During her early years in construction, with no other women to talk to, she began talking instead to her journals, keeping copious notes to try and understand the very male culture of construction (“Why are they acting like this?  Why am I?”)  Eventually as the working days grew longer and her lines shorter, she realized she was writing poetry.  This led to her first book, Covering Rough Ground, which won the Pat Lowther Award for best book of poetry by a Canadian woman.