Canada Day

[farmers_son]

Hope everyone takes a little time today to participate in Canada Day celebrations in their community and to reflect on just what a great nation we live in.

Canada Day for our family always sees us participating in at least one parade, sometimes two. Many years the pavement can be cooking hot for a parade on July 1 but the forecast is pretty good today. Canada Day is usually a day I can spend with the family as it comes between spraying and haying or is like today, too wet to work in the fields.

Last year I seemed to notice a lot more Canadian flags, hope to see even more this year. Many if not most communities now have fireworks displays on Canada Day which is good for nation building and creating pride in our country. We do live in an amazing country and have every reason to celebrate that fact.

If any like to read a book on a summer day why not try Canadian History for Dummies by Will Ferguson this Canada Day.

[grassfarmer]

As I drove up and back to the Peace region over the past couple of days I notices many small communities preparing for their Canada Day festivities. Flags lining the street in the little hamlet of Blue Ridge, tents set up for entertainment in Fox Creek etc. And, like farmers-son I notice more flags flying at farm gates, on flag poles in parking lots at businesses etc., across the province. We do have a wonderful province and country, and should make an effort to celebrate it.

[cakadu]

We are truly blessed to live where we do. It may not be perfect but we do pretty well. We don't go to bed at night wondering if tomorrow there will be some sort of bombing, sniper or other attack, we have pretty good health care, for the most part we are well fed and don't spend our entire day working for the one meal we will eat that day, diseases are not really a problem, we have fairly decent roofs over our heads and if you ignore the being in power at any price antics of our politicians we live in one of the best places in the world.

The fireworks displays should be something else tonight. I was at a conference a couple of weeks ago where one of the fellows working on the Alberta Centennial said that there are a good number of communities that will be participating in fireworks displays at exactly the same time tonight. If all goes well i.e. clear skies - they hope that NASA will be able to take a picture of all the fireworks going off. That would be something to see.

[cakadu]

And each community across the province takes pride in whatever form their celebration takes. For some its an old fashioned family picnic with fireworks and for others like Ponoka its their annual Stampede.
I really think that events such as Canada day bring out community pride and that is such an important thing, and an valuable legacy for the younger folks to carry forward.

[cowman]

Celebrated my "Canada Day" by spraying a few oil leases. Not really into celebrating 100 years of being exploited by the eastern establishment!
Probably made enough money to send some dollars, through taxes, to pay for a few of the fireworks they pissed away!
Got to catch the drivel and propoganda on CBC in the evening, but couldn't stomach watching it all! When this one woman started to babble about all the brave men who fought to keep our country free and how proud they would be...well that was enough for me!
I can just imagine what the old man would have thought of that! He spend the majority of his life a cripple and he lost a brother in Italy...so he could see what a wonderful country this has become? So he could see things like gun control, gay marriage, outright corruption and theft by politicians, the destruction of western agriculture by inept policy...I don't think so!

[silverback]

Well said Cowman. I did not have much pride last night watching the fireworks. The last year has been anything but a good one for making me feel good about this country.

[farmers_son]

Canada is a pretty neat place. There is more to this country than domestic politics. There is a proud history, of which your father and uncle were part. I think it means something to be from Canada, to be part of Canada. When you travel being Canadian is a good thing. We take being Canadian for granted at home but get away from home and it means something. It means something to be from the U.S. too and that is why Americans either try and hide their nationality or else pretend to be Canadian.

[silverback]

That is true, Canada is a great place compared to many others.

At any point in time we are lucky to live here.

However, if I try and look at the long term trend of the way things are going, I get very sad. I do not see that many people are concerned that a lot of our rights and freedoms have been quietly taken away.

This country was at it's finest at the end of World War 1 & 2. Those men that made this country great by dying across the ocean for our freedom are sorely missed in the present situation. The mission they accomplished has been wasted.

[silverback]

It is true that many gave their lives for our freedom but things weren't rosy back in the 40's either. Life expectency wasn't near what it is today, getting a high school education was a feat accomplished by few in those post war days. Farm kids were at a real disadvantage, having to go a long way from home to attend college and it was usually agricultural college where there wasn't much choice in what courses were available other than those relating to the agricultural industry.

I am not old enough to remember those days but I do remember my parents talking about travelling 60 miles to a hospital.

In those days people died from heart attacks and a diagnoses of cancer was regarded as a death sentence.

Yes, things were better in some ways but I still think that we have many advantages today. Politics is a mess but as farmers_son has mentioned, it is only one part of the equation.

[grassfarmer]

Silverback, the comments you make about life in modern Canada could be made in most other countries too. It seems to be the way society in general is evolving with regard to individuals rights etc. I love Canada - well specifically I love the part I know - Alberta. I don't have much interest in Central Canada so maybe i'll turn into a western seperatist like Cowman someday. Seriously, it's a great country you have here.
I just wish you would lose the damn hockey and get on with a real sport like football (soccer). It's obvious by the level of participation of kids at school that it's the game they all want to play....

[grassfarmer]

hell, grassfarmer, enough of those namby pamby sports....this is Alberta, get into RODEO !!!! BULL RIDIN', Chuckwagon driving !!! Then you could go down the road with those damn cowboys in the big pickups hauling the big stock trailers and wasting all that fuel !!!

[grassfarmer]

By the way grassfarmer, I agree with you with respect to not really being interested in what goes on in Central Canada, but the fact of the matter is that what goes on there is how our country is governed.

[grassfarmer]

Emrald1, Had enough of cow on human action at home this year without taking up rodeo!

[grassfarmer]

Oh well this irish gal has her share of rodeo action at home with the critters as well ! Can still clear fences ahead of the snotty ones though, touch wood !!
I know cowman would say they should be on the truck headed to town if they are nasty, but even the tame ones can have a bad day !!!

[cowman]

grassfarmer: Nice to know you have a sense of humor...here I was beginning to suspect you were just a dour Scotsman!
Emerald: I know you are going to eat me on this one...but quite frankly the Limousin breed isn't exactly known for its quiet pastoral nature? I mean those babies could kick a mule to death and never think twice...I'm sure you will educate me on my obvious misconception?