Beavers and Beer, oh my!
/It's Canada Day up here in the Great Northern Tundra and there are few things more important to a Canadian than our national day of pride.
Okay, there are lots of things more sacred (hockey, beer, a good toque and God Himself being just a few of those things) but for today, the day we all wear red and white with pride and bleed maple syrup we focus on the patriotic pride.
There are a lot of reasons to love Canada. We have universal healthcare and no matter what American pundits would have you think, this is a good thing. Especially when you have a chronically ill handicapped child who likes to enjoy our local children's hospitals as a vacation destination.
We Canadians aren't so very different from Americans. Sure we think that any beer with less than 6% alcohol is for sissies and the elderly, but really. Isn't it? Yes, we design our kids halloween costumes around their snowsuits, and we trot them out to go trick or treating in a blizzard, but that just makes us a hardy people.
Up here in Canada, where our money looks funny and we say Zed instead of Zee, we treasure our national animal, the beaver. We regularly go beaver hunting and let me tell you, stroking a beaver pelt is one of life's true pleasures.
The beaver. It is a noble beast. Heh.
We gave the world Wayne Gretzky, William Shatner and Micheal J. Fox. Of course, we also are responsible for Celine Dion and Justin Bieber but I like to think the musical contributions of Nickelback more than makes up for those atrocities.
Heh.
From sea to shining sea, we are a people united by junk drawers everywhere filled with Canadian Tire money. We may have two official languages but every English speaking child has an extensive education in bilingual cereal packaging. They all know the French equivalents for 'free, prize and no sugar added.'
And no matter what language you speak up here in Canada, either French or English, there is always the universal phrase, 'Eh.' It's a conversational device that allows us to turn any phrase we say into an opinion poll without seeming pushy. Which works well with us Canadians being such a nice people, eh?
The things I'll have photoshopped for my country.
Don't get me wrong, it's not like Canada is perfect. We have our foibles. Our politicians are boring, our politics are polite and our weather is harsh.
But there is nothing better than watching hockey on a cold winter's night and cheering for Team Canada, the greatest hockey team in the world while humming the theme song to Hockey Night in Canada.
And if that doesn't keep a Canadian warm during our long winter nights as the aurora borealis dances in our skies, then watching our American friends serenade us with our national anthem after losing a hockey bet certainly will.
It's good to be Canadian.
Happy Canada day to all my readers. Here's to Canadian beavers and our beer. Cheers.
Okay, there are lots of things more sacred (hockey, beer, a good toque and God Himself being just a few of those things) but for today, the day we all wear red and white with pride and bleed maple syrup we focus on the patriotic pride.
There are a lot of reasons to love Canada. We have universal healthcare and no matter what American pundits would have you think, this is a good thing. Especially when you have a chronically ill handicapped child who likes to enjoy our local children's hospitals as a vacation destination.
We Canadians aren't so very different from Americans. Sure we think that any beer with less than 6% alcohol is for sissies and the elderly, but really. Isn't it? Yes, we design our kids halloween costumes around their snowsuits, and we trot them out to go trick or treating in a blizzard, but that just makes us a hardy people.
Up here in Canada, where our money looks funny and we say Zed instead of Zee, we treasure our national animal, the beaver. We regularly go beaver hunting and let me tell you, stroking a beaver pelt is one of life's true pleasures.
The beaver. It is a noble beast. Heh.
We gave the world Wayne Gretzky, William Shatner and Micheal J. Fox. Of course, we also are responsible for Celine Dion and Justin Bieber but I like to think the musical contributions of Nickelback more than makes up for those atrocities.
Heh.
From sea to shining sea, we are a people united by junk drawers everywhere filled with Canadian Tire money. We may have two official languages but every English speaking child has an extensive education in bilingual cereal packaging. They all know the French equivalents for 'free, prize and no sugar added.'
And no matter what language you speak up here in Canada, either French or English, there is always the universal phrase, 'Eh.' It's a conversational device that allows us to turn any phrase we say into an opinion poll without seeming pushy. Which works well with us Canadians being such a nice people, eh?
The things I'll have photoshopped for my country.Don't get me wrong, it's not like Canada is perfect. We have our foibles. Our politicians are boring, our politics are polite and our weather is harsh.
But there is nothing better than watching hockey on a cold winter's night and cheering for Team Canada, the greatest hockey team in the world while humming the theme song to Hockey Night in Canada.
And if that doesn't keep a Canadian warm during our long winter nights as the aurora borealis dances in our skies, then watching our American friends serenade us with our national anthem after losing a hockey bet certainly will.
It's good to be Canadian.
Happy Canada day to all my readers. Here's to Canadian beavers and our beer. Cheers.