HAPPY CANADA DAY

      I have never gone out and attended a Canada Day celebration. Yes, I know I'm bad. I have attended the fireworks in the evening. I would take my family to a good vantage point and watch fireworks. It was fun when the kids were little.

     So, today I was doing my regular grocery shopping. Yes, that's me . Grocery shopping on Canada Day.   

     I met an Asian woman with three little kids doing her shopping. 

      She had a three year old who was bouncing with great abandon. That kid had energy. 

    I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the seven year old had a tiny Canadian flag and he was holding it up. I realized that he was saying Happy Canada Day. I wished him Happy Canada Day and I got the politest  "Thankyou" I've ever received. 

     The five year old girl had a pink birthday hat on. I asked her if it was her birthday and she said it was. I wished her happy birthday and also received a very sincere thankyou.

     This really made my Canada Day. 

    It was better than fire works. 

REFLECTIONS ON FATHER'S DAY

     On Father's day I found that a number of bloggers wrote very elegant tributes to their Dad's.  Some tributes were written about Dads who've been gone a long time. Some posts were written about or, to Dads who where were still living. In other cases , wives took the opportunity to write some very good things about a husband and what a good Dad he is. I enjoyed all these posts.

    However, I look at my own experience with Father's day and there has not been a very significant celebration.

   As children , I cannot remember any experience with Father's day at home. I remember making some sort of card at school. Father's day was just not a big issue. My Dad's family were German pioneers and I don't think they had such a thing as Father's day. My mother came from an English family and I don't think they celebrated and any special days. 

    So when did Father's day begin. That's maybe why my folks did little for Father's day.

    It's thought that Father's Day may have come from Pagan customs. In modern times Father's day was started in the U.S. about 1910. So it was probably quite some time before Father's day caught on in Canada.

    In my own family I don't remember anything special on father's day. So both my kids sent me greetings for Father's day. My daughter in law sent me a greeting and a neighbor sent me greetings. I am happy.

    What are your Father's day celebrations like?

National Sour Candy Day

    Can you believe it? Today is national sour candy day! Yes there must be national days for almost anything.

    A little bit is explained about sour candy. We are told how it's made and why it's enjoyable.

   We are also told how to enjoy national sour candy day. Yes, go out and buy some sour candy and eat it!

   Now at one time I liked candy as well as the next guy. Today I rarely eat any candy. I may eat the odd mint. I can even pass up on chocolates.

   Now when it comes to sour candy, I've never liked it so national sour candy day is a nonstarter with me.

   July 18 is also claimed by a few other ideas. (1) national caviar day, (2) national get out of the doghouse day, (3) National Hamilton day. I could pass on these three and not bother with any celebrations. Yes they tell you how to celebrate these days too.

    So once in awhile I check to see what national day it is. It's usually like July 18 where some   pretty dull things are celebrated.

    How about you? Do you make a habit of celebrating some of these odd

ball days?

The New Year's Eve that Changed My Life

      In my family the New Year's tradition was fairly standard. There was no celebration of New Year's Eve. On New Year's day there was a traditional family day. Mom's cousin and her family would come over and a big turkey dinner was eaten at noon. All afternoon we visited, played games and nibbled. Since we were farmers the men would leave to "do the chores" around five PM. In other words they went to tend their livestock. Then about 6:00 PM we had a rather lavish cold plate. More of the same until midnight when we had more lunch and the day ended. It was a complete day of feasting.

     Once I left the family so that I wasn't able to be home for festivities, I had to try something different. So I was introduced to the New Year's Eve party with dining and dancing and drinking lots of "pop."

    Now the New Year's Eve that changed my life happened rather innocently. There was nothing earth shattering. There was no epiphany. There were no great resolutions. I needed somebody to take to the New Year's Eve party. I tried to phone a certain nurse but I guess she was on shift and I couldn't reach her. My friend was in the same boat. We were moaning about this to a public health nurse who lived in our building. She said, "I'll see what I can do for you guys". Now Merle had a wicked sense of humor. she would set these up as blind dates. We didn't know who we were going to end up with. If it was somebody we really didn't want we were ready to run out the door. We you guessed it. Merle got the girl I had been trying to phone.

    Now the rest of the story is that the nurse I took to the party became my wife! So New Year's Eve 1964 was the first date I had with my wife. That certainly changed my life forever..

Winter Solstice

   Winter solstice is a magical day of the year. It's the day of the year when we have the least number of sunlight hours. For an outdoors person like me it's a notable day. For me the sun rose at 8:43 and set at 4:35. It will be a few days before the day light starts to increase. We had a clear sunny day with the temperature around minus 18 C(0 F).

    Many ancient cultures recognized the shortest day of the year and had it identified fairly accurately. There were numerous types of celebration depending on the culture. They recognized that the days were going to get longer and they celebrated even though in northern areas they knew that the worst of the winter season was ahead of them.

     So today I have some reason for a quiet celebration. Sadly we do not have any formal recognition of this day. 

My Changing Christmas Celebrations

        I have more or less celebrated 70 Christmas's! The 71st is coming right up.

