A New Year 2024
Our Christmas celebration this year was a wonderful mix of old and new. One of the things that was new was that we had a very special guest we’ve not had with us before on Christmas Eve. My son’s partner, Diane, joined us for Christmas Eve this year, which is for me a very special, even sacred, holiday. And she shared with us a very special tradition from her family, which you see pictured above. When we arrived back from getting a last-minute Christmas tree, she had prepared a 13 desserts-de-Provence array, a tradition passed down in her mother’s Provencal family. We didn’t have 13 different sweets in the house, but Diane managed to gather 10 and arrange them on this pretty wicker platter. The festive tablecloth is one of many things that had been kept in captivity for eight years (!) in a storage locker in Maryland. I was very happy to be able to release the contents of that locker this summer with the help of one of my sons, who was good enough to spend part of his summer vacation helping me with this far-from-fun task. What a great guy!!!
Another item rescued from the storage locker was my beloved piano! (Interesting fact: when you ship things by sea, you do not pay by weight, you pay by volume; at least that is the way it was for me. So I was able to ship the piano to France at a reasonable price, and in fact it cost less than it probably would have to ship it to some other location in the US–with the added advantage of it now being where my son and I can actually play it! And play it we did, and we will continue to do so in the months and years ahead. What a joy to have this wonderful musical instrument back in our home again. And it has somehow made this place feel even more like home than it did before.
There were many other things rescued from the storage locker, none of them nearly as big as the piano, but altogether they filled one “lift van,” which is essentially a wooden crate that holds about 200 cubic feet of whatever you put in there. In my case, not surprisingly, most of the space was filled with boxes of papers (letters, journals, baby books, photos, etc.), and books; but there were also a few trunks and plastic tubs of things like Christmas decorations, many of them handmade by my Swedish grandparents, and some special quilts and the like. Plus assorted miscellaneous things my sons had been separated from for all those years. Some of it was stuff that should have been pitched long ago, but most of it is not; it is “stuff” that is good to have, and to be able to sort through and digitize and/or save. Or just to enjoy.
We don’t emphasize gift-giving in our home, which removes a lot of the unnecessary stress leading into the holidays. But there are usually a couple of special gifts that are given. This year Diane was very happy to receive her very first Christmas stocking (“We didn’t have them, it’s not really a French thing,” she explained.) And I was really happy to receive some beautiful watercolors painted by my older son, created from images he captured in photographs when we were in Sweden this summer. What a wonderful way to keep the memories of a wonderful time spent in Småland; and beautiful additions to the artwork in our home.
Clockwise, starting from upper left: the creche I grew up with; Diane and her new Christmas stocking; Champagne, smoked salmon, pain paillasse, and various French cheeses, color me happy! Phin and Sam planting a new tree; apéro time; new artwork for our home, images of Sweden!
I like to go to Christmas Eve church services when I can, and my sons are very good about going along with me, even though it’s not really important to them. However, this year, due to their busy schedules, we only had about 36 hours when we were all together. So even though they offered to go to mass with me, I said I preferred to stay home this time and just enjoy being together. We had so much to do in such a short time! We had to have special Christmas treats (smoked salmon, Swedish meatballs, champagne, bûche de Nöel); Diane needed to call her (French) family, who were gathered in New York; and we even got in a couple of rockin’ Christmas tunes, with me on piano, Sam on guitar, Phineas on tambourine.
Another one of our Christmas Eve traditions is to read aloud. Sometimes it is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Sometimes it is a passage from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, or The Best Christmas Pageant Ever; sometimes it has been A Child’s Christmas in Wales. This year I read aloud the Christmas letter I had written to friends and family after the last Christmas we had in Brooklyn, when my sons were four and seven. Then we watched Charlie Brown Christmas, which offers the important (to me) recitation of the Christmas story as told in the Book of Luke, by sweet little Linus. If I get to hear that beautiful passage read aloud at least once on Christmas Eve, for me the essential meaning of the holiday is acknowledged and honored, and I am happy. (As Linus says: “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”)
We’ve started another new tradition in our family in the past couple of years, of planting a tree on Christmas Day. This started the year we lost 32 spruce trees in one year (!) due to an insect infestation that is devastating this type of tree all over Europe. That year it felt somehow not quite right to buy a dead tree! So since then we have been buying living evergreen trees that are not vulnerable to this destructive little insect, and have been planting one, or more, each year.
