I have visions of speaking French one day as opposed to simply reading it on the packaging at the grocery, but most Anglo-Canadians are not as warmly disposed to the idea bi-lingualism as I am.
Canada
“What does it mean to stand on guard for thee?” BabyD asked me recently.
They have been preparing the kids for a spirit day assembly at school – which I missed … twice.
“Don’t you remember anything anymore, Mom?” was the stinging rebuke I took for that.
But getting back to Canada, the schools here do an excellent job of laying the Canadian pride groundwork at the elementary level, I am guessing the superiority complex and intense disdain for America comes during the upper grade levels. BabyD and her classmates, in addition to learning songs designed to promote harmony and reduce bullying, have also been learning the national anthem.
“It means that we would defend Canada from its enemies.”
“How?”
A very good question because in the minds of many Canadians the most likely scenario for needing to defend Canada will come when America runs out of clean water and can’t afford to buy oil on the world market anymore. Plenty of both those natural resources up here and in addition our precarious claim to the Northwest Passage makes us a prime target for a revival of the old American standby “manifest destiny”, which simply means,
“We need it. We can take it from you. So we will.”
But BabyD is a U.S. citizen and always will be. And I, a U.S. citizen as well, am standing idly by while she is being assimilated. I mean every day she is less and less of an American. In a bit more than two years from now, she will have spent exactly half her life in both countries with the latter being far more formative from a conscious standpoint.
I think about my status, and hers, a lot because I love Canada. I can’t imagine living in the United States full time again – though I would never say never .
Last night, Rob stumbled on a series of short films that the CBC used to air in between shows when he was a child. They were called Canadian Vignettes. Just little history snippets supported by the Canadian arts council and used to the meet the very strict requirements that mandated that a large percentage of Canadian television originate in Canada. Have to admire the dedication to stemming the corrupting tide of American values.
Kinda reminds me of learning how bills become laws in between cartoons on Saturday mornings.
Not feet or meters of it, but it’s here and the ever colder temperatures mean it’s staying. I think it was closing in on May before the ground was free of it this last year.
I love what passes for summer here. The near eternal daylight when the sun is up in the middle of the night and doesn’t set until well after eleven pm, and the yellow of the canola fields which nearly surround our hamlet. But the price is a winter with the staying power of the Energizer bunny.
I am too old to need a white Christmas. The magic doesn’t work for me. In fact having a child is what killed Christmas and white powder won’t bring it back.
I am not an enthusiast of winter sports though I toyed with the idea of cross country skiing before we were tempted into the Texas relocation which ended up not happening. So skis were never purchased and the hockey skates that took their place are lovely but we have an indoor rink just across the street and not enough yard for a rink of our own.
So I don’t need snow for the holiday or for fitness and I find it an annoyance that grows as I age as far as vehicles and driving are concerned. Little can tempt me into driving when ice or even just snow pack covers the road. I do it grudgingly and only because I don’t want my family to starve or my bum to grow too large from lack of going to the gym.
I am a Canadian now. I will man up and endure as all good Canucks do. But I reserve the right to whine a tiny bit between now and early May.
anniegirl1138 