Canada Day

Today was Canada Day.  Happy Day to all my Canadian friends and family!  Right now, they're likely watching the last bursts of Canada Day fireworks shot over Lake Ontario or Lake Huron or the Bay of Quinte at the mouth of the Trent River.  Perhaps they attended a community gathering at Centennial Park in Trenton as I always did as a kid, or a similar park in Mississauga or Kincardine or Cobourg.

I have now spent almost exactly half my life in the U.S. after spending the first half in Canada. To this date I'm still a Canadian citizen and proud of that heritage. I still get excited for any international recognition or success Canada enjoys, even as I also cheer on my adopted country (for instance, U.S. beating Spain in soccer recently was a big thrill!).  When Canada and the U.S. face off, I root for the Canadians every time. It really only pays off in hockey and curling.

There are many other Canadians here in the U.S. who also remain proud of their heritage.  Some shared their favorites in a column today in the New York Times.  Thanks to Nick for sharing with me! Some of the sentiments shared in the column made me literally laugh out loud and nod in agreement.  For instance, Coffee Crisp IS the best candy bar in the world!  Even my lovely wife, an American through and through, would agree with that.  At least, it's often been one of the first things we buy when going to a convenience store in Canada.

Hockey highlights SHOULD lead all sportscasts.  I, too, often note that many of the comedians who make it big in Hollywood are, in fact, Canadians.  And, before coming to the states for my B.A. at Calvin College, I earned a diploma in journalism from Loyalist College. My childhood home, in fact, was located on the Loyalist parkway -- named for those Americans who remained loyal to the crown and eventually relocated to Canada.  I do remember, as Malcolm Gladwell (The New York Times, The Tipping Point) does, learning about the war between America and England from a different perspective.  STOP!  This isn't a commentary on the American Revolution and who was right or wrong in that conflict. (It is interesting, however, that less than a hundred years later Canada obtained self-governance without a shot being fired. That said, "The Patriot" is one of my favorite movies.)

I don't miss the snow.  But that's only because I live in Michigan and we get just as much snow here as I ever did growing up on the north shore of Lake Ontario.  In fact, we often get more. I'd be fine living without snow for awhile to see how much I'd miss it. 

I've gotten used to spelling color and honor without the "u." But if I ever find myself missing the extra vowel, I just need to go to www.artistry.com and check out our colour cosmetics. That is so not AP Style.

I didn't grow up, as Kim Cattrall did, in Vancouver, so I never camped inside a circle of logs washed up on the beach.  I did, however, watch every episode of the CBC series "The Beachcombers" about Nick Adonidas, who earned a living recovering stray logs.  And I was kind of a beachcomber myself on the shores of the Bay of Quinte, collecting stuff that washed up on shore in my fort. One time a rowboat washed ashore and I was able to play with that for a few weeks.

Tomorrow I'm driving to Canada to see my dad and most of my family and some of my cousins. I will have missed the fireworks, but I will still enjoy most of the holiday weekend there. I will stop and get a Coffee Crisp.  I will stop and get a Tim Horton's coffee.  I might even get some Dill Pickle chips, although those have become available here in the U.S. in recent years. And I will flash my Canadian passport at the border (along with my U.S. Resident Alien card).  

Happy Birthday Canada.  I'm coming home!