O! Canada!

One year ago we were settling back into our home in Vancouver, after a year in Montreal - seems like just yesterday (and at the same time, about 14 years ago)!

Canada Day for me started with our pastor leading the congregation in the best rendition of Oh Canada that I've heard in a long time!  I then headed down to Canada Place, where the celebrations included:

 the Dal Richards band - he is 94 years old, and still putting on a show!!
 

getting your photo taken with the Mounties and the Olympic cauldron...

or the beavers that were in the Olympic closing ceremony,
 

and watching the loggers show - how much more Canadian can you get?!?

After that, I took the skytrain out to Surrey, for "Western Canada's largest Canada Day celebration".  There was a show on tv called Pyros, which followed a fireworks company for a season of shows, and we enjoyed seeing the 'behind the scenes' work, and enjoyed the personalities.  They were putting on the show, and there were also a couple of music acts that I wanted to see, so I took the skytrain out there, then rode my bike to the park where the event was held. 

I made sure to be extra careful in this stretch, just in case the funeral home was trying to increase its business.
 

The day started out overcast, but gradually cleared, ending up as a gorgeous day!
 

One of the attractions was a motocross stunt team, flying about 30' high off a jump.

And doing some crazy stunts.

 Pretty cool to see!

Before the final musical show, the crowd was led in singing Oh Canada by Mark Donnely, who is an opera tenor who sings the anthem at Vancouver Canucks home games.  As he always does at Canucks games, he got the crowd to really sing along!

Incidentally, he is nearly half the weight he was at one time - he lost 173 lbs in 18 months (from 370 down to 197), using a controversial hormone injection treatment.  I hardly recognized him.

All the necessary thrill rides were there, and yes, face painting too!

The fireworks show was, alas, not the kind of show I was hoping for.  The fireworks were being launched from about a block away, behind the stage and a row of tall trees, so they only did big high fireworks, not the lower stuff, which can be interesting.   Also, the music was done by a DJ, who just seemed to do his own thing, not at all related to the show. 

I'm looking forward to hearing Ellen's review of the show in Ottawa, which was done by the same company!

 

This afternoon, I spent some time in my workshop - and as it was raining lightly, I put up my retractable roof.

(Ellen, you might want to skip this next part)

As I was working, a couple of Stellar's Jays came to check out what I was working on (it was a set of 'apple boxes' for Jenn's studio, used to prop things up, or for short people to stand on).
 

 

 It was pretty interesting to see these guys hopping around, one of them coming up to 5 feet away from me (yes, I measured). 

I heard their song (very loud!), not recognizing it as the usual birds around here, so when they came into our back yard, I ran inside to grab my camera, and they were flitting around the yard for a few minutes.  So cool to see! 

Not sure if I mentioned it, but a few weeks ago, a hummingbird was having a drink at our flower boxes when I came home from work, and as I was putting my bike away, it came down to take a closer look at me, hovering around me, about 4 feet away.  Its little beak looked awfully sharp at that distance!  It was back a few days ago, this time as I was at the kitchen window, and it was a couple of feet away (on the other side of the window), chirping a few times, and taking a drink.