Everybody must be away on vacation. After the July 1st celebration, it appears that not much else is happening in Smithers. Therefore, here are various items I found about Canada.
On CBC Radio-Canada there is an educational streaming service that has incredible content for the Canadian educational community. Check out Curio.ca, it provides teachers and students with access to more than 6,500 audiovisual resources.
Tim Horton’s (Timmies): It has been around for more than five decades and when the first Timmies opened in Hamilton, May 1964, the cost for a cup of coffee was 10 cents. As of December 2016 there are 4,613 locations in Canada reaching as far north as Iqaluit, Nunavut, south to Kingsville, Ont., west is Campbell River, B.C. and far east is St. John’s N.L. If laid end to end Timbits would stretch to the moon and back nearly five times! RRRoll up the Rim to Win began in 1986 with the biggest prize that year: a box of Timbits.
I love books and have a huge collection. Five Canadian classics: Late Nights on Air, author Elizabeth Hay; Fifth Business, author Robertson Davies; Green Grass, Running Water, author Thomas King, Obasan, author Joy Kogawa, Volkswagen Blues, author Jacques Poulin.
I pretty much favor staycations but if you have a bit of a travel bug try a shinrin-yoku (forest bathing). Immerse yourself in the woods and reap its rewards. Canadians are encouraged to “take a hike.” There are amazing trails in our province, even The Great Trail (Trans Canada Trail) along with The Grouse Grind, nicknamed Mother Nature’s StairMaster. In honour of Canada’s 150th, Parks Canada is offering free admission to more than 100 national parks, marine conservation areas and historic sites across the country for the whole of 2017! So a little forest bathing is good for the soul as well as the body.
Some Canadian achievements: Pablum, standard time, the Canadarm, corn and soybean heat units, the concept of rockets for space flight, the mapping of the brain, the Macintosh apple and durum wheat. Something I discovered is that there is a way to paddle a canoe, it is called the Canadian stroke, best for travelling in a straight line, less tiring than the J-stroke. Something that is very Canadian as you just go with the flow and can travel miles and miles without much effort in steering.
Closing with: “It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” – Dale Carnegie.