HAPPY CANADA DAY

I just came back in from my yearly observance of a family Canada Day ritual, and I'm feeling good! Each year, my daughter and I head out for a 40 minute walk along a busy street right by our home. As we walk, we wave Canadian flags over our heads, and call out to everyone near, "Happy Canada Day". Although it has previously been only myself and my younger daughter, today she and I were joined by her older sister, and so the three of us made our way along our usual route, laughing and feeling proud of our country; feeling the pleasure of the blessing it is to live here in beautiful, peaceful Canada. Each year, the responses we receive run the same gamut. There are those who don't give us a second look and many who do, waving from inside their cars, or shooting a hand out the window to give a thumbs-up. The ones we like best are the ones who honk their horns, especially those who do so repeatedly in a joyous refrain of O! Canada. As we waited to cross the last intersection before we were back home, we were given the loudest, longest chorus ever of happy honks and cheers.
Oh Canada!