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Just spent three fabulous days in Victoria BC...the weather was perfect, sad to be leaving Canada (but the good news is I fed my hockey addiction with a few great purchases), thank you Canada...bkm

Canadian Blend - Magpie 21

Magpietales 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