Happy Canada Day!

Pause for a minute to listen to our national anthem, accompanied by a moving slide show, created by photographer Mario Dimain.

celebrate Canada Day with a Canadian book

 Sunday is Canada Day! What better way to celebrate than with a book by Canadian authors? A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider is just such a book. I highly recommend it.

The book's cover description is followed by my review (first published in Faith Today earlier this year).

The much-anticipated sequel to Hot Apple Cider: Words to Stir the Heart and Warm the Soul.

Features:
• A unique collection of inspirational stories, poems and articles
• Real stories, real people, real faith
• Great writing
• Honesty and vulnerability combined with hope
• Well-known, experienced writers and passionate, new writers
• Gentle humor, warm encouragement, and stimulating challenges
• Attractive, gift book layout

My review:

Some books surprise you with their ability to take your breath away. A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider is such a book. This anthology of 51 short pieces (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and even a play) was written by 37 members of The Word Guild (a Canadian organization of writers, editors, publishers, and speakers who are Christian).

I was impressed with the honesty, transparency, and raw life portrayed, especially in the true stories. We meet a host of fellow Canadians—our neighbors—whose lives are as unpredictable as our own.  A mother of young children gets a diagnosis of cancer. A 36-year-old magazine editor has a stroke. A man who is forced to take early retirement asks, what’s next? A woman prays for patience and a few days later breaks her back. A man tries to surprise his wife with a five-day bathroom renovation. What binds all the pieces together is a cord of faith as we see how God is involved in the very real circumstances of life.

The book is wonderfully Canadian with its representation of writers from across the country. It reflects Canada’s mosaic-like population with its pieces from the First Nations perspective to the home-born Canadian to the immigrant, the young to the old, the urban to the rural. Though the writing styles are varied, the book was skillfully edited to preserve the individual voices while providing a smooth read with few technical or stylistic distractions.

The short selections makes this a perfect book for even indifferent readers. It would be a fabulous addition to an office waiting room, your beside table, briefcase, backpack, or purse.  But be sure to buy more than one, for you will probably have the urge to share this gem of a collection with others.

Find about more about this series on the Hot Apple Cider books website.

Title: A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider: Words to Stimulate the Mind and Delight the Spirit

Editors: N. J. Lindquist and Wendy Elaine Nelles

That’s Life! Communications, 2011

336 pages

$19.99 (paper)

This  book is submitted to Semicolon Blog Saturday Review of Books, June 30, 2012 where links to many more book reviews are available.

Happy Canada Day!

Today is Canada Day. It's a day I've celebrated as far back as I can remember. My mom was a Canadian patriot through and through. She made sure Canada Day always held something special when we were kids — even if it meant just a picnic at the Log Cabin Bush on the farm, which it did the year Daddy was in hospital with a broken leg and she was heavily pregnant with her seventh child.

Perhaps it's appropriate that five years ago, she departed this life on June 30th, the eve of Canada Day. We had fun fantasizing how she would bring a distinctly Canadian flavour to heaven on her first day there.

In honour of the day, I've made a collage of some of my recent memorable Canada Days.

 HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Happy Canada Day!

Today we celebrate Canada and her 143rd birthday. There will be festivities in cities and towns around the country. Our town has an all-day event at McLeod Park with ongoing entertainment, monster truck rides, a Lego demonstration and of course it will end with a bang (fireworks). Check it out.

We're relatively new to the community of Langley (moved here only three years ago). A couple of weeks ago (June 19th), we took in our first Langley City parade. The many colourful floats are an indication of what a vibrant community this is… one of the many that make up this great country of ours!

However you celebrate it, Happy Canada Day to you too!

(Hover mouse over the bottom of photos to see captions.)

Happy 142nd - Canada!!

Today is Canada Day - the celebration of Canada's 142nd birthday. This scenic version of our national anthem comes from the Mother Corp.




"O Canada" is actually a hymn with the second verse a prayer.

Speaking of prayer, Rev. Rob Parker of Canada's National House of Prayer spoke in our church last Sunday. He told of the beautiful former Ottawa convent that now houses this prayer movement's headquarters. As a result of the National House of Prayer initiatives there are now people praying in the gallery of the House of Commons every time the House is in session. How encouraging is that!

(Information about sending a delegation to Ottawa to participate in National House of Prayer activities here.)