So now we all arrive at a New Year, here on planet Earth. It’s certainly not hard to imagine many ways in which it could be better than the one we’re just finishing up. Let’s all see what we can do, each of us, to make that happen–shall we?
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France; and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
Paris Is Always a Good Idea…
That famous line, attributed to Audrey Hepburn, is actually a line she spoke in the 1954 movie Sabrina. So it is perhaps more accurate to give credit for the sentiment to Billy Wilder, Samuel Taylor, and Ernest Lehman, who wrote the screenplay. (Let’s give some credit to screenwriters here! 🙂 ).
In any case, it is a very true statement, at least for me it is. (My most-often stated feeling about Paris is that all things being equal, I am always just a little bit happier when I am there.)
And so I was very lucky–and very happy–to spend a few days there last week. I don’t need much to make me happy when I’m in Paris; it’s enough to just be there, sitting in a café, reading, writing, sipping on a café crème or a vin chaud, surrounded by French conversation. Enjoying the warmth inside, watching the world go by outside the café windows; appreciating the reflection of lights on rainy streets and sidewalks, the occasional colorful umbrella passing by.
But this time I was also lucky to be able to spend time catching up with friends I haven’t seen in a while, and even participate in a special event at the wonderful Red Wheelbarrow, my favorite bookstore in Paris. Penelope Fletcher had asked me to introduce Cathy Yandell, who would be reading from her new book, The French Art of Living Well: Finding Joie de Vivre in the Everyday World, and I was delighted to do so. Cathy is a scholar of French literature (Renaissance poetry to be precise), and professor at Carleton College in Minnesota. Her book is a wonderful blend of stories about her experiences in France over a period of many years as a student, a teacher, a parent of American children in French schools. It also includes appreciation of and really interesting information about French literature, art, music (including contemporary and pop music); and her personal reflections on French ways. Finally it is a cultural guidebook that offers readers great ideas for off-the-beaten-track adventures in France, from thalassotherapy in Royan to the hammam in the Grand Mosque of Paris. (And she doesn’t just tell you you can do these things; she does them and tells you what the experience was like.)
The selections of the book Cathy read that night included a reflection on what Montaigne would have to say about the concept of joie de vivre and a very funny story about how she learned some choice French vocabulary in an episode of (thankfully controlled) road rage between her French “brother” and another French driver on a mountainous road in the south of France.
So. You see what I mean? This book offers intellectual stimulation; valuable information about interesting things to do in France; and it is also just plain fun to read.
Left to right: 1) Penelope Fletcher introducing me; 2) Me introducing Cathy; 3) Cathy Yandell, left, me, right. Photos courtesy of Mark S. McNeil.
I also had the chance while I was there have tea with another author friend, Penelope Rowlands, who curated the wonderful collection of essays, Paris Was Ours. Having tea (or in my case, latte) at Ladurée on the rue Bonaparte is one of those delightfully civilized experiences that momentarily places you in another world altogether. Have you ever seen such a beautiful latte? Stirring the foam felt like an aesthetic crime! At least I captured the artistry before destroying it.
A couple of days later, it was time for me to return to Essoyes. As I waited on the platform for my train to pull into Gare de l’Est this magical vision of what train travel can be glided into the station…and captured everyone’s attention and admiration. You would think that the people on the platform had been transported back to childhood, where a sense of wonder at the beauty of the world shows so openly on the faces of children. We all watched, and dreamed, and appreciated–and who knows? Maybe some of us will be lucky enough to travel on that train one day…
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
Home again
My US book tour was a 49-day, whirlwind cross-country trip that offered the opportunity to introduce A Long Way From Iowa (AND Demystifying the French) to readers across the country, from Mystic, Connecticut on the East Coast to Seattle on the West.
Also (and equally important for me) it gave me the chance to reconnect with friends and family I hadn’t seen in some cases for more than five years. That was wonderful!
Now I am back in France, back in my quiet little village in Champagne, and I am beginning to reorient to a totally different pace, and a totally different way of life–but it is going to take a while. I’m not ready yet to write about the still-tumbling thoughts I have about the experiences I had on that cross-country journey, and the things I noticed along the way. One day I will be, and this is where you will find my thoughts and reflections about it when that time comes.
