Québec in pictures

Here is a sampling of the photos I took while in Québec. Many of the first pictures are from the Chants de Vielles festival, a three-day gathering that celebrated old-time music and storytelling. It then segues into Québec City images. On the bottom, there is a mix of extra thumbnail pictures. All of these photos [...]

Watch me

(PORTLAND, Maine) — Thank you, Sam Roberts.

That’s the most honest lead sentence I can conjure, and I don’t believe, even with time to reflect, that I will come up with one much better. I’m currently in quaint, seaside Portland, Maine, and I saw the Sam Roberts Band live at the Port City Music Hall soon [...]

Québec, je t’aime

(VERCHERES, Québec) — I like today’s morning chilliness and blowing rain along the small-town banks of the St. Lawrence River. On an unrelated note, I’m scared.

My amazing host, Françoise, watching ships as they power by her home on the St. Lawrence River.

I’m actually surprised how long it took to get here, to the frightened [...]

Lawn gnomes, country-style

(LA PECHE, Québec) —In the movie Six Degrees of Separation, Stockard Channing’s fed-up character proclaims that she doesn’t want to turn her life into anecdotes anymore. She wants to hold on to her experiences and protect them from punch lines. The longer I’m on this trip, the more I feel the same. But sometimes I [...]

That’s one big city you got there

CARP, Ont. — The fact that sometimes things actually do change for good fills me with hope.

My most recent example is the difference between my first and second trip to Toronto. During my introduction, nearly a month ago, it scared me. It was a surreal scene to begin with, as I was one of many [...]