Guess Who is 143 Years Old Tomorrow!

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Canada Day

Canadian Flag

Happy Birthday Canada!   143 years and we don’t look a day over 125. We may be a little worse for the wear in some parts of the country, there is a recession after all, and the diplomats of the G20 just left Toronto, but who said we can all age gracefully?

I came to this country when I was barely ten years old; I had a Scottish granny who told me regularly that as much as she loved and missed her homeland this was her country now and she was proud to be a Canadian.  One of her first acts of patriotism was to take out her Canadian Citizenship.  Flag waving nationalism was not for her, sure she had a picture or two of the old country hanging in her home but for her we lucky ones chose to live in this big, wild country and she was damn proud of it.  She had no truck for people who lamented the ‘old country’ and who waved the (non) Canadian flag.  We live here, we take advantage of the clean air, the health care system and all that Canada has to offer us and as far as she was concerned Canada was her home.

I could not agree with her more.  I have travelled to other countries and am blessed to call this land my home.  Freedom of speech (well….we will see what come out of the G20 inquiry), clean air (for the most part) and once upon a time a great health care system (no one is perfect).  Still, when I look around the world, this young country is one I am proud to call home, and I am proud to say I have raised two lovely Canadians.  Canada is part of them it is in their bones and inseparable from their own identity.  No matter how far afield they travel – home is where the heart is and their heart and mine is here in Canada.

Sure our winters are harsh and summers steamy but we have come a long way since the days those early days of colonial kowtowing.  This land may not belong to us but it is part of us and I see that in the two Canadians I raised.   I love you Canada and am happy to call you home.  I love to visit my place of birth in England and my father’s homeland in India but coming home to Canada is always welcome at the end of a trip- the name just rolls of the tongue doesn’t it?

Happy Birthday to our young nation….143 years and still growing strong.

Why I Envy my Dog, Part 1

Sleeping Ringo

Dogs can do so many nifty things that us humans can’t do.  One of my favorite things that dogs can do that I can’t do is the whole body shake when they are wet.  I love that.  I have practiced for years to no avail.  If you can do it please send You Tube links.  I also think it is really cool that they have set up this whole human/canine relationship so that us humans pick up their poop, feed them and  in some cases let them sleep with us and I have yet to meet a dog that can make a cup of tea.

The number one reason why I envy my dog is his ability to sleep at the drop of a pin.  The ability to be wide awake one second and fast asleep the next second makes me so jealous.  Seriously jealous.  In fact through thick and thin my faithful companion sticks by my side, that is until I have a sleepless night.  He gets so irritated by lights on and off and me up and down until dawn that he inevitably abandons ship so to speak for for more comfortable quarters on the couch (I am talking about the dog here folks).

Sleep deprivation kills!  Okay, maybe not, but it makes me seriously cranky.  Cranky in the same way that I get when someone follows me too close on the subway or in a store. Or when someone steps on my foot really hard and pretends not to notice.  Sleep deprivation also causes concerned emails from people that love me.  Okay its actually one person; my son, asking me to stop emailing him at 3 am.