In the meantime I need to focus on building the momentum created during the tour, during which I found that every group of people I met with came up with unique and interesting ways of responding to A Long Way From Iowa, and asked such interesting questions about it. It’s wonderfully rewarding to know that people have read it and had it spark thoughts and memories about their own lives, their own families, their own grandmothers and mothers! And I hope that some of the conversations I had with the people who came to my events will encourage others to write their own stories too. It’s a wonderful thing to do.
Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays, is this week. This year I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my sons in Paris. And giving thanks for so many things, too many to name here. Here’s wishing you and yours a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are. And all good things in the weeks ahead.
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
My favorite reads from 2023
If you are an avid reader and you don’t already know about Shepherd.com, you need to!
This is a wonderful new place to discover amazing books, from (and by) some of your favorite authors.
And Ben Fox’s latest idea is asking members of this community of readers and writers to choose their three favorite reads from 2023.
If you click here, you’ll find out why I chose the books I did.
Wishing you happy reading in the week ahead!
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
The Long Way From Iowa Book Tour Heads Back to France…
The coast-to-coast book tour for A Long Way From Iowa is now complete. Forty-nine days after the tour began at a library in Mystic, Connecticut, the final event was held last night–with a wonderful book group meeting in the home of a longtime friend, in Seattle.
It’s been a heartwarming, thrilling ride, and I am so grateful for the interest, support, and help I’ve received all along the way from friends, colleagues, family–as well as acquaintances, interested bystanders, and the public.
Stay tuned for the next installment in this adventure–and thanks so much for your interest!
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
Au Revoir, Portland, Bonjour Seattle!
After a 36-hour trip across the country on the Empire Builder –two nights on the train, and one full day–I arrived in Portland, Oregon.*
I boarded the train in St. Paul (Minnesota) at 11:00 pm on Friday night, and arrived in Portland Sunday morning shortly before noon. I had been warned that Amtrak trains are notoriously unreliable in terms of on-time arrival: nevertheless, this train was not only on time, but a bit early. Therefore I had plenty of time to get cleaned up and rested up enough to be the guest of honor at the book party my friends Ginnie and Rick hosted for me in their lovely home the following evening.
This party was a great success! The guest list was composed of a nice mix of Ginnie’s friends and mine–including one friend from my first neighborhood in St. Paul, a woman I had not seen since before we were even women, still just girls (we figured out that the last time had been when we were about 14 years old!). Another was a dear old friend from my time of living in New York. A third was actually someone I had never met, the friend of a mutual friend. And the fourth was Linda Witt, who served as moderator for a couple of panel discussions I organized about Demystifying the French–with Linda’s help–for the Fédération des Alliances Françaises USA.
I enjoyed meeting with this group so much! The questions they asked, and the comments they made proved to me yet again that there are many ways into the story I tell in A Long Way From Iowa, and each individual reader tends to find the path that is most interesting for him or herself. Therefore, as usual, when there is the opportunity to discuss a book with a group of readers, all kinds of interesting and alternative ways of reading it tend to be discovered.
The next night, Ginnie and some of her friends and I went to a Barbara Kingsolver event sponsored by Literary Arts. Kingsolver was discussing her latest novel, the Pulitzer prizewinning Demon Copperhead. Prior to this event I had had no opportunity to learn anything about the book, but I was very interested to see that it has strong connections with the theme I am exploring with my students in my current online class for Politics and Prose bookstore, “Bootstraps.” That is, poverty in America. I’ve since started reading Kingsolver’s book and it is very compelling.
The next day was spent on some furious catching up on reading and preparing for class. Being three hours behind most of the students in my class meant that this time I had to be ready to teach at 6:45 am. It also meant that once class was over, I had a good deal of daytime ahead of me in which to explore Portland, and happily it worked into my friend Larry Kirkland’s schedule. He invited me to join him and some friends on a trip to Portland’s famous Japanese Garden, which was amazing!
By Friday my friend Ginnie and I were finally caught up enough on our various professional responsibilities that we were able to do a little bit of sightseeing. Ginnie’s husband Rick generously offered to be our chauffeur and tour guide on a drive to, and through, the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. His knowledge of both the geological history of this amazing area of protected natural beauty, and the political history of how it has been preserved made the trip so much more interesting than it would have been without him.
