Happy 150th Canada Day

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July 1, 2017 – Happy 150th Birthday Canada, I am so grateful to call you home.

Today, for Canada Day, for Canada’s 150th birthday, we decided to celebrate by trying something new. Paddleboarding….because it is hot and I’d rather fall into the cold ocean on a hot day than a cold one.

And I was pretty sure I was going to humiliate myself by falling in.

We started off on our knees for a bit, to get the feeling of the board, and then I turned around and found Kirk standing. When I asked “How’d you do that?!?” he replied, simply, “I just stood up”.

A little closer and I might have taken care of that for him…..smartass!

He said “It’s OK, you can stay on your knees and paddle….”

Yeah…right.

So up I went, wobbled a bit, and there were a few squeals when waves caught me broadside. But it didn’t take long to get my balance figured out and relax into it. Although while it was relaxing, there were a million tiny microadjustments every second as the breeze, the small waves, the wash from boats, and the current all working in different ways as we reached forward and pulled back with the long paddles. It is wonderful for balance, because if you don’t have good balance you will be swimming a lot!

What a wonderful thing to try, and within forty minutes I’d declared “I want one!”

Turns out I didn’t think I’d like paddleboarding, but in actual fact, I apparently need one.

I’d always thought it looked like a stupid recreation. I take that back though. It was a very different way to be out on the water. Silent, like the kayak, but not confined to one position. When my feet cramped up I was able to put the paddle on the bow and use it to lean on as I stood up on my toes to stretch out my feet…and then lean back to stretch out my calfs.

I thought I’d dump for sure, but I didn’t, only wobbled a few times when figuring out the best way to attack boat wash coming at us. But it was quiet, and peaceful, and we carried on conversation as we went. I even stopped a woman on her paddle board and we stood there in the middle of the inlet having a conversation about paddleboards and paddleboarding, it was like I was standing on the street having a conversation, but we were standing on narrow boards floating in the ocean. It was weirdly wonderful.

After we got back to land and walked it off, it was lunch and a beer at the Deep Cove Brewery (fabulous food and beer by the way!), and then down to Waterfront Park to wander and capture the obligatory Canada flag on Canada Day photo.

A little flag carefully placed in the sand near Mosquito Creek marina caught my attention and highlighted the special relationship Canadians have with water, because we have so much of it. We have three oceans, thousands upon thousands of lakes, and millions of kilometres of rivers and creeks available for enjoyment of all Canadians. Most of those of us born and raised here grew up spending summer swimming on lakes and floating down streams.

Water is part of life here.

On the pier at Lonsdale a Canadian naval vessel was at dock and we saw a wedding party coming down the pier, presumably the couple was married at the end of the pier, overlooking the waters towards Vancouver proper. And a beautiful day for it. As the newly married couple walked back down the pier, they were invited aboard the ship by the crew to have their photo taken from below, and they clearly took advantage and had fun with it 🙂

A BBQ to round out the afternoon, and tonight we will watch the fireworks from the breakwater at Burrard Yacht Club, close enough to see the show, far enough away from the crowd to keep me happy.

Happy Canada Day!

117 Photos in 2017 – 33. Home Sweet Home, 60. Illustrate a Love Song, & 98. Lazy Days Of Summer

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