It was one of my favorite days of the year recently – Canada Day on July 1. This is the day on which Canadians celebrate the forming of their country by the Constitution Act back in 1867. Up until that point, Canada was split into three separate colonies ruled by the British Empire. Perhaps that is why Canada Day is celebrated with so much enthusiasm here in London, given our ties with the old mother country across the pond.
Canada Day has always been one of my favorite times of the year, all the way back to when I was a kid. I still feel a little bit like a child even now, and I and the family spent most of the day in Harris Park where there were lots of celebrations and festivities taking place. I guess I’m a bit of a traditionalist at heart and so I love to see the celebrations in my home city; what’s more, they even seem to be getting bigger and better each year.
My youngest, Raymond, has the real thing for airplanes at the moment so he loved the aerobatic display flying over the park in the afternoon. Sarah, meanwhile, wanted to know why they were women walking around in maple leaf bikinis – I had to tell her it was because it was a warm day and the girls had no other clean laundry! Come to think of it, I think Wendy may have got some ideas from seeing those girls and I’m sure I saw her looking at http://breastaugmentationcostz.com/ the very next day!
Harris Park was a great location for all of the events and activities taking place. There was a carnival atmosphere in the park with plenty of food stalls, parades, and kids’ activities taking place. Of course, there was also the main parade taking place through the streets of the city center which we caught a little bit off as well.
Even though the kids were getting worn out, we stayed quite late into the day and saw the firework display in the evening. This certainly woke the children up and they loved seeing the explosions and colors in the sky. Speaking of colors, the kids got their faces painted with the Canadian flag, and to be honest, I was even a little bit tempted to do the same in order to relive my youth. However, I thought I would spare my kids the embarrassment and decided against it.
Just a few days later on July 4 our American friends in the south celebrated their own Independence Day. I think they take it a little bit more seriously than we do, as ironically the celebrations seem to last for days on end, rather than just the one day it actually should be. Anyway, I guess that’s up to them, and if they enjoy it, what’s the harm? I’ve sometimes thought about visiting America for the celebrations, but I’m always too worn out after our own great times on Canada Day.