The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 10

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Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

October 1, 2026- It was rainy, all day. We didn’t get in our usual walk, but Hana went with me to my chiropractic appointment. On the way there and back, I found a Children’s Music channel on Sirius XM, making her time in a rear-facing car seat less lonesome. She was, as usual, content to watch me in the massage chair and while I was getting adjusted by the chiropractor.

Hana is also more engaging now, constantly talking, even “scolding” the Roborock when it was noisily cleaning her high chair. She likes to take items out of a basket and put hem back in. She is getting better at using a spoon, and is now more apt to put a spoonful of food in her mouth, rather than wave it around.

Last night, she slept in a bedroom by herself, with her parents keeping a monitor on. She woke up at 4:40 a.m. and called for her mother. It all worked out quite well.

HANA’S NOTE- I kind of like the Sesame Street songs on Papa’s car radio. Some of the voices sound similar, but they are different animals. I wonder why.

EXPANDING CIRCLES– Alaska- For many years, Penny and I had plans of exploring “up the coast” to British Columbia and southeast Alaska. It never happened for us, as a couple. In 2015, I was able to go solo to “southeast”. Everything about the area fascinated me-the terrain and how communities managed to thrive, in the face of both tough weather conditions, and the fact that those conditions are changing so rapidly, in the present warming cycle.

The turf- Much of Alaska is mountainous, to the extent that in many cases, the only way to get from one place to another is to fly. In the southeast, the Coast Ranges dominate the mainland, with both it and the main offshore islands connected by the Alaska State Ferry system. The same is true of the south central region (Chugach Mountains, Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula), and the southwest (Kodiak Island, the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands). The interior features the highest mountains in North America, in the Denali region, to the north of which is a vast plain (Yukon Valley)in the west and due north, and more mountains to the northeast. North of the Yukon River valley lies the Brooks Range, and furthest north, the Arctic Plain. The Seward Peninsula, to the far west, is a rugged mix of mountains and coastal plain. Alaska is drained by the Yukon, Kuskokwim, Susitna, Tanana, Copper, Koyukuk, Kobuk, Noatak, Colville, Kenai and Porcupine Rivers. It is the Yukon which dominates the Alaskan interior and which flows into the north Pacific in a delta formation. Besides the Aleutians and the islands of the southeast, St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nunivak and the Pribilofs are found in the Bering Sea.

First Nations- Alaska is the ancestral home of the Northern Athabascan, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Haida, Eyak, Inupiat, Yupik, and Aleut peoples. The first five groups are collectively referred to as “Native Alaskan”. The Inupiat and Yupik are Inuit, and the Aleut are of a separate linguistic group from both Native Alaskans and Inuit. Like other indigenous peoples, in North America, each of these groups have been displaced and have faced harsh treatment, first by the Russian settlers from 1732-1867, then by Americans, most of whom were intending to take advantage of the Yukon Gold Rush and lucrative fishing opportunities. The Alaska Native Brotherhood, and the activists Alberta Schenck Adams and Elizabeth Peratrovich campaigned against segregation and other racist practices during Alaska’s territorial years, resulting in an end to segregation, in 1945. In 1971, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act dealt with land and financial claims for the losses that Alaskan Natives, Inuit and Aleuts had suffered at the hands of European- American settlers. The work of reconciliation continues.

Where I feel most at home- Sitka, Mendenhall, Ketchikan, Wrangell.

Where I feel most at peace- Mount Verstovia, Petroglyph Beach

Future Five- Anchorage, Talkeetna, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak, Glacier Bay

NEXT: Washington

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 9

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Posted by on in children, Community, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

September 30, 2026- Hana is a true composite of several people, on both sides of the family. She has Yunhee’s eyelids and nose, my mother’s facial shape and eyes, Penny’s ears and mouth and Aram’s curly hair. Personality-wise, though, she is unique. Given sliced blueberry pieces, she has to roll them back and forth on her place mat, before eating them. This is the only food with which she does that.She also will stand still, smiling, when I say my prayer for her, each day. When she is tired, during the day, she will come to me and put her head on my chest. That is the cue that she wants to be put in the crib for a nap.

