My Watermark is the Credit River, Ontario.

I move around a lot. Call it an itinerate gypsy, or a wanderer – whatever you want to call it. And whenever I go to a new place I look for three things.

A really nice coffee shop, where I can sit and write my next novel.

A really good grocery shop, that has organic products and nice vegetables.

And the third is a park with a water (preferably a river).

About 2 years ago, I had just moved into Mississauga. I found my coffee shop. I found my grocery store. But I hadn’t found my park and river. And then I discovered an entryway to the Credit.

There was this lovely long path and it was just magical.

I felt so at home. The sounds of the river itself, the rustling trees – everything. Even though I was in a suburban atmosphere, I was still embedded in nature.

That was step one.

For step two, I took it a little further. I asked a naturalist friend of mine, “Let’s check out the Credit River. Let’s see where the river starts and where it ends.” So we did a massive trip. It took a couple of days. We waded the Credit River right to the source. We went to various places, various access points along the way.

I just waded in and picked up rocks. I looked to see what was growing there and made notes. And this is all for the book, "Water Is...". Results are all in Chapter 3. All about the critters that live in the Credit – what is sentinel for a clean spring versus a dirty spring.

And there I was wading in the water, like a little kid again. I was rediscovering the Credit. It was the place I wanted to be.

In a way, the book was my entryway to finding home.