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Friday 1 July 2016

O Canada ... You Are An Awesome Place To Live

Howdy!

July 1 is a big holiday in Canada. It's Canada Day, the day we celebrate the birthday of our country, and this year Canada is 149 years old. Next year is probably going to involve a lot more celebrating than usual, because it'll be the 150th. Nevertheless, we will still celebrate tomorrow no matter what the number is.

Some of us will celebrate by watching a small-town parade, some will get to watch fireworks, some will go to the beach, some will eat strawberry shortcake and some will just sit and veg out because they've been working hard for the past four months and they're TIRED. Ahem.

We might do the shortcake thing, too. If I'm not too tired to make the shortcake, hull, wash and mash the strawberries, and whip the cream. Strange ... when it comes to strawberry shortcake, I feel a little more energetic.

Thank you Pixabay for this incredibly delicious picture. My energy levels just went up another notch. This looks pretty much like the ones I make, except I put only one dollop of whipped cream on it. That might have to change after seeing this.

Anyway, for the most part we are extremely fortunate here in our big beautiful country. We are so lucky that we very often forget how lucky we are and start arguing over things like changing the words in our national anthem from “all thy sons command” to “all of us command.” Yes, we are extraordinarily lucky that this is one of the biggest things we can find to fight about.

And by "we" I mean our politicians, mostly.

Anyway, for those of you who can't - or don't want to - play the next two videos, you can skip right to the bottom photo now.

The first video is of our Canadian flag, also called the Maple Leaf, because ... it's a maple leaf. I happen to like our flag a lot. It's bright and cheerful and while it's terribly hard to draw the maple leaf in school when you are eight years old (oh, my kingdom for a scanner so I could show you!), it's a pretty cool flag. And I must say, the wind was cooperating really well the day I filmed this:


And here is another kind of maple leaf with several of its friends, waving in the wind:




Friendly little things, eh? (And while we do not say "oot and aboot", a good lot of us do say "eh".)

Finally, here is a still-life version of the Maple Leaf, taken before the leaves came out. The wind was behaving well that day also. It almost looks like an invisible thread is holding the flag out at the corner, doesn't it?

For this one, you will have to use your imagination to get waved at. I think you all have pretty sturdy imaginations, so that shouldn't be a problem.


If you'd like, leave a comment telling me about your country's special day and/or flag, and a typical activity you do, or a treat you have, to celebrate.

Have a good weekend, everyone.



20 comments:

Joanne Noragon said...

I think Canada is pretty special, too. I have good friends there.

Chicken said...

Happy Canada Day-I like your flag, too. Canada day sounds pretty much like Independence Day here. I'll be thinking about strawberry shortcake all day now, which is an improvement on spiders.

jenny_o said...

I am not a flag-waving patriotic person but I realized after writing this how much I do love this country. And, good friends are found anywhere, yes?

jenny_o said...

Yep, you'll be doing this on Monday! Whether "this" is good food or vegging out. Do you have some unwanted eight-legged guests? ...

dinthebeast said...

Canada rocks. Some of my favorite music comes from Canada. Strawberry short cake? My friend Sara made us some when we were visiting her in Truckee, and as she served it she asked me "Whipped cream or Cool Whip?" to which I replied "Yes."
Independence Day in Oakland (along with New Years Eve and various Asian holidays) is a big excuse to set off a bunch of (illegal) fireworks, brought here on the down low by members of our vibrant Chinese and Taiwanese communities. People sort of compete with one another for the most spectacular display, with onlookers registering their approval, and it sort of sounds like a war with cheerleaders...

-Doug in Oakland

jenny_o said...

I absolutely love fireworks but am not keen on the crowds that - unsurprisingly - accompany them. I like the thought of onlookers giving audible rankings :)

(And "yes" is always a good answer when faced with two good choices!)

Elephant's Child said...

Happy Canada Day.
Your flag is a pretty one - and readily identifiable which many are not.
Ours causes grief as well as pride. Our indigenous population are not recognised or acknowledged on it - just our British heritage. At intervals there are strong pushes to change it. The change will happen I believe, but very, very slowly.
Australia Day (also known as Invasion Day) is largely spent on barbecue fun in the sun. And the politicians crowd in on the act to remind us how amazing we are.
I do sound cynical. I am a bit... But am well aware of how lucky we are. There are much bigger issues pressing on many people in many countries. I too adore fireworks, but the crowds and the noise are less welcome.

jenny_o said...

Your comment sent me to find more about Australia Day and the controversies on the date and the flag. It is sad that indigenous peoples around the world have been ignored and abused, even to the present day. Canada is as guilty as any. Progress is slow in so many areas of equality that should be a foregone conclusion. Thanks for your thoughtful comment, EC.

dinthebeast said...

And so... Does that make the Canadian flag the Maple Leaf Rag?

*slinks off and hides behind a Scott Joplin record*

=Doug in Oakland

jenny_o said...

Excellent word play - I'd have to say yes :)

Mr. Shife said...

A happy belated Canada Day to you. Oh Canada, you don't look a day over 140. Hope the strawberry shortcake was as amazing at the picture. Our big day in the US is the day after tomorrow. Probably just do a BBQ, hang out with friends, shoot off some fireworks with the kiddos and wish I don't have to go back to work on Tuesday.=)

Betsy MacWhinney said...

Sometimes I just want to be able to click like. I want to acknowledge I've read, enjoyed, appreciated, but I don't have anything clever or noteworthy to say. That's what's happening right now! I'd like to eat some strawberry shortcake too. Click like, eat cake. :-) Happy Canada Day.

jenny_o said...

Sounds like a good holiday, Mr. S. Just forget about Tuesday until Tuesday comes, though, eh?

jenny_o said...

This is not FB, Betsy!! We use emoticons here when we don't want to leave comments!! This is an emoticon-friendly blog!! :) :o) :p

Thank you for reading and I hope you get cake on Monday.

Geo. said...

I like Canada. Always have. My favorite detective show is "Murdoch Mysteries" --tales of the Toronto Constabulary. I've traveled in Canada and felt a sort of benevolent freedom from worry --of course we had conscription when I did so, but still, I can't imagine it's changed. By golly, I declare Canada is the best northern neighbor this country's ever had, and I definitely celebrate a country with you in it.

jenny_o said...

Er, well, it's probably changed a bit from the late 60's, early 70's (assuming that's when you were travelling here?) but I do appreciate your kind words. And I'm surprised anyone south of the border even knows about Murdoch Mysteries! Maybe we are not as invisible as I like to think :)

LL Cool Joe said...

I've only been to Canada once but it was very beautiful. I hope you had a great day. Here in the UK we are meant to be celebrating our own Independence day, as we left Europe, but I won't be celebrating it, as I'm sad we left.

jenny_o said...

Welcome, Cool Joe. That was an extremely close vote in the UK and will make it hard to move forward, which is sad too. Thank you for coming by.

Lovenicky said...

A shoutout to my fellow Canadian! It was pouring rain on Canada Day in our area. But we made the most of it by having yummy ribs indoors!

jenny_o said...

That sounds excellent!