Saturday morning it was time for me to say goodbye to Portland and get back on the train–this time for a short and very pleasant three-hour ride to Seattle, with lovely forest all along the coast. (The train was once again right on time, yay Amtrak!)
I’ll have a few days here in Seattle and environs, staying with dear friends; and one visit to a book club hosted by another friend–then it’s onto a plane and on my way back to France, with a layover in Calgary.
Stay tuned for my report from Seattle. So far it is a very interesting town!
*I’ll comment on the name of that train–(the Empire Builder?!)–in a future post, when I report on my Amtrak experience. Teaser: Mostly it was a good experience. 🙂 )
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
A Minnesota Welcome for A Long Way From Iowa
So, here are some highlights from the Minnesota part of my book tour:
Top row, left to right: 1. Illinois and Minneapolis contingents of cousins converged in Wisconsin, where we paid a visit to my 98-year-old Aunt Rose Ann (who has a cameo role in A Long Way From Iowa, and was an invaluable source as I worked on writing it.). 2. Dinner at a great pizza place in Excelsior with 10 of my female cousins and one brave man, James; Bottom row, left to right: 1. At the West Side Farmers Market with my brother-in-law and sister; 2. Reading aloud from A Long Way From Iowa with my sister’s help; 3. With more cousins, and my sister and niece, after the book-signing.
The very next day my sister and I were off to western Minnesota, where yet another cousin, along with my best friend from college, Ruthie, had been busy planning an event for me, at the Sunburg Community Center. What a surprise it was to me when I opened my email a few days before the event to see a Google alert informing me that this event, held in a town of 100 inhabitants, was featured in an international publication, French News Today, thanks to my cousin Darlene and her amazing skills at promotion. (Kinda funny to think of readers of French News Today trying to find out where Sunburg is. 🙂 ) She and Ruthie also brought out a good-sized crowd on a 90-degree (in October!) evening to talk about memoirs with me. We had a lively discussion; and afterward the attendees were offered delicious cookies and other tasty treats Ruthie had brought, to make the evening even more special.
I was lucky enough to be able to stay on for a few days in this area, on the shores of Norway Lake, in the cabin Ruthie’s grandfather had built, which is right next door to her home. Those few days of downtime at Norway Lake were a wonderful opportunity for me to unwind a bit after a fairly intense few weeks of traveling; catch up on some of the administrative tasks that pile up even when you’re on the road and that are easy to fall behind on; and just be in a beautiful, beloved, and familiar place, with some of my best friends in the world right next door. Heaven!
Here are a few of the scenes of quiet beauty that restore and sustain me when I find myself by the side of a lake on the edge of the prairie. Especially this lake.
Next it was back to St. Paul for a couple of days, and then on to beautiful Red Wing, Minnesota, on the Mississippi River for a book-signing at Fair Trade Books, a delightful indie bookstore; followed by visits with more cousins on the Wisconsin side of the river. After the book-signing my sister and I were able to finally bury the ashes of our brother next to the graves of our parents in a cemetery on the Wisconsin side of the river, with a few cousins gathered round. It was time to find a final resting place for him, and this is not a bad one. My cousin’s husband had prepared the site for us in advance, and we were all able to take a quiet moment to remember and honor my brother Jake.
A planned meeting with my friend Lorrie’s book club in Red Wing for the following night had to be cancelled due to concerns about Covid but I was able to see Lorrie and her husband, whom I hadn’t seen in a very long time, and spend the night with them before taking the train from Red Wing on to Winona for the next event, further down the river.
Left to right: 1) The waiting room in the Red Wing Amtrak station is a beautiful, well-maintained homage to train travel in this part of the country. 2) Rick and Zoe at Fair Trade Books in Red Wing set up a table for me for signing books for an afternoon. Every first-time visitor to this store is given a free book, chosen by Rick based on the reader’s description of their reading interests. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! (The only requirement is that upon receiving your gift book, you must say aloud, loud and clear, so everyone in the store can hear: “Books make great gifts!” 🙂 (And that is true, by the way…) 3) Here I am in Ellsworth, Wisconsin, my mom’s hometown, after visiting my Aunt Rose Ann. (If you don’t know what cheese curds are, I guess you will have to plan a trip to Wisconsin to find out.) 4) With my friends Larry and Lorrie at their home in Red Wing. Lorrie is a master quilter, and she is working on a beautiful quilt featuring Joan of Arc, one of my heroines (and hers).
