the Moose Jaw Minute: Moose Jaw Minute #48: Happy Canada Day and Fourth of July!

Hello, everyone! I returned from a trip back to Chicago last Friday to discover Moose Jaw was bracing for more flooding. Yes, the river was running high and my beloved path that I use for my daily runs was once again under water. Luckily for us, the water subsided quickly and while the levels are still high, we did not experience the same levels as before. The source of all of this water comes from a very late snow pack melt up north...all of which is making their way through the southern parts of Saskatchewan and affecting our immediate neighbors to the south in North Dakota in much bigger and destructive ways.
Despite the water running high, we are gearing up to get out of town to celebrate my very first Canada Day in my new home country. We will be spending a lot of time outdoors...soaking in the warm weather and enjoying the never-ending sunlight (the sun rises around 4 am and sets around 10 pm).

Canada Day always falls on July 1 and is much like our Fourth of July complete with barbecues, fireworks, and a day off work. While the patriotism seems much more low-key here, there is no lack of Canada-themed apparel, paper plates, and small Canadian flags on the store shelves to get you into the spirit of things! The day is designed to commemorate what was originally called Dominion Day. According to the Canada Government website:

"On June 20, 1868, a proclamation signed by the Governor General, Lord Monck, called upon all Her Majesty's loving subjects throughout Canada to join in the celebration of the anniversary of the formation of the union of the British North America provinces in a federation under the name of Canada on July 1st.

The July 1 holiday was established by statute in 1879, under the name Dominion Day."

Up until 1927, there was no consistent celebratory recognition of the day. Since then, Canadians (in all their humble glory) have slowly begun the process of ramping up their partying to include concerts, fireworks, and cookouts. In fact, in the 1980s, Canada encouraged such celebrating by providing local organizations and governments with money to entice people to get into the partying spirit.

Ahem...compare that with the United States where, as early as July 1776, John Adams wrote a note to his wife Abigail saying that we Americans should always remember July the 4th with celebrations, games, festivities, and the like. Yup, we Americans sure do know that nothing beats a good party where we can reminisce about our former allegiance to the monarchy and subsequent violent detachment from it!

In the meantime, we've had a great week with warm weather, super-blue big skies, and lots of time with good friends. It's been one of those summer-y weeks that I wish would never end...

And, stay tuned...Dave and I will be featured in a local newspaper in regards to our thoughts and feelings about celebrating Canada Day and Independence Day in the same household! I'll be sure to share it with you!

ps. Super-congrats to Amanda and Jaclyn for completing the See Jane Tri triathlon in Regina! You rock! Also, congrats to my awesome friends Constance, Matt and their little one, Nola...so excited for your news and can't wait to welcome the newest member of the family!