canada day: 26 reasons why i’ll never leave

a ravine in oakville, ontarioat the end of july, it’ll be 26 years that i arrived here in canada. it was just supposed to be a visit, but literally within hours, i was smitten. the beautiful town of oakville was what did me in, or rather its hills, little rivers, abandoned orchards and most of all its ravines – the ones made world-famous by the annual PGA tournament at glenn abbey.

tomorrow is canada day. let me sing the praises of this lovely land – 26 random reasons why i’ll never leave:

  1. the colours of the leaves in the fall in ontario; if you’ve never been to that area of north america (the north middle east? is there a name for it?) you won’t believe it; i never did, i thought for sure those photographs were enhanced
  2. the same with the colour of the sky along this stretch of the pacific coast some days – in the fall and winter, when the sun shines just right over the clouds and fog, it’s all silvery-pastel
  3. bannock
  4. the rolling hills of eastern ontario, right around bancroft
  5. speckled trout from some obscure little backcountry lake
  6. the satisfaction of pulling out the morning glories that threaten to take over my garden here in vancouver (a fabulous way of getting rid of aggression)
  7. the terraces of a hidden winery along lake okanagan
  8. canadian writers like michel tremblay, margaret atwood, robertson davies, matt cohen
  9. maple syrup
  10. CBC radio (with a special nod to vicki gabereau and peter gzowski)
  11. oscar peterson
  12. glenn gould
  13. my glenn
  14. pierre trudeau
  15. the hot springs in ainsworth and around whistler
  16. the long long long long long long long wide wide wide wide wide wide stretch of the prairies
  17. and driving along those prairies, thinking of nothing, humming along and BANG, all of a sudden you’re staring at a huge hole in the ground: the alberta badlands where the dinosaurs used to roam
  18. the fantastic, casual, a bit arrogant, rainy and absolute stunning beauty of vancouver
  19. the victoria art gallery
  20. the surf at sombrio beach
  21. the trees in east vancouver island, so high they seem to never end
  22. the overwhelming greenery – ferns, blackberries, blueberries, salal, moss, moss, moss – along the west coast
  23. brown bears everywhere
  24. the memory of the first time i saw a sign that read, “72 kilometres to the next gas station”
  25. its multiculturalism and diversity and relative freedom from racism
  26. the fact that if you’re gay, you can get married here

i have a feeling that i will keep adding to the list …

what about you? what do you like about canada?

(image by lone primate)

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