2012.06.30 What Do You Do On Canada Day?
It seemed like a funny question, especially after the wife having known me for a decade. What does one do to express pride and affection for one's nation on the day commemorating its creation?
Explosives! Especially poorly-constructed ones in the hands of morons who have also been drinking all day. Because accidental digit loss and property damage is so damn patriotic.
Well, not so much - not out in the wilds of my youth. Usually, during Canada Day, we would have been ensconced up in Valhalla Provincial Park. There would have been beers aplenty, and probably frisbee and waterskiing and motorbiking, and something burned on a grill. The only times I saw fireworks when I was little was when relatives from Vancouver came up for a visit.
Later, when I was at university, I saw fireworks every Canada Day in the Inner Harbour of Victoria, after listening to an orchestra playing. I especially liked it when they played the 1812 Overture, and used actual cannons.
Patriotic days aside, the best fireworks I ever saw were in Vancouver - the Symphony of Fire competition. Everything I've seen since then have seem both silly and dangerously amateurish.
Which brings me to how I've spent most Canada Days for the last decade. I spend the day feeling proud and overflowing with affection for Canada, and find opportunities to confuse people by wishing them a Happy Canada Day.