Next it was on to Winona, where another very close friend of mine lives. I took the train there from Red Wing, which was a lovely hour-long ride down along the banks of the Mississippi.
The next night I had my final book event in Minnesota, at Paperbacks and Pieces, a book-and-puzzle store in Winona. For the second time in less than a week I was surprised by friends I hadn’t seen in many years who showed up at this event. This time it was my friend Paul, another friend from my college days, and his wife Catherine. They had driven more than an hour to see me; I was so touched, and what a treat it was to see their smiling faces in the crowd as I read from A Long Way From Iowa. (There was a fair amount of interest in Demystifing the French as well at this event.) We had a very lively and fun discussion; another wonderful evening.
Left: Taking questions and comments from the audience at Paperbacks and Pieces. Top right : With my friends Paul and Catherine. Bottom, left to right: Shannon of Paperbacks and Pieces; me; and my dear friend Cherie Hales.
There is no way I can adequately thank all of the many people who in the past few weeks drove long (or short) distances to see me; cooked meals for me; gave me beds to sleep in; bought my books and said nice things about them; and told their friends about these events, and about the book. (Several people have also recommended the book for their book groups to read; I am hoping there will be more of that.)
But there is one person I might all too easily forget to mention just because she is such a constant source of love and support in my life, so always there for me that it would be easy to take her love and support for granted; and I want to be sure to not forget her!
That is my sister Betsey, mi querida hermanita. In the two weeks I was in Minnesota, she picked me up at the airport (twice); drove me around the state for several of these events; and took me to the train station in St. Paul late at night when I left town. Before I had even gotten to Minnesota she had arranged for my book-signing at the West Side Farmers Market. While I was there she cooked meals for me, washed clothes, and did a hundred other kind things I can’t even remember. She even bought a bunch of my books as birthday presents for her friends! Best of all, she arranged for some time off from work while I was there so she could do some of these things, and so we could have more time together.
And that is just a fraction of the nice things she has done for me not only this month, but all my life.
In short: thank God for my sister, and muchissimas gracias TO my sister!
I arrived in Portland, Oregon yesterday, after a 36-hour train ride from St. Paul, Minnesota. An almost entirely pleasant experience, with some great opportunities to enjoy magnificent views of raw, rustic, and beautiful natural landscapes outside the big windows of the lounge (“sightseeing”) car. There’ll be more about that trip to come…stay tuned!
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
Thank You, New York, Washington, and Mystic, Connecticut!
Photos, left to right: 1. With Bob Attardi, Director of Programs at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington DC; 2. Colleagues, friends, and former students met me for a wonderful mini book event in Prospect Park, Brooklyn on a beautiful day in September; 3. Greenlight Books kindly invited me to come in and sign copies of A Long Way From Iowa. Stop by this wonderful Brooklyn bookstore and pick one up! 4. Breakfast with my friend Kevin Sisson, at Kitchen Little on Mason’s Island, near Mystic, CT.
I’ve been on the East Coast for a little more than a month now, and what a whirl it has been! In addition to visiting friends in New York, Connecticut, and the Washington DC area, and having book events, with the help of my son Sam I managed to (finally!) pack up the contents of the storage locker in Silver Spring, where my piano and many boxes and trunks full of family treasures–photographs, letters, journals and other documents, and of course a few books–have been trapped for far too long. They are now on their way to our home in France, hooray!
While I was in Brooklyn, I was really lucky to be able to stay in the home of my previous upstairs neighbors–and lifelong friends–in the very same building where I last lived in Brooklyn. It felt so good to be back! I have much more to say about Brooklyn, but most of it will have to wait until I’m working on my next book. For now I will just quote Francie Nolan, the protagonist of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
“At the end of their street, the great Bridge threw itself like a sigh across the East River and was lost… lost…on the other shore. The dark East River beneath the Bridge and far away the misty-grey skyline of New York, looking like a city cut from cardboard. ‘There’s no other place like it,’ Francie said…”
My trip to Mystic, CT was also a pleasure. I took the Amtrak train from the Moynihan Train Hall in Manhattan, a very comfortable, well-designed, and gleaming new station; and am happy to report that the train was comfortable, the staff was extremely helpful, and the train was on time. The first night I was in Mystic my friend drove us to the elegant Ocean House hotel in Waverly, Rhode Island, where we attended a very bookish event, an enjoyable evening with the authors Ann Hood and Michael Ruhlman. The following night I was given the chance to meet with some aspiring writers–and admiring readers–of memoirs at the Mystic/Noank Library to talk about writing an intergenerational memoir. I owe a big debt of gratitude to my friend Kevin, and to Ery Caswell, for giving me this opportunity.
