Canada Day

Canada Day brings back my first memory of being a landed Canadian. On the eve of my sixth birthday, my parents and I landed in Halifax, and I set my little foot on Canadian soil.

The houses were perched on a hill, and painted in red, yellow and blue. They looked like doll houses hanging on to the edge of the cliff and from that moment I knew that this adventure was bound to be fun.

So many decades later and that image never ceases to hold firm each time I hear O Canada sung. I am a little girl, standing on the deck of a ship which has taken 19 days to cross an ocean. Whether I am standing at a Flames game, in a crowded school gymnasium, or in an airport, the Canadian flag and hearing O Canada can make me cry.

I am thankful. I am fortunate, I am blessed, and the adventure continues.

Just want to wear my new Orange shoes

We Canadians, come from hardy stock. We have a sense of humour about our Winter weather and can scoff at others shivering when the temperature dips to what we consider balmy. In my hometown, it is not uncommon to see folks in shorts in November or January when we have been given the gift of 5 degrees Celsius (that’s about 41 Fahrenheit). We are indeed a brave lot.

But this winter, has just about done us in. It is April 1, and we still have snow. In some places, piles of it. Parking lots with mini mountains pushed to the sides.

Even the nicest people I know are mumbling and grumbling “When is Spring going to arrive?” We are tired of pulling on boots and scarves and want to switch out our winter tires.  We are fed up of hot chocolate and lattes and want a nice cold beer.

Many of us have already done our Spring cleaning in anticipation of the warmer weather arriving. We have bought our warm weather wardrobes and we have signed our children up for baseball and soccer. Some of us, have even bought new running shoes. We are prepared to head outdoors at the first sign of Spring.

When you have been waiting for a long anticipated change, what steps have you taken to prepare yourself? And when the event does finally arrive, how do you celebrate?

Oh Canada!

Hearing the national anthem on Canada Day still stirs up one of my oldest memories.

I arrived into this wonderful land as a small child on a large boat. The first memory of my new country was pulling into the Halifax harbour, seeing the little colourful homes teetering on a hill. Like doll-sized homes, in yellow, pink, green and blue, cute enough to want to reach out and touch. Did real people live in there?

I have only vague recollections of what was involved in a move that would take my parents around the world to a new country, leaving behind everything they had known.


My 19 day voyage is only a blur. I was in the fold of adults, and had a play-mate on board (all that really matters when you're five years old), she was the daughter of the captain. I do remember seeing a ship pass somewhere in the ocean, lit up like fairyland and arrived in Canada on my birthday.

Hearing the anthem yesterday, on Canada Day, or almost every time actually, can bring me to the brink of tears. I have been known to discreetly wipe my eyes at a school function and even at a hockey game, much to the chagrin of my children. How different my life would have been had I not been in Canada.

Canada has been incredibly good to me. It has brought many delightful, surprises with its beauty from coast to coast, and a land so filled with cheerful, warm-hearted people (in spite of some of our frigid temperatures). It is a land that has offered countless others every opportunity to embrace a healthy, learning and safe environment.

So yes, I did shed a tear yesterday and felt just like I did when I saw those little houses perched high up on a hill.