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When it came to her second book, Napanee author Grace Vanderzande wanted to offer readers a wider view of what life as a farmer was all about.
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“No one tells the truth about farming,” she said. “There’s a lot more to farming than just all of the good stuff.”
Vanderzande’s first compilation of blog posts and columns, titled “Unbuttoned: Our Farming Life in Southeastern Ontario,” offered short pieces focused on the whimsical side of working the land alongside her husband — who she calls “My Hero” in her books — for the past 45 years..
Her new book, “Buttons Thoughts: Farm, Family and Folks,” also offers stories detailing the daily struggles and stresses of running a farm in addition to light-hearted ones.
“I wanted to get into the mental health side (of farming),” said Vanderzande, whose nickname was “Buttons” growing up. “I think people should know about it. If no one talks about it, it’s not going to help anyone in the long run.”
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For one thing, Vanderzande said she often “felt so alone” working 14-hour days while raising children as her husband was away during the day working at his full-time construction job. Then there’s stress of circumstances outside of a farmer’s control, such as how rainy weather impacts the quality of the hay.
In fact, her blog was her way of releasing some of that stress.
“I started blogging and before long, because I was sharing all my thoughts that were racing through my head and all those struggles, I started sleeping through the night,” said Vanderzande, whose fibromyalgia also kept her awake at night.
Her blog posts, written in a conversational style, resonated with readers and also fellow bloggers, including ones from as far away as Tasmania. Before long, she had garnered “quite a following,” she said.
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“We were all going through the same things, and they’re from all over the world,” she said.
“It pointed out that you’re never alone in your struggles. Someone else is always going through the same thing.”
She would eventually retire her blog and focus on writing newspaper columns, at first for the former Napanee Guide and now the Kingston Whig-Standard.
With “literally thousands” of stories from which to choose, each of them under 1,000 words long, she decided to arrange the more than 80 in the new book seasonally rather than chronologically.
“Because on the farm, you have calving, you have haying — so it was easier for me to lay those stories out in that way because farmers think in seasons,” she said.
While her stories focus on farm life, she also tackles weightier issues such as dementia. Still, she tries to focus on the “small things,” like staring at a hawk sitting on a fence and wondering if they’re doing the same with you.
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“You’ve just got to pick out that small thing and make it yours,” Vanderzande said. “That’s been my philosophy from the first time writing these books. I had to find my joy somewhere.”
She has sometimes thought about just writing for herself, “but I get so many people saying it makes them happy,” she said.
“They read the columns in the paper and they make them happy. I want people to hear the stories. It just feels like what I was meant to do.”
phendra@postmedia.com
Essentials
Who: Author Grace Vanderzande signs copies of her new book, “Buttons Thoughts: Farm, Family and Folks.”
When and where: Wednesday, July 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. at L&A Mutual Insurance Co., 76 East St., Napanee ($5 from every $25 sale will go to the Morningstar Mission); and Saturday, July 27, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at Books on Main, 368 Main St., Bath.
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