July 1, 2026
To all my friends and family
north of the forty-ninth, Happy Canada Day! And for my American friends, whose
holiday is this weekend, Happy Independence Day!
We celebrate our national
birthday here in Canada on July 1st much the same way as y’all in the Untied
States celebrate yours three days later, on July 4th. This year, Canada turns
159 years old. I’ll concede, since this year is America’s semiquincentennial,
that the celebrations you’ll be having will be more robust than our own.
Here we have parades, large
and small community parties, and food cooked on outdoor grills. There’s not as
much beach activity up here on July 1st as one might find in warmer
climes on this day. But there are flags, and patriotism, and that wonderful and
necessary sense of being a part of something bigger than oneself.
When I was a child, this day
held another significant aspect for me. This was my brother’s birthday. My
mother’s was on July 5th and we would often get together to celebrate both
milestones at the same time. We made a point of this especially after my
brother married and moved about thirty-five miles to the west. To the same
small town that we also now call home and have for more than thirty years.
It was a wonderful kind of
sentimental coincidence that the year after my mother passed away, our second
child, our late son Anthony, was born on her birthday.
I can’t separate this day from
thoughts of my brother. When I was much younger, this holiday was called
Dominion Day. Then, we were officially known as the Dominion of Canada. We were
and still are a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. There was a huge
parade in the large city close to us and my brother had me convinced that the
parade was in his honour.
Canada dropped Dominion
in 1982 when we repatriated our constitution from Great Britain.
We here in the Ashbury
household haven’t participated in any events this year, mainly because the
weather is just too darn hot for any of us. David was invited by one of our grandsons
to a small, nine-hole golf course. It was his first game of golf is several
years. He came home happy if hot. A bit annoyed with himself at how much effort
the game had involved. But pleased to have gone and to have spent son with his
grandson.
For myself, I was the anxiety
therapist for our two dogs, and a puppy bed for my two of my daughter’s dogs (daughter
was at work). This duty I happily performed in air-conditioned comfort.
As I was putting the finishing
touches on this essay, a thunderstorm approached. With the heat we’ve had the
last few days, that’s no great surprise. The power flickered as the storm hit,
and so I waited the weather out before completing my work.
So far this summer—well
certainly since the tomato plants went in—we’ve had an abundance of rain. We’ve
only had to water the veggie gardens a couple of times. I do recall, that a few
years ago, we had another such summer. And all that rain resulted in the most
lush and plentiful tomato harvest we had ever seen. That was in 2023.
I have my fingers crossed that
we experience an encore of that miraculous outcome. There’s nothing more
beautiful or tasty than a fat, juicy beefsteak tomato.
I have hope that the rain that
is beginning to taper down to a nice steady patter will do us a favor and kill
the humidity. But I know that doesn’t always happen.
My best wishes to you all,
Canadians and Americans alike, for a safe and joyful national celebration. May
it be a holiday to remember!
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
