The first time my husband and I drove around the Cabot Trail in the Highlands of Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia) might have been the last. At least, in my opinion at that inexperienced chapter in the story of my life. I hadn’t yet gotten used to long trips—a half-hour journey to Bangor from my…
If you could live anywhere in the world for the last chapter of your life, where would you choose? Our final destination on the trail of Rose Michaud is Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia’s true New Scotland. This last chapter in our five months of home assignment last summer tied up the loose ends of…
Chalets and châteaux, chapels, churches, and cathedrals line the road north from Québec City. Our path today on the trail of Rose Michaud takes us along the Beaupré Coast of the St. Lawrence River through towns and villages such as Chateau Richer and Ange-Gardien, where my great-great-(seven greats😊)-grandmother Marie lived with her father and stepmother…
The French, they say, are both artistic and practical. In my experience, that’s hyper true. Perhaps it’s why the country French—whether Provençal, Québécois, or Acadian—all have that simple, rustic beauty and je ne sais pas quoi charisma. Did your ancestors live in a cottage or a castle? A pioneer cabin or a princely manor? As…
After our explorations around Nova Scotia during the summer of 2024, The Search for Rose Michaud took a back seat while we made a cross-continental trip. We focused on family, friends, and supporters more than historical research over those weeks. But by September we were headed back toward Quebec in pursuit of poutine and other…
During high school, I received an underappreciated Christmas gift from my Downeaster grandparents—a book of poetry, essays, and illustrations featuring aspects of Maine history, legend, and culture. I don’t remember the book’s title or where it may have ended up along the road of life. But one thing I recall with clarity: Within its pages…
It was meant to be a short detour, really. Not a deep dive into military service and secret assets. My husband and I spent part of last summer camping in Nova Scotia’s delightful Annapolis Valley. On the trail of Rose Michaud, we set out one July morning, headed toward Port-Royal National Historic Site, a reconstructed…
The paternal side of my family hails from the historical Republic of Madawaska. They are—or were—Brayons with a culinary legacy of ployes. If you have no idea what any of those are, I’m about to share more about Maine Acadian heritage on the trail of my fictional character Rose Michaud. While St. Martin Parish, Louisiana,…
During our recent furlough from Chile, my husband and I visited our firstborn daughter and her family at a wildlife refuge in the high desert of northern Nevada. In kind of a full circle way, her maternal grandfather spent part of his early childhood, nearly a century ago, in southern Nevada—in a wild life that…
Time out of mind, a summer trip to Acadia National Park and its gateway town, Bar Harbor, marks an annual odyssey for a native Mainer. It’s practically a rite of passage, begun in one’s teen years. Today let’s take a journey back on the tides of time to that world before A/C, 9ll, and ATMs….
A few months ago, I shared that we traveled from Coquimbo, Chile, to Canada and the US on a short furlough. Now—six months, 34,000 km, 44 different beds, and countless letters, emails, and text messages later—we have finally arrived home. Or did we leave home to return here? Although I often feel ambivalent about the…