Happy Canada Day to all my family and friends back home.

I've lived in the United States since 1995 when I moved to Virginia to go to graduate school. I married a terrific lady from the U.S.A. and we decided that we would make it our home. Since then we moved to Colorado - which, by the way has quite a large Canadian population - living in a little house with our girl and three dogs.

Every year at this time, as Americans get ready for Independence Day, I quietly reflect on who I am and the traits that being Canadian has imparted on me. As the American Flags go up and people begin to fire off fireworks days before (and after) the 4th of July, I take a few minutes to think about my time in Ottawa and Lennoxville. I think about the great times I had on Parliament Hill watching the amazing fireworks display. I think about my friends from University. But most of all, I take the time to enjoy my fond memories of my family.

So, Happy Dominion Day! Be proud to be Canadian.

I was blown away this morning when, on NPR, I heard that Leonard Cohen had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Then, on the heels of that announcement, it was declared he is going BACK ON TOUR.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

I'm taking the day off blogging anything of substance in celebration of the day.

We're on a little vacation in Nova Scotia. Paula and I just arrived last night after a LONG series of flights. We had two layovers, one in Pittsburg and the other in Boston. We broke my rule of never checking luggage, which means the curse falls into place. When I check bags, very bad things happen. Our luggage didn't make it across the border which meant we were stuck in Customs for a very long time. Air Canada had no one at the lost bags desk, leaving five passengers in the lurch for about an hour. So after a 12 hour travel day we eventually made it to the Lord Nelson Hotel. We still don't have our bags, but the room(s) are absolutely huge. We have a living room, a large bedroom, and an enormous bathroom.

Hopefully in the hour or two our things will arrive, and the exploration will begin and LOTS of photos will be shared.