Canada Day!

Today is Canada Day and Canada's 141st birthday. How much do you know about Canada? Specifically, how much do you know about Canada's literary scene? Take this CANADA DAY LITERARY QUIZ and find out!

1. Rhubarb is a Canadian literary magazine that celebrates
a] the ethnicity of the Doukhobor
b] Ukrainian art and culture
c] Writers and artists who are of Mennonite heritage

2. Canada's richest literary award for fiction (presently $50,000) is:
a] the Giller prize
b] CBC Literary Award
c] Governor General's Literary Award

3. Which Canadian writer has sold over 30 million books -- more than any other Canadian author:
a] Lucy Maud Montgomery
b] Margaret Atwood
c] Robert Munsch

4. Children's writer Kenneth Oppel is best known for his books about
a] monkeys
b] bats
c] sloths

5. Which Canadian province did Lucy Maud Montgomery not live in?
a] Prince Edward Island
b] Ontario
c] Manitoba
d] Saskatchewan

6. Which Canadian writer's short stories have been compared to the stories of Chekhov?
a] Alice Munro
b] Guy Vanderhaeghe
c] Carol Shields

7. This Canadian author is sometimes referred to as a pioneer of inspirational fiction:
a] Lucy Maud Montgomery
b] Janette Oke
c] Rudy Wiebe

8. This Canadian author who has had a book named to the Oprah Winfrey book club also does acting and has hosted a TV documentary series.
a] Gabrielle Roy
b] Ann-Marie MacDonald
c] W. P. Kinsella

9. This artist and writer of several classic books for children was influenced by Ukrainian roots, a childhood on the prairies and the Catholic faith:
a] Marsha Skrypuch
b] William Kurelek
c] Ian Krykorka

10. This Canadian Christian poet won the Governor General's Award, the Griffin Poetry Prize and was made an officer of the Order of Canada:
a] Margaret Avison
b] Patrick Lane
c] Michael Ondaatje




Below are the names of five current Canadian writers who are Christian. Can you unscramble their names? The list of book titles, below, are your hints. After unscrambling the writer's name, match it with the book they've written.

1. KAMR BNNHAAUC

2. DISUNGM RWEBURO

3. LPIH WYALALAC

4. ESENDY YEORAL

5. JN SDLIUINTQ

a] Broken Angel
b] Glitter of Diamonds
c] Hidden in Plain Sight
d] The Spiritual Brain
e] Family Squeeze

ANSWERS

Rate yourself:
12-15 correct: Congratulations! You are part of the Canadian literati.
8-11 correct: You're not unaware of the Canadian scene, but probably more into content than trivia.
4-7 correct: No doubt you're well read. Now why not get some Canadian content into your literary diet?
0-3 correct: Well... thanks for at least reading my (Canadian written) blog!

happy Canada Day!

I know I don't normally post on Sunday but today has to be an exception, because today is Canada's 140th birthday, known as Canada Day.

If there's one thing that this day reminds me of, it's my mom. She was a proud Canadian if there ever was one. As long as I can remember she wouldn't let a Canada Day go by without celebrating it in some way.

When we were kids and lived in Saskatchewan, Canada Day meant taking a break from the farm routine by going fishing or on an outing or a picnic. The year Daddy was in the hospital with a broken leg, Mom (who didn't drive) wasn't deterred. She packed a picnic lunch and the six of us (with the seventh in her tummy) trekked across the field to have a picnic at the Log Cabin Bush. Then she carved July 1 and the year in the trunk of a poplar tree beside our picnic site.

When she moved to British Columbia years later and needed an excuse to use her provincial floral emblem glasses, teacups and place mats, she began a tradition of serving a Canada Day brunch. She would invite 12 people (and when Nunavut became a territory, 13: one for each province and territory), serve typically Canadian food like bacon, eggs, pancakes and strawberries, then end the morning by getting her guests involved in games and quizzes about Canada's culture and history.

I was at several of those brunches and what fun they were! One year she invited members of our family. My sister brought washable Canada flag tattoos, and even got Mom to put one on. Here's proof! (Although I must say, she does look a little sheepish. Tattoos, even fake ones, weren't her style.)



