Friday, July 2, 2010

Canadian Blend - Magpie 21


I married a Canadian and with my blessing he has retained his citizenship over the years. I cherish Canada as much as he does though we reside in the United States. When July comes along we celebrate our differences with July 1st being Canada Day and July 4th America’s Birthday there are two flags flying red and white with a touch of blue. A blending of borders, a truce called on neutral ground. When he grew up in Canada he was constantly told he had the personality of an American, filled with individuality and fire. Where I grew up on a farm in the Midwest I believed everyone was good and kindness was universal; a true Canadian trait. Years of course have pasted and with them my views have melted into life’s reality; my husband’s reality has melted into mellow acceptance.

It is this first week of July every year when we plan our annual pilgrimage to Victoria BC, and Vancouver Island. Where we will tour castles and gardens, eat at favorites restaurants and have coffee and pastries at outside cafes, when we will again eat fresh blueberries and walk along familar shores. There will be a trips to Ladysmith  and Sooke , and the marking of new spots for exploration.

It is a magical time which we begin each year by riding the BC Ferry,  a border crossing both beautiful and life changing. A time when we see each other for who we really are one American and one Canadian.  It is in the hour and thirty minute crossing from Tsawwsann to Swatz Bay across the Strait of Georgia , that we move away from a world of what is - towards a Neverland of our own design, passing through the Gulf Islands of Mayne and Pender; accompanied by killer whales and bald eagles who have long waited our return, now guiding us from all history of past life and past lives. Every year this ferry ride becomes our sacred passage, a quiet and subtle transformation of our souls understood, but left unspoken. We both know we have been blessed with the peace of knowing who we are, each as individuals honoring our friendship and our freedoms first;  above all other. For me that friendship will be as it is every year solidified in that moment when I see my husband standing on the ferry’s deck, breathing in his first breath over Canadian waters and I realize once again that there stands my Peter Pan, my Captain Hook, there stands all the fireworks this American will ever need.     ...bkm

33 comments:

  1. loved how you brought that to a close...and hope you retain that love well into the shadows of life...i sure hope i do as well...smiles.

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  2. A very lovely post!!
    Happy 1sth and 4th of July to both

    loveNlight
    Gabi

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  3. Love the differences brought together as one. The friendship and passion you express for your husband. The stolen moment and peek into your lives as you watch your Peter Pan and your Captain Hook breath in the air. The child like boy that will never grow up and the mysterious dangerous villain that evokes passion! Thrilling! Thanks for the peek into your marriage what a lovely vacation from life to sit and read this. :)

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  4. Tears welled up in my eyes at the end! This is a touching tribute to your relationship. As a reader you engaged me from start to finish. Have a great week--love that man, and love yourself!

    Awesome Magpie!

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  5. this is a magpie beyond words..love says it all and draws no boundaries!

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  6. This is the perfect tribute to love, life and freedom!

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  7. You write so eloquently. This post reads like your poetry... so lovely to read.

    Blessings & Aloha!

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  8. love like ya'll's is amazing and it is so nice to hear the tenderness and friendship in your story! :)

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  9. Lovely BKM!

    Rhyme on!

    Tim Keeton
    (Undead)Poet / Wizard / Teller-of-tales

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  10. bkm when I saw the title of your post I thought about whiskey, but after I read it I realized it was so much sweeter than that bitter juice. Thank you for sharing such a personal aspect of you and your husband's lives. I hope to be considered a happy Peter Pan by my lady one day. Your end was wonderful.

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  11. Thanks everyone for your "Lovely" comments on my Magpie....Your time is precious and I appreciate the time you spent here to read and comment....blessings..bkm

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  12. Many Thanks Willow....thank your for all your wonderful work with Magpie....blessings..bkm

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  13. Wonderful tribute to love and allowing. I think I have one of those too... Not brave enough to ask! IXL sometimes orders me to shut up. Is that love? :-)

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  14. What a beautiful post..and what a wonderful relationship you have with your very own Peter Pan

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  15. A wonderful and touching write. I felt the emotions flowing through as I read. Love is a beautiful thing and it gets more beautiful when individual differences are put aside for the collective aim of the relationship. I wish your love life well and more so, enjoy the independence.

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  16. What a lovely warm post, I thoroughly enjoyed it, Happy Holidays

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  17. lovely sweet tribute to you and your husband-

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  18. Thank you Stafford, Nana, Emmanuel, Brigid and Kathe...appreciate all your comments..we do have a wonderful relationship and try to laugh at ourselves and life, enjoying with moments we have together....bkm

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  19. Victoria is beautiful. I need to take my band of pirates there again, and find a good hideout!

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  20. what a sweet story. It's so great that the two of you have condensed your two countries into one love. Sounds like a great trip and an even better union! Nice magpie

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  21. I read the word "castles" and was immediately swept up into the ethers. (Such a hopeful romantic!)

    Thank you for a lush read and for commenting on (only my second) Magpie!

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  22. I have to admit, I've never been to Vancouver... need to get there. Been just on the other side of the border so many times.

    And Canadian "significant others" are quite awesome, I must also admit. ;)

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  23. Every year this ferry ride becomes our sacred passage, a quiet and subtle transformation of our souls understood, but left unspoken...

    You are an amazing writer. How you convey emotion through your words...beautiful!!

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  24. You are truly blessed..in many ways..thank you!

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  25. Great memories. I visited the area you describe for the first (and perhaps only) time a few years ago and fell in love with it.

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  26. I have so many Thanks to give everyone.. I am sorry that I have not had time to answer each comment with the busy weekend...but I am so honored to have all these beautitul comments... Let me send my heartfelt Thanks to everyone...bkm

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  27. a beautiful post! I love canada, though I usually hang out in New Finland. But you are so right, the blueberry pies and cloud berry jam are to die for! Your writing is absolutely breathtaking and full of emotion, a real tribute to your husband and yourself, to who you are. Well done!

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  28. Thank you all for you lovely comments....bkm

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  29. This piece touches a place in my heart, for I am beginning to consider life in a similar culture, but a foreign country...all for the love of a woman. So, Bravo! to a well written essay on borderless love. Thanks

    Tracy H

    Rally On!

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  30. How did I miss this one!
    super expression of love..for countries and for each other
    " everyone is good and kindness is universal"
    I think that is actually very Midwest thinking

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