This was for a contest to rewrite the lyrics of the song “Four Strong Winds.” I remember that my aunt Holly put me onto it. She’d heard about it on the radio or something, and since I was a writer in full contest mode at the time, she suggested that I enter. Judging by what I came up with, the objective was to make the song very Canadian. Probably a Canada Day contest. This was long before I actually did go to Prince Edward Island on my honeymoon. Anne of Green Gables was the major appeal of the place. I still love all of L.M. Montgomery’s fiction, perhaps more consistently than any other author’s work. Circa age twenty, here is my Canadian “Four Strong Winds” renamed “Gold Swirl Free.”
 

I’m a-goin’ cross the country
From B.C. to farthest shore
Got to see those forests
Stretching everywhere
You’ll pine for P.E. Island,
If I bring you some red sand,
Anne in her green gables
Born of beauty there
Gold swirl free from pan soil,
Rocky Mountains climb skies
Far as all tomorrow, what’s to be,
Beavers build homes in nickels
Prairie grass scratches ’n’ tickles,
 I will show you if you venture forth with me.