It may have taken us over 140 years but I truly believe we're finally getting the hang of this celebrating stuff on July 1.
It used to be called Dominion Day, now it's Canada Day. It's not the birthday of some dead British monarch, it's our day.
I honestly believed for decades we intentionally downplayed our July 1 celebrations because we have been intimidated by those outlandish and garish displays of patriotism personified by our U.S. cousins on July 4, which is their birthday party.
They blow up their neighbourhoods with huge fireworks displays all over the place. We ban them. That's just the way we are ... or were.
They play John Philip Sousa marching songs, display the American flag, drink beer, have hot dog eating contests and everyone who is anyone shows up in bright costumes and joins the parade.
Us? Well, for the longest time we played some Joni Mitchell records, whispered "Happy Canada Day," in the ear of our loved ones as we awoke to what we knew was supposed to be a holiday, but really didn't feel like one ... sort of a poor man's St. Patrick's Day. We maybe knew someone who built a cake with a maple leaf flag on the icing. We split a beer, the kids might eat hot dogs, but only two in case they might get sick later and don't forget the sunscreen even if it is raining. One town in each sub-region was assigned the task of organizing a parade featuring a local politician riding a horse or in the back seat of the only convertible in town. Someone would inevitably smuggle four firecrackers across the border, to be lit at dusk at the local fairgrounds after the softball tournament and then we went home.
In three days we'd turn on our television and watch the Americans celebrate their birthday and be sort of jealous, but not really because they really do overdo it a bit, don't ya think? At least that's what we would say and we'd be partially right.
We felt we should have had the bravado and the moxie and the fireworks too, but then, well jeepers, we just weren't built for that kind of ostentatious showoff stuff. We were the people who stood well back of the guy using the ATM machine, so as not to offend. We followed the rules and if the rules said no fireworks unless you followed the 3,212 civic ordinances, purchased a $2 million insurance policy and hired a fireworks setting-off expert, we just didn't do it. Of course those kids who didn't know any better set off the four smuggled firecrackers, but that hardly compared with the lightning show in Washington that depicts George Washington crossing the Potomic River with Brad Pitt at the helm and rockets' red glaring all over the bridges. They spit red rockets. We stand on guard. They burst bombs in the air, we stand on guard. They proved through the night that their flag was still there. We took 100 years to get a flag of our own, until then we borrowed one and only the Legion and post offices flew them.
But we know how to do this Canada Day thing now. Maybe we're not as bold and beautiful as our American friends, but then we probably don't want to be. We're comfortable in our own birthday suits so-to-speak. A little bit toned down, but still proud. We have more flags to drape ourselves in. We have more fun on Canada Day, we get out and about and fill the day with events like parades and while it still appears to be significantly subdued compared with the U.S., that's just fine. After all, we're only one-tenth their size.
So a belated Happy Birthday to Canada and yes, a belated Happy Birthday to our American neighbours and friends. I'm just happy we both get out there and mark the day the best way we know how and so what if we get sick on the hot dogs and cotton candy, it's fun and Lord knows, we need some of that these days to help us forget, even for a few hours, all this flooding business.