My granddaughter likes it best, when she has all three of us in the same room. Thus, dinner seems to be her favourite meal. We also all take a role in her bathing. I hold the bath towel that “catches’ her, after the bath is finished,and make sure she is wrapped, before handing her of to her father. I imagine, once she is able to walk completely unassisted, that I will just hand her the towel and help her wrap around. As we use a walk-in shower for her, this should be easy to effect.

HANA’S NOTE– Papa went off for a long time, this afternoon, and came back with a wrap on his arm, like I have when I get a blood draw. Did he get a blood draw? Why?

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Hawai’i- The Aloha State was the forty-ninth that I visited. The occasion was Aram’s ship having a Tiger Cruise, in October, 2014, on which I was invited to sail with them from Honolulu to San Diego. This gave me a look at some parts of the Hawaiian capital.

The Turf- Hawai’is major islands are all the result of volcanic activity. The largest, Hawai’i, has two active volcanoes, on its eastern side. The east also gets more rain than the leeward side, which is called the Kona Coast.. Kauai, Maui, Molokai and O’ahu all have volcanoes, which are dormant at present. O’ahu’s symbol, Diamond Head, was formed by an interaction between lava, ocean water and coral reef. On Kauai, Waimea Canyon, the island chain’s largest and deepest, is 10 miles long and 3000 feet deep.

First Nations- Kanaka Maoli (Hawaiians) appear to have settled the islands in two waves-the first, coming from Marquesas, in the Third Century, AD/CE and the second, from Tahiti around 1300. Legends of pre-Polynesian residents: Small humans, called Menehune, have not been independently verified. These people, if they did exist in Hawai’i, would probably have resembled the Denisovans of Indonesia and the southern Philippines. Kanaka Maoli today have exclusive rights to the islands of Kaho’olawe and Ni’ihau. They have led a revival of the Hawai’ian language and culture, since the 1970s.

Where I most feel at home: Iolani Palace, Helumoa,

Where I most feel at peace- Helumoa, the Wizard Stones

Where I’d like to visit- Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor Memorial, North Shore of O’ahu, Island of Hawai’i, Maui, Molokai, Kauai.

NEXT: Alaska

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 8

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September 29, 2026- Hana has made it a practice to scoop up every bit of food that falls into the catchment on her bib, and woe to anyone who tries to dump those scraps onto the high chair table! Her meals, her rules. Our outspoken little girl is going to make her mark early, I think.

I made a birthday call to my sister, with Hana listening in. She was very happy to hear her grand-aunt’s voice and smiled the whole time. For good measure, I sent a birthday greeting, “from Hana”. In time, these sorts of remembrances will be an integral part of her life.

Aram is “Daddy”, Yunhee is “Mama”. I am, alternately, “Papa” and “Dada”. Our girl is very definite about the main people in her life. She loves us and gets loved right back. As long as someone is there to help her practice walking, all is well with the world.

HANA’S NOTE: I like standing at the window and seeing the funny animals running and jumping. Papa said they are squirrels.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Northern California- The “upper” half of the Golden State has also figured in my life, since 1972, when I landed at Oakland, on my return from Viet Nam. San Francisco welcomed me for several conferences, over the years and I had the pleasure of seeing the Lunar New Year parade, in Chinatown, in 1995. I toured both cities more extensively in 2012. Santa Cruz, and the nearby Bosch Baha’i School, were the destination of a few family vacations, as well.

The Turf: The Coast Ranges hug the shore more consistently, as one goes north, from San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria. Then the low lying Central Valley occupies a huge swath, and is one of the great “breadbaskets” of North America. Mountains rise again, to the east: Sierra Nevada, followed further north by the southern Cascades. In northeast California, the westernmost segment of the Great Basin is called the Modoc Desert. Northern California is drained by the Smith, Klamath, Trinity, Salmon, Mad, Eel, Russian, Petaluma, Napa, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Feather, American, Yuba, Pit, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Meced, Mokulumne, Calaveras, Kings, Kern, Kaweah,Salinas, Santa Maria and Truckee Rivers. The San Joaquin forms a delta, which drains into San Francisco Bay.

