July 2nd and 3rd, 2008

Even though Google may have neglected us (no special logo yesterday apparently) I'm here to make my Canada Day contribution.

Recently papers have published a list of the top 100 things that symbolize Canada. There were regional variations, of course, but plenty of commonalities too. I purposely didn't read through the entire list because I wanted to make my own. So, as they say, without further ado (and in no particular order other than the way they come out of my head), here goes ... (hope I can make it all the way to 100!)

1. the maple leaf (as a logo on our flag etc.)
2. the Rockies
3. Niagara Falls
4. the Gaspé peninsula
5. poutine
6. tourtière
7. salmon
8. dulse
9. Anne of Green Gables
   
10. L. M. Montgomery
11. bilingualism
    
12. French immersion
13. Celine Dion
14. Anne Murray
15. Gordon Lightfoot
16. Stuart MacLean and his Vinyl Cafe
17. hockey
18. lacrosse
19. the Montreal Canadiens
20. Pierre Trudeau
21. Norman Bethune
22. peacekeepers
23. the Cabot Trail
24. loons
25. moose
26. beaver
27. bears
    
28. Canada geese
29. snow geese
30. the Newfoundland dog
31. the Nova Scotia Duck Toller Retriever dog
32. the Annapolis Valley
33. the Okanagan Valley
34. the Canadian Pacific Railroad
35. the motto "from sea to sea to sea"
    (or, I suppose, A Mari usque ad Mare usque ad Mare)
36. Jacques Cartier
37. the Voyageurs
38. Samuel de Champlain
39. the Hudson Bay Company
40. the fur trade
41. inukshuks
42. the Prairies
43. Churchill Manitoba's polar bears
44. Percé
45. the CBC
46. the St. Lawrence river ... oh no, stuck at 46!!!
    
47. (later) snowstorms
48. ice storms
49. igloos
50. Vieux Québec & the Plains of Abraham
    
51. the Quebec winter carnival & Bonhomme Carnaval
    
52. the Halifax explosion
53. Signal Hill Newfoundland
54. standard time (Sanford Fleming)
55. Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone
56. James Naismith and basketball
57. canoes
58. kayaks
59. the Great Lakes
60. confederation (1867 Charlottetown)
    
61. medicare
62. maple trees
63. the Yukon gold rush
64. dog sledding
65. dinosaurs - especially in Alberta's badlands
66. Wayne Gretzky
67. figure skating
68. skiing (downhill and cross-country)
69. the Acadians
70. Gaelic
71. Native Peoples: ex. the Iroquois confederacy (6 tribes) and
    Shanadithit, last of the Beothuks
72. Viking settlements in Newfoundland
73. "In Flander's Fields" by John MacRae
74. 2nd largest country in the world!!!
75. whales (esp. narwhals - unicorns of the sea)
76. seals (and, sadly, the seal hunt)
77. "The Road to Avonlea" TV series
78. hydroelectricity
79. wheat fields
80. Algonquin Park
81. Upper Canada Village
82. the RCMP - especially the Musical Ride
83. the Snowbirds (Canadian forces precision flyers)
84. snowbirds (people who go south for the winter)
85. (continued July 3rd - this is tough!) the Bluenose
86. loonies and toonies
87. forestry
88. mining - coal, nickel and now diamonds
89. cultural mosaic
90. the C. N. Tower
91. the Calgary Stampede
92. Banff (and other touristy towns like Jasper and Whistler)
    
93. the Rideau Canal
94. Parliament Hill
95. Bryan Adams
96. Upper Canada Village
97. the Trans Canada Trail (walking/biking)
98. the Trans Canada Highway
99. totem poles
100. home - the greatest country in the world (at least for me:)
     

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Whew ... that was a lot harder than I thought. Coming up with a list of 100 anything is difficult. And I know if I go and read the original list now I'll be smacking myself on the head and saying "how could I possibly have forgotten x?" So I think for now I just won't read it! A belated "Happy Canada Day" to all.