Next it was on to Washington DC, where last Saturday night I had a very exciting moment in my career as a writer; a celebration of A Long Way From Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France at Politics and Prose, one of the best bookstores in the country–and my favorite, and “home,” bookstore. Despite threatened severe weather that night, the house was packed with a wonderful mix of friends, former neighbors, current and former students, and some members of the P&P community that I knew not at all. Bob Attardi, the store’s Director of Programs led me in conversation about the book, and I read a few excerpts from it. The store sold a lot of books, I signed some more, and they are now there, and available for purchase, in person or online. I’m deeply grateful to this wonderful bookstore, and the community of writers and readers it has built and nourished through the years, for all they have done for me, and for other readers and writers in the Washington DC area–and actually, across the country and around the world–through their excellent programs, trips, and classes.
All along my way there have been wonderful people who have helped me through what could have been a very bumpy landing in my home country after several years away–since I arrived here having broken my glasses, wrenched my back, hurt my foot, and come down with Covid all in the space of a week or so. (Really, you’d think just one of those things would have been enough, wouldn’t you?) These friends have given me beds to sleep in; guided me through the learning curve of using my very first Iphone; picked me up from various bus stops and train stations; fed me delicious and healthy food; encouraged me when it seemed like things were really not going so well; and in one case literally (but gently) half lifted/half pried me out of bed when my back was saying “Uh-uh, no I don’t think she’s going anywhere…”
They have made me think of that Beatles song…you know the one I mean, right?
Strangers have helped too, helping me up or down stairs with my bags when they could see I was struggling, in general just being kind. I am grateful!!! Thanks, Americans! 🙂
I know there will be many other helping hands along the way as I make my way across this country, and I am grateful in advance for it. My first Minnesota event will be in St. Paul; my birthplace, and truly “home country” for me, since this event will be at the Westside Farmer’s Market, which is held in the parking lot of Icy Cup, my sister and brother-in-law’s wonderful little ice cream-and-taco business. There will also be events in West Central Minnesota (in Sunburg); and in indie bookstores in two lovely Mississippi River towns–Red Wing, and Winona. I am so excited about this, after five long years away! Here’s the link for the scheduled events, hope to see some of you along the way!
After that I will be heading to the Pacific Northwest, to two towns I’ve never been to, and have always wanted to go: Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. Stay tuned!
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
US Book Tour of A Long Way from Iowa Underway!
What a great time to start a book tour, the beginning of September! And the US part of the Long Way from Iowa Book Tour starts this week.
The first event is this Thursday, in Mystic, Connecticut, a place I’ve never been before, and am very much looking forward to visiting.
On September 15 I’ll be stopping by Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, where I used to live (and where I left a big piece of my heart), to sign preordered copies of A Long Way from Iowa. You can order YOUR signed copy of the book here. (Be sure to indicate that you want your copy signed and/or personalized before completing the order, and order SOON so your book has time to get to the store before I do!)
The next event will be at Politics & Prose bookstore, my favorite, and my “home” bookstore in the US, on September 23.
And you can find out about the rest of the tour (thus far!) here.
Hope to see you in one of these places. In the meantime, if you’ve read A Long Way from Iowa and haven’t yet written a review on Amazon or Goodreads, I sure hope you will. You have no idea how much those reviews help writers! And it doesn’t have to take you more than five minutes to write one. 🙂
Thanks for all your enthusiasm and support. It is very much appreciated!
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
My wonderful first trip to Sweden…
A few years ago, one of my sons had a brilliant (and very generous) idea. “Mom, you are not traveling enough,” he said. (This is my most-traveling son, and I have fond memories of encouraging him as a teenager to take some of his first steps in solo travel.) “We should go to Sweden. You should go see where your family came from. Let’s go together. I’ll help you plan the trip.”
It would seem that a bit of role reversal was going on here. What a wonderful thing!