When Mom died last year, on the eve of Canada Day, more than one of us remarked -- isn't it perfect that Mom's first day in heaven will be Canada Day? Besides remembering her today, I'm sure most of us kids will be celebrating Canada in some way. How can we help it? That's how the matriarch brought us up!

Photo: The Canada Day photo was part of a montage display my sis put together to celebrate Mom's 90th birthday in 2004.

**************
Later...



It sure was easy to honor my mother in commemorating Canada Day yesterday. Friends in West Vancouver who have recently moved to a condo on the beach front hosted their customary Canada Day party. From the patio of the party room in their building, we had front row seats for the fireworks.

Canada Day 2006

The surreality from Wednesday continued Thursday. When I went to the hospital, Mom was lying there, breathing through her mouth with her eyes open but there was no recognition in them at all. She was entirely unresponsive. I took up my post beside her bed again, sometimes held her hand, talked to her, put a CD in the walkman and hoped she could hear it through the headphones close to her ears.

After I got back from having pizza in the hospital cafeteria, the hospice lady called me to a sunny side room to have a chat. Of course any sign of sympathy cracks my shell of composure and I blubbered all over the place. She has probably seen this repeated times and just heard me out. Her piece was that she felt Mom was so near the end, it didn’t make sense to move her to a hospice at this point and there wasn’t room in the Surrey Hospital Hospice now in any case. (Of course I was relieved that they won’t be moving her again.)

After our talk I went back to mom’s room and did more of the above. A couple of nephews and their families came by to visit and looking after the kids was a nice distraction. Ernie finally came around 4:30.

I dithered about whether to stay the night but decided, in the end, not to. A nurse promised to phone as soon as there were any developments. We went home about 8:00 p.m.

After no phone call all night we returned to the hospital about 9:30 Friday morning. And there was our dear valiant Mom, looking the same way as on Thursday, still unresponsive, but breathing albeit her breath was very rattley now and the nurses were suctioning her regularly.

And so we passed another day – holding her hand, playing her music, talking to her a bit, singing a bit, knitting, reading the paper, doing another Sudoku puzzle while she soldiered on through the Valley of Death.

We left the hospital about 5:45 after praying over her again, kissing her goodbye and telling her one last time that we loved her.

We stopped at the Lido (Chinese) for supper, then back home to send another update email to my list and veg in front of the TV where I got engrossed in a British production of a Miss Marple story.

That was just done when the phone rang again. It was Tessie from Palliative Care. She said, “Your mom just passed away. It was peaceful.” So I sent off yet another email to my family list and then we went to the hospital one more time to gather her things and sign the morgue release.

They’d drawn the curtain around her bed, and there was a butterfly pinned to it. Behind the curtain there she was, her color a lot paler, her skin already looking waxy – but quiet and at peace.

And so her first full day in heaven will be Canada Day.

Mom was a real Canadian patriot and Canada Day was always very special to her. In fact she was quite famous in her condo in Abbotsford for her Canada Day brunches. On each Canada Day for years she would invite twelve people, one for each province and territory (thirteen when Nunavut became a territory) for brunch. I was invited to two or three of these and they were a lot of fun.

She would set the table with her provincial placemats, her floral emblem glasses and cups and saucers. Then she would cook up a meal, serving food like Canadian bacon and Abbotsford strawberries. After eating we would go around the table with each person reading what their placemat said about their province. We also did things like tell about the places in Canada that we’d lived or visited, and played Canada trivia.

This year, though, Mom will spend Canada Day in heaven. I love how my sister-in-law Dawn put it to her daughter Rosie in an email a few days ago:

I think, for grandma, maybe God will have a Canada Day Celebration party for her in heaven... for the best "quilting/quilling/never-quits-creating" Mother/Grandmother/ Great-grandmother... think of all those who are already there who would be around her at that table...maybe He'll send for her floral emblem glassware and He'll make her a very special cocktail from all the fruit juices He's saved up in His fridge, maybe He'll put in an order for Krause /bros. berries 'just picked' by Jane, and Canadian back bacon, ah yes, and add Russian pancakes (Big pancakes for Big Grandma) to the menu. Maybe we should put in an order for her?! What great memories she has created for everyone, eh?? We will so miss her but we can carry her in our hearts forever and we have the hope of joining her someday!!*

To that I have only one word to add – AMEN!!

*Thanks, Dawn, for permission to use this.