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 Barney and Marion Lamm flew into Canada in June of 1946 on a flight that would see them eventually build and operate the most prestigious fly-in fishing lodge in Northwestern Ontario. Barney's Ball Lake Lodge became the destination for America's elite, from movie stars to Mafia bosses, and all manner of politicians and businessmen in between.

Situated on Ball Lake, some 50 miles north of Kenora, Ontario, it was accessible only by air. In 1952 Barney bought out Gordie Hollinsworth, one of the principles of Ontario Central Airlines. Soon a fleet of yellow Norseman aircraft were ferrying guests and supplies not only to Ball Lake but also to many of the other fly-in lodges that were springing up throughout the English River system. Later he would add two Grumman Gooses and a Canso to the fleet to bring guest directly from the States to Ball Lake.

Tiffany lamps and brand new Evinrude outboard engines set the standard both Marion and Barney wanted for their guests. A well stocked bar in the main lodge served drinks that could be enjoyed in front of a huge stone fireplace after a day's fishing. Guides from the local Indian reservations made sure their clients never came home empty handed. At night, all the boats would be pulled up on shore and lined up to make a picture perfect row along the beach. One of Barney's rules was that if a guest got his guide drunk, then he was assigned to him the next day. For all the booze the lodge went through, air plane loads of it, there were very few problems.

A guest had only to set his fishing gear outside the door before going to breakfast in the main dining room. He would find it in the boat, along with his guide at the start of the day's fishing. Trophy fish were sent to the taxidermist and any fish the guest wanted to keep were filleted and packed in dry ice before being flown to Kenora and sent on by express to their destinations across the continent.

Perhaps the most common beginning writer's problem is telling rather than showing your reader the action. Show, Don't Tell, is one of the basic rules of writing. Telling arises from the use, or rather, over-use of the verbs associated with 'to be.' By using was, were, and so on, you place the action at some distance from your reader. This use of passive voice could be written:  

There was a knock on the door. She was surprised.

Let's make the noun active by using different verbs and one sentence a subordinate clause-

A knock pounded on the door, surprising her.

Now we'll use some different verbs-

A late night knock came from the door, catching her unprepared.

Jumping from her chair, she answered the light knock on the door.

This is the basic difference between a passive sentence and an active one. The first pacifies you, simply letting you know what happened. The second places you in the midst of the action. It is active all around you. 

If I find myself writing a sentence with a 'to be' verb, I'll try to rewrite it as an active sentence. It almost always sounds sharper and more interesting that way. By using verbs of action one can engage the reader and bring them into the scene. Now there are times when a change of pace is required. Using 'to be' verbs will slow things down and have a dampening effect on the action.

If you do nothing else other than changing 'was' and 'were' to action verbs in your writing, you would go far to showing and not telling.

Here is a recipe that came to me to make bannock. Thought I'd share it with you, and as you can see, there is lots of leeway.

• Flour
• Baking powder
• Water
• Salt
• Lard or fat

• 3 cups of flour
• tbs of baking powder
• pinch of salt
• enough water to mix into dough
• lard - use lots, 1/4" in the bottom of a frying pan

Dump all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Mix and add water until dough forms.   Spread dough out, put in frying and place in fire. Can also be cooked in the oven. What temperature? No idea, but not too hot because it takes a while to cook through. 

Serve hot with butter.

A couple of variations- mix dough thicker and wrap around a willow branch then cook over an open flame. Good as dumplings in stew. Is it any wonder that this bread that originated in Scotland was so popular with Natives and backwoods people?   

I had occasion to be involved in a short story contest recently where readers could leave comments when voting for their favorite work. I noticed that more than one person used the phrase, 'Great writing.' Now I take exception to that. When writing is 'great,&rsquo how do you describe something better. In my opinion only a few writers have ever reached the 'great,&rsquo status: Homer, Shakespeare, Dickens, and others within their class.