Thursday, July 5, 2018

Memory of A Canadian Fourth #BlogBoost

Ten years ago yesterday...

For many, many years I took the American Independence Day for granted.  I shouldn't have - I grew up (in the 50's and early 60's) in a neighborhood where a lot of Holocaust survivors had settled, and I met other immigrants in my childhood- from Cuba, from Romania, from China.

But I had never spent an Independence Day away from the United States until 2008, when my spouse and I traveled to Canada, on our way to Saint John, New Brunswick.

We had always wanted to see the Bay of Fundy, and that was the week my spouse was able to get off .So, on July 4th, 2008, we arrived at the U.S./Canada border.

At the crossing, a Canadian border agent questioned our motives for visiting Canada and looked at us funny - like he knew we were about to commit some kind of crime.  Why, after all, would two Americans want to leave their country on July 4, this most important day in our history?

We were finally allowed in, and quickly realized we were in a place where July 4 was simply the day between July 3 and July 5.  No big deal.  And, we realized, there would be no fireworks.  No parades.  No nothing.  Crickets.

Well, we had asked for it, leaving the United States.  It did feel a bit lonely, I admit.

I love fireworks.  I love 4th of July fireworks even better.  What had I been thinking? But, so be it.

After a long drive, we arrived at our lodgings in downtown Saint John, New Brunswick. We wandered down to the waterfront, hungry.  After deciding on a restaurant, we sat at an outdoor table and put our order in.   But then, we overheard the people at the next table, excited about the fireworks Saint John was going to have that night.

July 4 fireworks in Canada?  We asked the people at the table where the fireworks would be.  They were just a short distance away, in easy walking distance.  Perfect!

It turned out that we had arrived on the first decent day in July.  The Canada Day fireworks had been delayed by rain on July 1.  And on July 2.  And on July 3.

On July 4, the weather finally cleared up.

So, that evening, my spouse and I stood in a patriotic crowd of Canadians celebrating their birthday, three days late, with fireworks.  Somehow, I felt right at home.

I'm so glad they held their fireworks up just so we could join them on July 4.  Who says Canadians aren't some of the friendliest people in the world?

Here are some 5th of July flowers for you, my dear readers.

Red

White

and (almost) blue.

Day five of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

16 comments:

  1. Enjoyed your recollection of a Canada Day celebration. Love it when all the stars line up.

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    1. Well, it was not at all what I was expecting, and that was the fun part.

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  2. How lovely! What a fun story - I hope to see the Bay of Fundy someday, too!

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    1. I enjoyed the trip. Some parts were disappointments (the Reversing Falls) but I loved the Hopewell Rocks and Saint John's City Market.

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  3. So, so glad we could accommodate you, Alana! :)

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    1. Thank you, again (I haven't been to Canada since then, which is a shame!)

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  4. You failed to desceibe the b\Bay of Fundy experience. at least frommy perspective, it'sway more hype than experience. And I advisefolks to pass along this snake oil concept

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    1. Okay, I'm intrigued. There really were massive tides (when the fog parted long enough to see it). We saw them firsthand at the Hopewell Rocks, and in a small town called Alma. I would love to read your take on it.

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    2. We waited ALL day for this "event". And, by the time the tides "whooshed" in, the rise in water was akin to a toilet flush.What a waste of time.

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  5. How special was that to celebrate both Canada Day and United States Independence Day with one fireworks display! Love your flowers!

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    1. Thank you, Martha. Only the red ones (geraniums) were my flowers. The purple/blue flowers were from downtown Binghamton New York.

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  6. I spent the day in Canada not knowing it was going to be Canada Day. It was wonderful! We had so much fun.

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  7. That sounds like a fun trip to Canada. How cool that their delayed fireworks happened to land on our July 4th and you just happened to be there!
    Beautiful flowers too...

    Michele at Angels Bark

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  8. Lovely flowers and a wonderful story Alana - so glad you got your patriotic fireworks. There'd have been crickets in Australia on the 4th too btw.

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