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. He left his indelible mark on those he loved. And the music that sang in his heart had a Cajun beat.
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Alone in the church before his funeral, I reflected on what my uncle 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.
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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.
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My cousin Chantal Hamon joined me for a week during the trip. Here, we made a shrine to Mitch who we called "M'Nonc," French for uncle.
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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.
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Ashes on the Great Water invites the reader to look at the way they live their life, or, perhaps more importantly, don't live their life.
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