November 10, 2026- Hana has a few preferences for after lunch: She wants to walk around the house, at least twice, and play “hide and seek”, which means she hides behind a curtain, I call for her and she peeks out to let me know where she is. She also wants to look at a couple of books and for me to read one of them, for which she may or may not sit still. After all that, she is ready for a nap.

She is beginning to understand the value of neatness. After pulling things off a shelf, she goes through them and either puts a few of them back, or gives them to me to put back. She is also less prone to putting things into her mouth.

HANA’S NOTE- While we were out walking, I was feeling a bit sad. papa let me hold his sunglasses, and that made everything better.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: New Brunswick- Canada was home to my paternal forebears, so it is a natural draw for me, when making journeys of exploration. New Brunswick, Atlantic Canada’s border province, was settled by my paternal grandfather’s forebears. Their home base was Shediac, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, northeast of Moncton. I’ve been to New Brunswick ten times, first visiting St. Stephen and Fredericton, in 1973. I made it to Shediac in 2024.

The Turf: New Brunswick’s north country is covered by the Appalachian Mountains-in three segments: The Notre Dame Mountains, in the far north; Chaleur Uplands, east of the Notre Dame; and Miramichi Highlands, just south of the two. Plains alternate with rolling hills, in the southwest of the province. The southeast has lowlands that alternate with the Caledonia Highlands. The central and eastern areas of New Brunswick are lowlands. The province is drained by the Saint John, Petitcodiac, Miramichi, Richibucto, Restigouche, St. Crox, and Nashwaak Rivers, and their tributaries. These rivers eventually flow into New Brunswick’s marine neighbours: Chaleur Bay, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Northumberland Strait, Chignecto Bay, Bay of Fundy and Passamaquoddy Bay.

First Nations- New Brunswick is the ancestral home of the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet (Wolastoquiyik) peoples. The Mi’kmaq got on well with the early French explorers and fur trappers, in the 17th and 18th Centuries. They had tense relations with the English, especially with the Loyalists who settled New Brunswick, after the American Revolution. There were serious abuses of indigenous children in New Brunswick, as elsewhere in Canada, when it came to their being placed in boarding schools, where they were not alowed to speak their native languages or uphold cultural traditions. A concerted effort is being made to address those abuses, at both the provincial and Federal levels. Logistically, Mi’kmaq and Maliseet communities are organized into reserves, of which there are fifteen in New Brunswick.

Where I feel most at home: Moncton, Shediac, Edmundston, Saint John, Sackville

Where I feel most at peace- Wolastoq Park (Saint John), Shediac, Fundy National Park

NEXT: Prince Edward Island