First Nations- Northern California is the ancestral home of the Hupa, Pomo, Yurok, Washoe, Mono, Yokuts, Karuk and Northern Paiute people. Rancherias and reservations are found across the region, for each of the extant nations and those related to them, linguistically. Native Americans suffered greatly in the Gold Rush and its aftermath, facing discrimination and pressure to “assimilate” that was equal to any similar efforts in other states and territories. The Pomo people were subjected to enslavement and harsh living conditions, by two white settlers with connections to the United States Army. These settlers, Andrew Kelsey and Charles Stone, were killed by rebellious Pomo, who were in turn slaughtered by troops under the command of the settlers’ associate, Captain Nathaniel Lyon (1850). He also orchestrated a forced relocation of Pomo people to Round Valley (1856). (Lyon was subsequently killed in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, in southwest Missouri, during the Civil War.)

Where I feel most at home: Santa Cruz, Aptos, Truckee, Susanville, Mount Shasta, Weed, Eureka, Orland, Mendocino

Where I feel most at peace: Lassen Volcanic National Park, Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area, Mount Shasta

NEXT: Hawai’i

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 7

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 28, 2026- Hana talked a blue streak today. She seemed to be excited about her vast gains in scooting and standing up. She is now able to stand, unsupported, for nearly two minutes. She walked, with my help, the length of the master bedroom, from her crib to the door. These achievements made her beam with delight.

I, too, beam with delight, when she listens to me and sits down in her high chair. She wanted to show off by standing up, proud as you please. My reaction was: “If you want more breakfast, then sit down.” She sat down, and finished her breakfast. Better that, than Bravado Girl taking a tumble. (We strapped her in, for lunch and dinner.)

HANA’S NOTE: I am happy when I am standing and walking, while holding on to the playpen. I REALLY want to take steps without help.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Southern California- We now leave the Southwest and focus on the Pacific Coast and Basin. It could be argued that southern California is part of the Southwest, as the area (from Coalinga- Visalia- Mount Whitney on to the Mexican border) has an identity somewhat closer to Arizona and southern Nevada than to the northern part of the Golden State. It also has a unique tie to the Pacific Ocean.

The turf- The coast is defined by tits beach towns, the energy and drive of Los Angeles, San Diego and their seemingly endless suburbs (and traffic). The Coast Ranges separate the metropolises from the Colorado and Mohave Deserts-somewhat. Orange groves, which were once ubiquitous, are mainly now on the eastern slopes of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains-and in northern San Diego County. The San Andreas Fault, and other tectonic plates, run north to south, through the Transverse Ranges-which themselves run east to west, from San Bernardino to Santa Barbara. The Colorado River, along the borders with Nevada and Arizona, is the major draining flow of southern California. Shorter rivers, such as San Diego, San Gabriel, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, and Santa Ynez, drain from the Coast and Transverse Mountains, to the Pacific Ocean. Salton Sea is a shrinking body of salt water, in the southern reaches of the Colorado Desert.

First Nations- Southern California is the ancestral home of the Diegueno, Luiseno,Juaneno, Gabrieleno, Quechan, Cahuilla, Serrano, Soboba, Tataviam and Chumash peoples. The Diegueno are also called Kumeyaay, or Tipai/Ipai. Most of the people were brought into the life of Mission Communities, either by enticement or by force. Today, the communities are more independent of the Church and are organized in rancherias, or small reservations. A revival of indigenous languages, especially Kumeyaay and Chumash, is being slowly nurtured.

Southern California, particularly San Diego, has been very important to my family, over the years. My relationship with Penny was nurtured in Vista and in Julian. We were married in San Diego. We took our vacations from Arizona in San Diego, Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, Aram was stationed in San Diego, for nearly six years.Much of my time was also spent around southern California, especially in the beach towns, from 2012-2025.

Where I most feel at home: Ocean Beach, Torrey Pines, La Jolla, Banning, Julian, Crystal Cove, Dana Point, Ojai, Lomita, San Gabriel, Joshua Tree National Park

Where I most feel at peace: Ocean Beach, Torrey Pines, Joshua Tree

NEXT: Northern California

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 6

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 27,2026– Hana now has a pegboard, with thing like a timer, a zipper, an abacus, a gear board and some coloured fruits. She has taken happily to it and posed for a picture, while playing with the gears. When I left for Baha’i Feast, this evening, she was still busily at work, sorting things out in the large toy basket.

Earlier this afternoon, we went on a walk, for the first time in P.M., since June. I took her by a yard that already has a full Halloween display, mostly various skeletons, from an armadillo to a 20-foot human, along with Elphaba, from the “Wizard of Oz” and a few little goblins. She regarded them mildly, then went back into her own thoughts.

