch died of a heart attack when he was only 42. Suddenly and without warning, the uncle who was a big brother to me was gone.
Alone in the church before his funeral, I reflected on what he meant to me. |
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After Mitch's funeral, I returned home to the woods and found fresh cougar tracks in front of my tent. My impulse was to walk through the deep snow to the nearest phone so I could share the excitement of my discovery with him. Then, I realized we had already spoken for the last time.
To honour his life and to say thank you for the role he played in mine, I canoed with Mitch's ashes to New Orleans on four rivers including the Mississippi. Answer Ken comments, my energy, vision and determination. Reread what Tania and Janine and Christine said. Can you use parts of his eulogy? Here are more ideas, these are from Gavin Francis' book: "Combining an evocative narrative with a sublime sensitivity to the natural world, this is travel writing at its very best." "Sensitivity to the natural world and the forces changing it." In my case it may be more a propos to say sensitivity to living in the natural world. |
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The idea to canoe to New Orleans originally etched itself into the fabric of my being while still in school. Never did I imagine that my childhood dream could be tainted by death or that my trip would be a pilgrimage to my uncle, my hero.
This canoe journey was touched by the pangs of loss and grief, but also graced by the freedom of living along North America’s great waterways where every day offers a new adventure. Travelling in a foreign country taught me to trust in the kindness of strangers, but I learned the hard way that not all strangers are kind. Action and drama co-exist in this narrative shaped by remembrance and appreciation, danger and challenge. 
Christmas tornado, one of 35 that day in the Mississippi Delta.
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Emmanuel, one of the many colourful characters I met along the rivers.
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The Mississippi River is flows past New Orleans on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Ashes on the Great Water invites the readers to look at the way they live their life, or, perhaps more importantly, don't live their life.Ashes on the Great Water invites the readers to look at the way they live their life, or, perhaps more importantly, don't live their life.
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The legendary Hadley Castille was a Cajun musician. A friend of my uncle, he greatly influenced Mitch's appreciation of Cajun, zydeco and creole music.
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