So, my Christmas present that year (2019) was a beautiful, hand-painted watercolor “Ticket to Småland” from my son, found in my Christmas stocking. And our plan was to get there–to Småland, the homeland of my great-grandfather– the following summer.
Well, you all know what happened a few months later: that nasty virus changed things for everyone, and travel became if not impossible, difficult. And not a very attractive prospect.
So 2020 went by. And 2021 and 2022 went by for different reasons. But finally 2023 came around and my son said. “You’re turning 70 this year; and I’m turning 30. I think we should celebrate our 100th birthday by finally getting to Sweden.”
And so we did!
And here are a few pictures from our wonderful time there. I will have to write more about this trip later, much more in fact. But for now pictures will have to suffice. Because Covid is still here, folks, and I’ve got it (again). So my energy is low. But I couldn’t wait to share some of these pictures with you, so here they are!
The next day we took the train to Mariefred, about 70 km west of Stockholm. We decided to spend a day or two there on our way to Småland so we could see and properly appreciate the wonderful “art fence” depicting 500 years of Swedish history that is there. We knew about this public art project because our friend Lina Nordin Gee (otherwise known as parisianpostcards) was one of the seven artists commissioned to create this beautifully crafted steel fence. Here are a few pictures of Mariefred:
On the recommendation of Lina’s father we also visited the royal Gripsholm Castle. On the day we were there there were a lot of people in 18th century costume and there was a jousting demonstration going on in the courtyard. The castle was so large we were sometimes lost within it and felt a bit like we had been caught in a time trap. “Can you help us find our way back to the 21st century?” I asked one of the clutches of people clothed in their elaborate 18th century finery when we found ourselves wandering around in circles. (By the way the thing I loved most in that castle was the incredibly elaborate parqueted woodwork in the ceilings. Amazing! Don’t fail to look up in every room if you go here.)
The next morning we left for the main focal point of our trip–Småland. We took the train to Jönköping, where we picked up a rental car from the Hertz office. (Well, actually we picked the car up from the parking garage in which there was an automated pick-up-your-car-system.) However, we only found this out because a kind member of Sweden’s Christian Democratic party who was working in the party offices (which are installed in the former Hertz office) saw our bewilderment when the address we had for picking up the car did not lead to a Hertz office. He locked up the office, came outside and said “I’ll show you how to get your car,” and added “This isn’t the first time this has happened.” So…anyone planning to get a car from Hertz in Jönköping–you now know you have to go to the parking ramp around the corner from where the Hertz office used to be to get it, and do it yourself! A very beneficial travel tip!
And now it was on to the heart of Småland, at least the heart of Småland for me. We went to a lovely stuga we had rented for the next few days which was not far from Lommaryd Parish, where my great-grandfather was baptized and I assume where he worshipped (or at least attended church) until he left Sweden and emigrated to the United States. We took a day to settle in, my bicyclist son took some wonderful bike rides around the area; and on our second full day which (conveniently) was a Sunday, we went to the Lommaryd church.
I was not at all sure we would even be able to go inside the church, since it appeared that the main Sunday service was being held in another area church that day. But what a wonderful surprise when we got there!
The church was holding an outdoor service, right next to a pasture occupied by a herd of cows. The theme of the service that day was man’s relationship to nature (and, basically, how we all need to be creating a much healthier relationship with it). My son and I wandered over to the place where the service was being held, not intending to stay very long since most of the people were sitting either on the ground or in folding chairs they had brought with them. But a kind woman who intuited our intentions gestured to some folding stools that belonged to the church, and entreated us to use them.
And so we did. And what a wonderful experience we had there! This day turned out to be truly a highlight of our trip for me, and honestly, I think it may turn out to be a highlight of my life–this opportunity to reconnect with the church community that my great-grandfather left behind more than 150 years earlier. Our warm reception there, and the connection with the rural Lutheran roots of the Swedish half of my family, was just simply wonderful. There will be more to say about it in future posts. But for now, here’s a taste. (Be sure to click on the video links, especially if you love church bells, or traditional singing in Swedish. 🙂 )
Janet Hulstrand is an American writer, editor, writing coach, and teacher of writing and of literature who lives in France. She is the author of Demystifying the French: How to Love Them, and Make Them Love You, and A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France, and coauthor of Moving On: A Practical Guide to Downsizing the Family Home.
Writing from the Heart, Reading for the Road 