HANA’S NOTE– I am so happy with my new toys, that are on a board with holes in it. I especially like the wheels that fit into each other.

EXPANDING CIRCLES- Nevada The Silver State has often been called “The Big Empty”, but not so much in the last 15-20 years. Las Vegas is now a major metropolitan area. Reno- Sparks-Carson City and Lake Tahoe are becoming a second major metro. The area in between is no longer “The Loneliest Road in America”. I would not be surprised if places like Beatty and Tonopah start to fill in and grow,

The Turf- Nevada has regions that are close to sea level, not far from mountains that rise to over 13,000 feet. The bulk of the state is in the Great Basin, but there are small mountain ranges: Toiyabe, Ruby and Panamint. The Sierra Nevada edge into their namesake state, near Lake Tahoe, which, along with Pyramid Lake and Lake Lahontan, is a fresh water remnant of glaciation. Lake Mead, on the other hand, is the result of the damming of the Colorado River. That river, with its tributaries, the White and Virgin Rivers, drains the south of Nevada. The Truckee, Carson, Owyhee, Humboldt, Reese and Marys Rivers irrigate the north,

First Nations- Nevada is the ancestral home of the Northern and Southern Paiute, Goshute, Mohave, Chemehuevi, Mono, Washoe, Shoshone, Pahvant, Tsaiduka and Kuyatikka peoples, along with a dozen smaller groups. As in many other areas, Nevada’s indigenous people have had reason to regard people of European descent with suspicion. I have been received with varying degrees of guardedness, by people in First Nations areas near Las Vegas and Carson City. It is always best to show kindness and patience there, as anywhere.

Places where I feel most at home- Carson City, most certainly, as that is where my heart family lives. Reno, Austin, Fallon, Tonopah, Beatty, Valley of Fire, Pioche and Panaca are all heart homes, as well.

Where I feel most at peace: Cathedral Gorge

NEXT: Southern California

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 5

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Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 26, 2026- Hana continued to practice walking, mostly around the playpen, as our Roborock cleaner was working the floors and carpets. She continues to build on her receptive language, offering a few words of comprehension, or at least doing what her parents ask her to do.

She is now showing mastery of putting a ball in a small chute, putting detachable cloth vegetables and fruits back on a Velcro screen and is starting to put some toys back in their bins. We went to lunch at HMart Food Court, after I had finished my errands. Hana had several pieces of green grape, and ate most of them, while we adults had our lunch. (Hana had eaten at home, an hour earlier.)

HANA’S NOTE- I am not as scared of the Roborock as I used to be. I used to think it was going to eat me up!

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Arizona- It is odd to be thinking of the Grand Canyon State as an expansion goal, but it is for Hana. Much of my life, forty-one years, to be exact, was lived with an Arizona home address, working in an Arizona school or business. Aram’s formative years were spent in Arizona, and it was from there that he entered the Navy. It beckons to us to return someday, but Aram and Yunhee have to make their marks in Texas, first.

The Turf- Arizona is not all desert. There are rugged mountains in the central swath of the state-from Flagstaff in the north to Bisbee and the Coronado National Monument in the south; from Prescott in the west to Greer and Eagar in the east. There are sky islands, like the Hualapai Range, inland from the Colorado River and the three rims of the Grand Canyon. An 800-mile trail runs from the Mexican border to Utah, along the spines of several mountain ranges and through the Grand Canyon.

Low lying desert takes up much of the western third of the state, as well as the region between Tucson and the Mogollon Rim which begins east of Prescott. High desert terrain is found on the Colorado Plateau, along the Little Colorado River, from Page, at the Utah line, to Sanders, near the New Mexico border. The state is drained by the Colorado, Little Colorado, Salt, Gila, and San Pedro Rivers. The Salt and Gila have dry beds for a good portion of their course through the state. This, and the lower flow of the Colorado, are due to both their having been dammed and to the extended period of dryness across the West. Continued growth, especially in the corridor from Scottsdale and Peoria, through Phoenix and south to Sierra Vista, also contributes greatly to the depletion of water.

