oh canada, we bbq for thee...

If there's one day when the sometimes starched and straight-laced pleasant valley lets down it's collective hair, cuts loose, and goes wild with Bacchanalian-grade national pride, it's July 1, Canada Day, when Ottawa forgets to be quiet.

Mind you, I was in the mood for something less than the over-the-top-red-and-white-mania on offer downtown, and so found a happy middle-ground in my more intimate celebrations of "Canada's Day".

The afternoon into evening was spent in the mellowing backyard BBQ world; notwithstanding two flash downpours, it was a mojito-licious burger-flipping good time. It was a low-key affair, mostly patio furniture and home-grown mint, which was exactly the best way to celebrate after such a tumultuous year for our great nation: the calm after the storm, after the storm, after the storm...

Of course the real thrill of a C-Day in the valley, and the holy grail of our national celebration, is the magnificent fireworks display on Parliament Hill - something my band of backyard patriots and I managed to witness with some strategic parking, another backyard home base downtown, and a stealthy trek along the canal into the heart of the party.

Yesterday may go down as the best 'fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants' Canada Day I've ever had, because though we were making up our gameplan at every turn (most of which amounted to little more than "maybe I'll have another beer"), we still avoided overpriced drinks, the mad crush of the crowds, congested traffic and limited parking, and finally managed to find a great spot on the Laurier Bridge from which to take in the fire-in-the-sky-show before one last round of backyard beers and conversation. A deep thank you goes out to my backyard hosts, and the good people at the LCBO and Beer Store, without whom the day would not have been nearly so "happy".

Oh, and on another note: am I seeing things, or was Paul Martin sitting in the audience sporting a bright red mini cowboy hat for the opening hours of the downtown stage show? Is this supposed to help the problem of Western alienation?? Maybe on Canada Day all can be forgiven, and it really doesn't matter as long as nobody mentions the dreaded 'E word'.