November 14, 2026- Hana’s parents will have been civilly married for eight years, this coming Monday. Due to work requirements, they celebrated today, going to a seafood restaurant, for lunch, and then having date night this evening. Hana slept for much of the time they were gone this afternoon, and she’s asleep now In between, she woke up for a 2:30 feeding, then walked me upstairs for playtime in her future room, which has a number of toys and plush animals. She is as comfortable there as in her downstairs play pen.
Hana will point to a frame, on the fireplace mantle, that has several of her earlier pictures and want me to bring it down, so she can see it while standing in the playpen. She has started to say “Hana”, when she wants to look at the pictures. Other words she uses more often now are: “I know”, “Okay” and “let’s go”-the last, for when she wants to go in the stroller. Of course, there are still “Mama”, “Dada”, “Dada Da” and “Umma” (for food).
HANA’S NOTE- I heard jingly sounds, coming from outside, when Papa came back from the store, this morning. He said it was Indian music and said something about a party. I wonder what Indian music is.
EXPANDING CIRCLES: Quebec- La Belle Province has been the springboard for my greater family of Boivins (Pronounced “Bwa-VAN”, in French-speaking areas, including much of the province.) Several forebears on my paternal grandfather’s side lived for a time in Montreal and Quebec City, before migrating to Massachusetts, in the late 19th Century. I first visited Quebec City, for Winter Carnival, in 1973, and went back two other times, I’ve visited Montreal seven times, three times since 2011.
The Turf: La Belle Province is only slightly smaller than Alaska. Southwestern Quebec is riparian lowland, interspersed with the Laurentian Mountains, on the north side of Montreal. Southeast Quebec, including the Gaspe Peninsula and Anticosti Island, is within the Appalachian Mountains. The central and northern parts of Quebec are within the Canadian Shield, with the Otish Mountains rising in central Quebec and the Tornegat Range in the northeast of the province. Northernmost Quebec is tundra. Quebec is drained by the St. Lawrence, Saguenay, Ottawa, Batiscan, Gatineau, Saint-Maurice, L’Assomption, Peribonka, Manicougan, Ste-Marguerite,Romaine, Natashquan, Sainte-Francois, moose, Nicolet, Becancour, Richilieu, Gentilly, Chaudiere, Etchemin, Loup, Trois-Pistoles, Rimouski,Restiogouche and Saint John Rivers, with thousands of tributaries and smaller rivers. The waters empty into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, James/Hudson Bay and Ungava Bay.
First Nations- Quebec is the ancestral home of the Abenaki, Algonquin(Anishinaabeg), Atikamekw, Cree, Malecite, Mi’kmaq, Innu, Naskapi, Wendat, Mohawk, and Inuit peoples. Quebec’s indigenous peoples have suffered the same outrages in government and religious boarding schools as First Nations elsewhere in North America. Only recently has a semblance of justice and official accountability for crimes against children and elders been realized. Today, the First Nations of southern and central Quebec have reserves set aside for their communities. The Cree, Naskapi and Inuit have larger areas set aside for their use, in central and northern Quebec.
Where I most feel at home- Quebec City, Riviere-Bleu, Montreal
Where I most feel at peace- Vieux-Quebec, Place des Artes and Uqam (Montreal).
NEXT: Ontario