First Nations- Arizona is the ancestral home of the Yavapai, Hualapai, Havasupai, Kaibab Paiute, Dineh(Navajo),Hopi, Zuni, White Mountain Apache, San Carlos Apache, Tonto Apache, Chiricahua Apache, Akimel O’odham, Tohono O’odham, Maricopa, Cocopah, Mohave, Halchidhoma, Hia C-ed O’odham, Yuman (Quechan), Chemehuevi, San Juan Paiute and Pascua Yaqui peoples.

It was from Arizona that the Navajo people were forced onto the Long Walk, and to Arizona that many returned, in 1868. It was in southeast Arizona that the Chiricahua Apache, led first by Cochise, then by Geronimo, resisted both the Mexican and American authorities for several decades. It was to Arizona that the Tewa people fled from the Spanish re-conquest of their Rio Grande homelands, to be welcomed by the Hopi, at First Mesa. It is in Arizona that I feel most at home among First Nations people, especially on the Navajo Nation and in the Hopi villages.

Along those lines, I feel most at home in the Prescott area,, Flagstaff, Polacca, Second Mesa,Tuba City, Red Lake, Burntwater, Bisbee, Ajo, Superior, Cave Creek, Cornville, Jacob Lake and the Grand Canyon. Arizona, in general, will always have my heart.

Where I feel most at peace: Jacob Lake Inn

NEXT: Nevada

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 4

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 25, 2026- Hana practiced walking around the house, with me holding her hands. We made it through the dining room, kitchen and living room,before her father came home and her attention was shifted. She has her stopping places, of course: The dining room table, the dish washer, the door to the laundry room, her kitchen high chair (where she sits and watches us prepare food and clean up) and her two strollers, which are parked near the door to the back yard. We stopped at the sofas, one of which has her quilt and the other, a Winnie the Pooh plush toy. This will surely be a regular afternoon activity, until she is able to walk on her own.

A bit earlier, when she woke from her afternoon nap, I took her to the playpen. She said “No no”, which somehow cued me that it was time to prepare her mid-afternoon feeding. So, I sat her in the kitchen high chair, and started warming the bottle, which gave her the satisfaction of being understood. After the feeding, she was perfectly glad to spend more time in the pen.

HANA’S NOTE- I ate almost everything by myself today. It is getting easier. even using the spoon.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Utah- The Beehive State stands prominently in two ways. First, the per-eminence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, colloquially called “the Mormons” and second, the number and variety of its natural treasures.

The turf- Utah’s landscape is a fascinating interplay of desert and mountain, with lush valleys in between the two. In the west are found Zion and Kolob canyons, comprising Zion National Park; Bryce Canyon National Park; the mountainous Cedar Breaks; and furhter north, the low-lying Bonneville Salt Flats.

In the center of the state are its urban centers: Salt lake City, Provo-Orem, and Ogden, the first two built near lakes. Great Salt Lake is the signature symbol of Utah, yet is under extreme duress, from development and diversion of its water. Utah Lake is also increasingly surrounded by urban growth.

Eastern Utah is dominated by the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains, in the north; Canyonlands, Arches National Monument, Capitol Reef, Natural Bridges and the Henry Mountains cover the southeast. The area around Price is also filled with rugged canyons.

Utah is drained by the Colorado and Green Rivers, and their tributaries, including the Duchesne, San Juan and Virgin Rivers.

First Nations- Utah is the ancestral home of the Ute, Paiute, Goshute, Shoshone and Dineh (Navajo) peoples. Mormon pioneers alternately traded peacefully with the Native peoples and fought with them over land and resources. Some Utes enslaved members of surrounding tribes, selling them to the Spanish, during the time of the area being part of New Spain. (The Mormons sometimes purchased the slaves, then set them free, engaged them as fairly well-treated house servants, or adopted them into their families. Utah was never a part of the Confederacy, and in fact sent men to serve in the Union Army.) Ute and Dineh lands in southeast Utah are productive of oil and natural gas, for which the tribal members receive some royalties.

Where I feel most at home: Kanab, Salida, East Side of Salt Lake City, Price, Arches National Park, Natural Bridges, Mexican Hat, Aneth.

Where I feel most at peace: Natural Bridges

NEXT: Arizona

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The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 3

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Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 24, 2026- When Hana is annoyed at something, she utters a mild groan. A few times today, especially as her mother was getting ready to leave for work and again, when it took a bit longer to get the safety straps and tray attached to the high chair, her guttural expression took flight.

