Canada Day In The Columbia Valley

I arrived home today at 12:55 AM. It is Canada Day and has been for 55 minutes. I rushed home so I could tell you about what I saw, what I felt, and how blessed I am. Now that I am hear I grasp for words that evade me.

As the fires burn in Saskatchewan, Greece is tempertantruming its way out of the EU, Iran is silently begging to have an equal existance in the 21st century, and Isis is doing God only knows what; I found my truth again. And it was absolutely splendid.

As I said today is Canada Day. A day I am proud to share with my ancestors that have passed, and with the present me. I finished work today and was thinking that the Fire Works would be tomorrow evening. I was wrong and one of the ladies at work gently corrected me.

It was really important for me to be there. I said that wrong what I mean to say is it was important, to me. In the long run for me, for as I said my truth was there. It was hidden in the clouds, dodging through the raindrops, screaming in the fireworks, and thundering in the lightning.

It is a day that reminds me of the passion my mother had. The passion she had not only for her country, for her history; but the passion she had for me as well, once a long long time ago. Canada Day reminds me of the integrity my grandfather worked with, every time he reached out to pull a board, or measure a timber. Canada Day reminds me of all of the shared opinions that my fathers mother put out to the world through writ, and voice, trying to make this a fair and just country. It reminds me that no matter what, I am so very proud, grateful, and most of all blessed to be a Canadian. Proud and grateful to have the history, the culture, and to have grown up surrounded by people that loved each other and this country.

After work I zoomed home to quickly change. I had a couple of hours to kill, the fireworks were not to begin until 12:01. I put on a summer dress, thinking it is warm out, no problems. I drove back to town, Invermere, BC, from Radium, where my current home is.There I promptly found myself an Americano, and a perch above the lake behind the arena.

I was about a half hour early, and there was not to many people about. A young man was climbing on an Inukshuck which his mother promptly informed him was a piece of art and he was to get off it immediately. And behind him the thunder rolled, literally.

Do you ever look around and feel like you have stepped into a painting or a movie... Well that was what it was like.

As I pulled my car up, I thought I saw lightning in the hills to the West of us. The full moon was to the south, and just East of my perch lay the lake, covered in boats. The fire works site much to my surprise, and pleasure was located right below me, by about 100 meters.

As I settled in the mood slowly changed. The air became electric, and not from the people but from the weather. The lightning to the west flashed vividly. Eventually I was not only privy to the flashes, but saw three direct bolts of lightning. The weather was still warm, dry but getting a bit buggy.

5 to 12. If you can believe it the midnight train rolled through between the Fire works site and the lake. If I had yelled out, and the train had been silent the conductor would have replied, -How could you ask for more, Olivia!--And I would have replied,--I could not!--

I sipped my coffee, and waited. The train thrummed by. More and more people began to gather. Again I realised how blessed I am. Lucky, grateful, and best of all, aware what a wonderful combination.

So there goes the train, a most significant part of Canadas history, the clouds are rolling in, and a newly arrived cloud shaped like Vancouver Island, my home of origin, covers the full moon. The moon that has always been there for me, for decades. Watching over me, keeping me safe. The North Island, just blotted it right out, in the sky that is.

Now as the train reaches the end we are in true darkness. But then mother natures fireworks flash at my back, sending that gray white light ricocheting off the mountains in front of me across the lake. The last train car passes and the first fireworks explode. The Fireworks went on for 15 minutes. Maximum 20, but what a show it was. Maybe it was shorter, but thank goodness, the Universe moved slowly so that I could enjoy every moment. Every bang, every pop, the smell of igniter, the wind, the rain and the lightning.

The crew that put it together did it with thought, and artistic style. And they never could have gotten more finesse in their composition without the help from mother nature. Now the people in the boats probably would not have agreed with me. And the fire crews standing by, waiting for the desert like scape to erupt in flames might also think me a little off, but I stand by what I am saying.

Five minutes into the choreography the wind started to pick up. Ten minutes in, the rain seriously began to fall. The rain biting at my arms, the wind pulling at my hair, and the lightning was the back drop to a fantastic arrangement. At about the 12 minute mark I

that most of the boats had retreated and many of the people around me had disapeared, and I was so grateful to be sitting there enjoying the show. The freedom to just be here. Nestled cozily into the Columbia Valley where man and nature came together tonight in a fantastic show to welcome in yet one more Canada Day.

I just reread my first paragraph, and realised that I have not done what I set out to do tonight. The words, the correct words have evaded me. Perhaps it is fatigue or weariness from the road. Regardless I have shared with you the best I could, my gratitude, and my joy, for the opportunity I was given when born into this life. I am blessed and all I hope for you this evening is that you also feel the same. Life is not always easy, but right in this moment, right now, it is good, and right now is all that matters.

I have so much more to say, but it is getting late so I think I will leave it there for now.

Happy Birthday Canada, and many thanks to the Columbia Valley for allowing me to make this my home for the while that I may stay. I am truly grateful to be a Canadian today and a resident of this Valley. What a show!