It’s 1980, two days from the summer solstice in the wild landscape of Northwestern British Columbia. A young woman and her husband, Jay Kawatski, tend their food garden carved out of the wilderness in the Ningunsaw Valley when Deanna realizes that their first child will be born very soon. The couple must hike difficult mountain & bog terrain through clouds of bloodthirsty mosquitoes for more than two hours to their cabin on Desire Lake. Along the path, Deanna’s water breaks. This is the story of their unattended birth, heralded by a family of loons who serenaded them throughout the night.

I’m happy to showcase Deanna Kawatski’s memoir, Wilderness Mother, The Chronicle of a Modern Pioneer. I met Deanna when I served as the BC YUKON Representative of The Writer’s Union of Canada and celebrated the release of her book Magda’s Odyssey, published by Gracesprings Collective. Deanna herself reads from Magda’s Odyssey in one of these podcasts.

“Wilderness Mother is a Canadian classic. It is nothing less than Canada’s Walden. A deep book and a superbly written one, it will always be read – and reread – with joy.” -Alexaner Forbes, Professor & Poet, Thompson Rivers University.

To get your own copy of this book: deannabkawatski.com

Photos of the loons are courtesy of Carl Olsen. You can find him on facebook https://www.facebook.com/CarlOlsenWildlifePhotography

https://carlolsenphotography.ca

Here is the podcast:

And I found a follow up article to their adventures. I’ve got to catch up on

Deanna’s adventures in subsequent books, but here’s an article to

tickle your curiosity.