She has been feeding herself quite well, of late. Of course, the results are what one would expect of an infant or toddler, but she does get most of the food into herself, sometimes after a few tries. She is getting better at taking the spoon and putting food into her mouth, though it may take two tries to empty the spoon. I attribute that to her not having a full set of teeth.

Hana also was more willing to walk with me holding her hands, and walking backwards, in front of her. For the first time, today she walked a bit, inside the playpen, with my holding her by one hand and being at her side. I hope to get her to do more of both, over the next several days.

HANA’S NOTE– I was stuck on playing with the price tag on my Mexican doll. Papa and Daddy took it, and said it was plastic and they didn’t want me to eat it. I was sad to lose that tag, but a cloth book made me feel better.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Colorado- The Rocky Mountain State has been also like home to me, over the years, in many respects. One of my sisters-in-law lived in the Denver area for several years, and our niece still lives there.I have friends in several parts of the state, as well.

The turf- Mountains make up about 2/5 of the state’s terrain; the Rockies proper taking up the middle third and the San Juan Range forming something of a boot, in the southwest corner. High Desert takes up most of the western third, save the area of the San Juans. High Plains take up the eastern third. Still and all, Colorado is the only state where I have seen snow in each of the twelve months of the year. The state is well-drained: The Colorado River, Rio Grande, Animas, San Juan, Arkansas, North and South Platte and Little Snake Rivers all either begin here or flow swiftly through.

First Nations- Colorado is the ancestral home of Dineh (Navajo), Nuutsiu (Ute), Yapudttka, Pahdteeanooch, Kahpota, Mobach, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Jicarilla Apache,Yamparika and Numunuu(Comanche). Puebloan communities left their ruins at Mesa Verde and Chimney Rock, both now tended by the National Park Service. In the annals of relations between Native Americans and the U.S. Army, Sand Creek remains hallowed ground. On November 29, 1864, Colonel John Chivington led a force of 675 Cavalrymen on a slaughter of 150 Arapaho and Cheyenne villagers, 2/3 of whom were women and children. I visited Sand Creek, a few years ago, and could only stand in solemnity. There is no honour in one-sided slaughter, despite what Chivington claimed, to his dying day.

Where I feel most at home: Cortez, Walsenburg, Del Norte, Black Forest, Manitou Springs, Boulder, Glenwood Springs.

Where I feel most at peace: The Baha’i camp at Black Forest

NEXT- Utah

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 2

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Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 23, 2026- Hana is having the unique experience of cutting both her top lateral incisors and her upper canines at the same time. She is holding her own, but at times it is extremely uncomfortable. The canines are coming through seven months early, according to the chart I have in front of me. Other sources allow for a wide variation, among children.

She has a new toy, of sorts: The larger fiber storage basket for her playpen toys. She can fir about half of herself in in, so this has become her “hide and seek” go-to. She “gives herself away”, though, giggling when I call for her. I think she knows that I can see her.

HANA’S NOTE– I like the stand-up frame that I am put in, for my showers. I feel more like I am washing myself.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: New Mexico- The Land of Enchantment is Texas’s western neighbour, and the gateway to the Southwest. The Turf- Eastern New Mexico is largely an area of high plains, with rugged canyons and an extinct volcano in the northeast. The Rocky Mountains take up the state’s mid section, from Raton and Chama, in the north, to just east of Las Cruces, in the south. Western New Mexico is a mix of high desert, the Gila Mountains and forested plateau. New Mexico is watered by the Rio Grande, as well as the San Juan, Pecos, Chama, Gallinas, Puerco and Canadian Rivers.

First Nations- New Mexico is the ancestral home of four different Puebloan groups: Tewa, Tiwa, Towa and Keresan. These groups comprise the Eight Northern Pueblos, along the Rio Grande, Isleta, south of Albuquerque and Zuni, in western New Mexico. It is also home to a large Dineh population, with northwest New Mexico largely a part of the Navajo Nation. There are two Apache groups: Mescalero, in the south and Jicarilla, in the north. Utes also claim northwest New Mexico and Comanches (Numunuu )ranged across the eastern plains.

The First Nations of the Rio Grande Pueblos gave freedom-loving people the world over a road map, in rising up against the Spanish, in 1680. Though the rebellion was eventually put down, by superior military force, Spain never quite regained the control it once had over New Spain, and the seeds of the revolutions that created independent nations, across Mesoamerica and South America, 130 years later, were sown in 1680.

