HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CANADA!

Today is Canada's 138th birthday and I am really missing being at home to celebrate with my fellow Canadians. Canada, and my particular slice of the West Coast, is so spectacular at this time of year that no matter how nice the days are here in Cambridge I find myself always saying "...but it's not the same as home..." in the back of my mind.

Last Canada Day Ray and I packed a picnic lunch and spent the day hiking around Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. It's funny to me that I can recall that day so clearly, and it certainly doesn't seem like 365 days ago. I remember the heat of the sun, the wind that caressed us as we sat out on a huge boulder with our picnic lunch, the small snakes that slithered all over the boulder and the gulls that called above. I remember meeting fellow Canadians on the beach and in the trails, sharing a greeting and a laugh. I remember, most clearly, how happy I was that we took the day out to appreciate what our great country has to offer.

Being overseas has given me the opportunity to learn about the strengths of another culture and to see my own from a distance. What I am learning and seeing makes me even more proud to be Canadian - I love how we are a friendly and welcoming nation, how we value fairness and equality, how we stand up for human rights issues, how we value our environment (I realize there are exceptions to all of the above statements, but I still feel these generalizations hold true). I love our food, our music, our languages, our history of immigration and multiculturalism. I am proud of how my ancestors worked to build my country and of the high opinion that people in other parts of the world hold of Canada. I love that we have bears, beavers, moose and even nasty geese (and maple syrup, and buttertarts, and poutine).

Happy birthday, my dear Canada. The maple leaf is flying high in my heart today.