at 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:
- 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
- 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
- bannock
- the rolling hills of eastern ontario, right around bancroft
- speckled trout from some obscure little backcountry lake
- 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)
- the terraces of a hidden winery along lake okanagan
- canadian writers like michel tremblay, margaret atwood, robertson davies, matt cohen
- maple syrup
- CBC radio (with a special nod to vicki gabereau and peter gzowski)
- oscar peterson
- glenn gould
- my glenn
- pierre trudeau
- the hot springs in ainsworth and around whistler
- the long long long long long long long wide wide wide wide wide wide stretch of the prairies
- 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
- the fantastic, casual, a bit arrogant, rainy and absolute stunning beauty of vancouver
- the victoria art gallery
- the surf at sombrio beach
- the trees in east vancouver island, so high they seem to never end
- the overwhelming greenery – ferns, blackberries, blueberries, salal, moss, moss, moss – along the west coast
- brown bears everywhere
- the memory of the first time i saw a sign that read, “72 kilometres to the next gas station”
- its multiculturalism and diversity and relative freedom from racism
- 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)