Dineh people also sowed seeds of resillience, by largely surviving the Long Walk from Chinle and beyond, to Bosque Redondo, at Fort Sumner. 3,500 people died on the Long Walk, between 1863-66. The rest mostly survived internment. Those who hid in the canyons of Arizona, western New Mexico and Utah were there to welcome their returning brothers and sisters, in 1868. I have visited Fort Sumner, and felt lingering grief.

New Mexico was another home for me, during my decades in the Southwest, along with California, Colorado and Nevada. Though Arizona was Home Base, not a year would go by without visits somewhere in the Land of Enchantment.. The vibrant Native American and New Mexican Spanish cultures are features I hope she can experience, even while still a child. Zuni holds special significance, as that is where I met her grandmother. I also would like to share Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands, in southern New Mexico, a region with which I am less familiar.

Where I feel most at home: Santa Fe, Moriarty, Madrid, Gallup, Old Town Albuquerque, Taos, Cimarron and Bosque del Apache. I would gladly take Hana to any of these towns and neighbourhoods

Where I feel most at peace: Rio Grande Gorge

With a look at New Mexico, our focus now shifts away from Texas’s neighbours and to the other states of the Southwest.

NEXT: Colorado

The Hana Chronicles: Month 9, Day 1

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Posted by on in children, Community, Education, Entertainment, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

September 22, 2026- Hana got a thumbs-up from her pediatrician today, at her 9-month visit. Doc even referred to Hana as “The Boss”, for her outspoken babbling, that had a tome of authority. Most importantly, the little girl is hitting all the markers, which I have described over the past few days. She even took three steps without support, earlier today.

Hana is also showing a sense of humour about herself. When her father mimicked a few sounds she was making, she looked at him and burst into laughter. She does get cranky when she’s tired, but otherwise, my granddaughter is in some ways a mirror of my mother, and she can give it back, albeit in the babbling of a nine-month old.

So, she enters the last quarter of her first year, as our hemisphere begins autumn. The next three months will bring four lateral incisors, a growing sense of individuality and the first meaningful steps.

HANA’S NOTE- I wore a dress to my doctor’s office. It made me look special, Mommy said.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: Louisiana- The Pelican State is said to be floating on borrowed time. A friend from Slidell recently told me that the biggest mistake people have made there was not providing means for irrigation, as the levees, while protecting low-lying areas, were also drying out the soil in those areas.

Louisiana is Texas’s neighbour to the east. The Turf- Most of the state is of fairly low elevation, with the area around the mouths of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers being below sea level. This has been borne out most vividly, and tragically, in extreme weather events like Hurricanes Camille, in 1969, Katrina and Rita, in 2005 and Laura, in 2020.

First Nations- Louisiana is the ancestral home of the Atakapa, Caddo, Chitimacha, Choctaw, Houma, Natchez and Tunica peoples. After European settlement, the Alabama, Biloxi, Coushatta and Ofo people were pushed into the area. Today, the Chitimacha, Coushatta, Houma and Tunica-Biloxi Nations, as well as Jena Band of the Choctaw Nation, have reservations in the state. The Choctaw were largely among the displaced who were forced to go northwest to Oklahoma, in the dead of winter, during Andrew Jackson’s forced relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes. The Jena Band were those who escaped into the piny woods and bayous. Poverty Point, Watson Brake and Campus Mounds are sites of burial mounds of the Caddo and even earlier peoples.

I have been to New Orleans, three times; once was specifically for Mardi Gras (2015). The other visits were briefer, due to transit needs. Baton Rouge and Alexandria were the sites of a longer visit, at the time of Hurricane Laura (2020). On that occasion, I was volunteering with the Red Cross, at a storm shelter. Lake Charles, Vidalia, Monroe and Shreveport are other communities in which I’ve stopped. Each of these would be worth a visit with Hana, especially the Mounds, the area around Lake Pontchartrain and the Garden District of New Orleans. I would also like to spend a few days in Lafayette, absorbing the Zydeco and Cajun sounds. Preservation Hall, in New Orleans would be a destination, as well.

Where I feel most at home: Alexandria, Lake Charles, the Garden District and French Quarter, south side of Baton Rouge, Vidalia.

Where I feel most at peace: Lake Pontchartrain

NEXT: New Mexico