Today is a big day if you are a Canadian … not only is it Canada Day, but it is the day to celebrate the sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary of Canada’s confederation.

This is the official image commemorating the event.  The  emblem’s thirteen diamonds represent the provinces and territories, and the red diamonds are the initial four provinces at confederation time.  I am sure that the Canadian children already learned all about the sesquicentennial before school closed for the Summer.  I know we had big doses of both British and Canadian history as young pupils back in the E.A. Orr Elementary School days.

When I was still living in Canada, there was much hoopla when our country got its very own flag on February 15, 1965, then the Union Jack was no longer flying on every flagpole.

There will be events throughout Canada to mark this occasion, and, it will be much like when the USA celebrated its Bicentennial back in 1976.  You  might recall the special coins minted that year, and, I remember collecting those quarters from each of the 50 states in 1976 – did you do this too?  I was working at the diner that Summer and  many of our customers asked that we save Bicentennial quarters so they could complete their collection, sometimes for themselves, or their kids or grand kids.

Today was a big celebration for this Canadian gal as well, as I passed over that halfway mark for miles walked this year.  As you know, every year, I try to pass the prior year’s walking miles … last year I walked 754 miles, so, for 2017, I will need to walk 755 miles. My mini-goal each year is to reach half of those miles at the midpoint of the year.  This morning I did just that at 377 miles, and, now I must strive to stride toward that ultimate goal.

[Image of official emblem of Canada 150 from Wikipedia]