As hard as it is for me to get my head around this fact, being so far removed from everything that would usually remind me of the time of year - it is in fact July now! I'm missing all my usual signals that tell me that summer has arrived: kids finishing school, the Sound of Music festival in Burlington, the Forestview carnival, barbeques, Ontario strawberries (can you hear the agony in those last 2?!), and of course Canada Day. But I did know that it was July 1st, and in case I forgot, Felipe sent all of us Canadians a text message first thing in the morning wishing us a happy one. And I (rather patriotically, I thought) hung my Canadian flag out on my front door. Later in the morning, we Canadians were talking about it and wondering what kind of Canada day thing we might be doing if we were at home. Barbeque? Oh yes......(again, hear the pain), a barbeque! So we decided to have our own little party that night, with hamburgers and chips and salad, and not a grain of rice in sight! The burgers had to be cooked on a baking sheet in the oven, not quite the same flavour as on good old BBQ, but we did have real 
Canadian cheddar cheese to put on top! And Nikki made a strawberry dessert, not Ontario strawberries, but hey, what can you do? We attached all the necessary extension cords involved in plugging in the white lights around the picnic table, tried to ignore the blinking that they now do (just added to the festive atmosphere!) And we had ourselves a Canada Day party in Ecuador. And I tried not to cry over the missing fireworks (those of you who know me well know my fondness for fireworks!).And now today is that other big July celebration for that other country up there! And can you believe it, there is an awareness of it here! More than an awareness it seems, we were in the mall yesterday and the window of the party store was full of stars and stripes stuff - flags, hats, cake decorations! And tonight there is another free symphony concert in honour of the 4th of July. Why, I wonder?? But I'm just accepting the fact, and the free concert, and looking forward to that.
Canadian cheddar cheese to put on top! And Nikki made a strawberry dessert, not Ontario strawberries, but hey, what can you do? We attached all the necessary extension cords involved in plugging in the white lights around the picnic table, tried to ignore the blinking that they now do (just added to the festive atmosphere!) And we had ourselves a Canada Day party in Ecuador. And I tried not to cry over the missing fireworks (those of you who know me well know my fondness for fireworks!).And now today is that other big July celebration for that other country up there! And can you believe it, there is an awareness of it here! More than an awareness it seems, we were in the mall yesterday and the window of the party store was full of stars and stripes stuff - flags, hats, cake decorations! And tonight there is another free symphony concert in honour of the 4th of July. Why, I wonder?? But I'm just accepting the fact, and the free concert, and looking forward to that. But maybe we need to do some awareness raising for Canada. And try for fireworks next year?!
1 comment:
Fireworks would certainly be a tenth the price down there if you buy them on December 30th or so and stock them up. Interestind idea. Felipe would be game I'm sure. Antonieta too.
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