        When I say Christmas celebration I mean the activities which take place on the 25th.

        Let's back way up to before my first Christmas. My mother lived in her parents home until she married my Dad. She was used to her mother's English influenced Christmas day activities. My Dad had wandered during the depression and probably spent the day in a variety of ways. Christmas day seemed to have not been a big issue with Dad except for the Christmas goose. I'm quite sure that my mother went back the 800km to her mother's for the first few Christmas's. Fortunately my Mom's cousin lived on the neighboring farm and a tradition grew where they alternated hosting the Christmas day activities.

       To be honest I don't remember Christmas until I would have been about five. Santa Claus was a big issue and opening presents Christmas morning was an exciting event. We received gifts from our maternal grandparents and aunts and uncles. Many times we received used items but we were still very excited about the gifts we received. I remember getting a pocket watch. Grandpa had attached some kind of leather strap and the watch was kept in  my pocket. The watch didn't work but I could turn the hands. I was very proud of this watch.

     When we spent the day with cousin's we had the feast at noon. This fitted farmers who travelled with horses and sleigh. We had a tremendous meal. Turkey, ham, potatoes, gravy , vegetables, stuffing, mince pie, and Christmas pudding. The afternoon was spent playing games or if the weather was nice we played outside in the snow. For the evening meal we had cold cuts from the left over of the noon meal. We continued fun stuff during the evening. About midnight another hearty lunch was had. There were lots of Christmas baking items to sample. It was really a day of great eats.

    My paternal grandparents lived in the local village. Their house did not have electricity , water or sewage. We would take a gift into them a week or two before Christmas. Mom had usually knitted a pair of mitts or socks for Grandpa. As soon as we gave the gift to Grandpa he would open it. He was pleased to receive something and thanked us. As little kids we were horrified that he didn't wait to open his gift until Christmas.

     Once I finished high school and left home I came back home for Christmas, but tended to spend much of the day with some of my buddies. I then went to the Arctic and this was the first Christmas I spent away from home. Fortunately I was with a number of other single people and we made a very nice Christmas dinner for ourselves. The Christmas morning I spent going around and visiting couples who had children.

     Then I married. The first couple of Christmas's we went to my parents . The menu was still the same but without the cousins. Now there were my brother's and there little children.

     When my children were born we lived 700km away from my parents. We went there for Christmas twice,. My Mother died and after that we spent Christmas on our own. My wife's English influence took over so the menu changed a bit but was still top notch.

     My children were the excited little beaners who loved early morning gift opening. My children became teenagers and spent most of the day with friends . The day consisted of many visits with the kids and their friends.

     Both my kids left home. My son spent a couple of Christmas 's with us and then made his Christmas on his own. My daughter spent most Christmas's with us and we also at her place. Now my daughter is 2000km away. She's invited us for Christmas but we decided not to go. We will celebrate alone but it's not our first Christmas by ourselves. In the Arctic we spent Christmas alone and thoroughly enjoyed the season and day.

    I think if my grandchildren came with gifts today I might be tempted to open them on the spot. I guess things have come full circle.

    So my 71 Christmas's have been all treasured. They have changed gradually because of my change in life. They have also changed because we as a society have changed.

    I also realize that there are many ways that families celebrate the day. The celebration is influenced by our family and the origin of that family.

     What are your traditions of celebration? I hope all your Christmas days have been happy.
   

Practical Thanksgiving Practice

       Thanksgiving has a very long history as it was a thanks for a bountiful harvest. Thanksgiving is found in most cultures and religions.

      Today I will comment on my 70 years of  Thanksgiving practise. I don't remember Thankgiving in my years from birth to about 8 or 9. It was during the war and times were tough as well as food was rationed during the war. We maybe did not have any formal celebration of the day. What I first remember is that my Dad loved turkey and to celebrate with his relatives. He would invite his two brothers and their families. It was a happy time with lots of visiting and celebrating. I don't remember too much concentration on thankfulness except for the thanking God for the food.

     My first few years of living away from home, I usually made it back to Dad's for his famous turkey feast. At this time I also attended the odd CFL football game. When I went to the arctic, we were mostly single and not well enough organized that we would order a frozen turkey a year in advance for Thanksgiving celebrations. I was sometimes invited to share the meal with a family and it was a special treat and much appreciated.

      When I married my wife was big on having a special Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings. That routine has continued to the present. For seven years my daughter insisted on doing the Thanksgiving meal. She would invite her birth mother and Granny. My daughter is an excellent cook and likes to experiment and have variety. It was also special to have her birth mother to celebrate with us and visit with her.

     Now all that I have been referring to is food! I love food but surely there is more to Thanksgiving that food? Surely we could wish one another well on this day.

     I like what has been happening lately where people make an effort to state openly what they are thankful for over the last year. This to me seems to be meaningful when we have to stop and consider the past year and what we have to be thankful for. In a religious sense people pray and thank God every day. Religious practice is full of thankfulness to God. So on Thanksgiving Day I like the practice of stating openly before others our thanks for important things in our life for the past year. When I do this I realize how extremely fortunate I have been in the past year. Oh yes, I do enjoy the food.