Jana STERBAK

During the COVID epidemic I was lucky to escape to a log cabin outside Le Bic, a small village in the picturesque region on the Saint Lawrence estuary where the river becomes indistinguishable from the Atlantic. In the two months of our isolation we witnessed the dramatic passage of three seasons: from the violent snowstorms over the river up to the first heat wave of summer just a few days before the end of our stay. The region is appreciated for its natural park composed of many small mountainous islands, but it is best known to most Quebecois for its local delicacy, the snow crab. Its arrival in the first weeks of April is an established occasion for local feasts and celebrations. It marks the official declaration of spring for many city dwellers in Quebec.

The Father Point lighthouse, built in 1902, is the second tallest in Canada. This remarkable structure has been popularized as a subject of 1929 painting by one of the Group of Seven artists, Lawren Harris.

The Father Point (Pointe au Père) owes its name to the Jesuit Father Henri Nouvel, who canoed over from the North Shore in the company of Amerindian moose hunters. Father Nouvel marked the occasion by celebrating the first Catholic mass in the region on December 8, 1663.