Happy Birthday to the Sovereigns, and happy Victoria Day to our Canadian Dopers.
Thanks Johnny L.A.! Just watching the parade here in Victoria–the biggest Victoria Day parade in Canada. For over 50 years, we’ve had a couple of dozen high school bands from Washington, Oregon and northern CA join us: a hands-across-the-border thing that means more than ever this year. And it was good to see our military units get cheers along the parade route this year, instead of the usual indifference (or even hostility).
I’m just waiting for my 2 babies to go past on our flatbed: the 1887 13-pounder RML field gun and our 1942 Willys (with some beautiful young ladies dressed as WW2 Canadian Women’s Army Corps inside).
And tonight…fireworks!!
Did somebody say “Willys”? Here’s my 1946 Willys CJ2A.
How 'bout fixing me up with a pretty Canadian girl? You know, to keep up international relations, and all… 
Thanks Johnny L.A.
Ahh - 27 degrees, sunny, no wind, no clouds.
All in all, it’s a pretty decent Victoria Day - I’m going to be heading back out to my balcony in a minute to check on my pigeons.
Thanks!
Now if only I had actually had the day off instead of going to work for a show-- and then finding out at one minute to air THAT SOMEBODY SCREWED UP AND WE DIDN’T HAVE A TIMESLOT!!!
<snif> A wasted holiday!
Thanks, **Johnny L.A.[/b0!
Alice, I wish I had some of your weather; here, it was raining earlier today, and it’s only 10 degrees!
Still, it’s a holiday and makes for some pretty long weekends for some people I know. (they get Friday off school, so it’s an extended long weekend for them)
Darn coding… I knew I should have previewed more carefully.
Hey! Thanks-I spent the day (well, 3 hours of it) watching Star Wars…bliss! The weather was even beautiful! Hip-hip-horray!
Don’t forget Dollard des Ormeaux!
Happy Victoria Day to my favorite neighbors!
It is wonderful having you in my “backyard”.
And special ::huggles:: and ::smooches:: to rjk recuperatiing in the hospital. Hope you feel like new really soon.
Much Love to ALL,
Cheri
Can anyone explain why Canadians have Memorial Day a week early? My Canadian friend had no idea.
For the simple reason that it’s not Memorial Day - that’s an American holiday.
Victoria Day, as the name suggests, is a holiday dating back to Queen Victoria’s reign, to celebrate her birthday (which was actually May 24, but is celebrated on the third Monday in May, to make a long weekend 
) It’s also the official day to celebrate the reigning monarch’s birthday - 21 gun salute at the Legislature and everything.
So, what’s Memorial Day? I’ve never known.
Thanks for the well wishes.
I spent the the only three hours of sunshine we had working under the hot sun in my flowerbed.
It became nice and cool as soon as I was done.
Of course I know that Victoria Day is not Memorial Day and that it originated as a celebration of Queen Victoria. I’m teasing Canadians for 1) having traditions that are suspiciously similar to American traditions and 2) celebrating another country’s monarchs despite supposedly being a sovereign democracy.
Aren’t your two reasons logically inconsistent? How is “celebrating another country’s monarchs” a tradition that is “suspiciously similar to American traditions”?
And in any event, the celebration is to commemorate the Queen of Canada - Lizabeth has several different crowns.
I was referring to the fact that the timing is exactly one week before Memorial Day.
I’ve had Canadians tell me they’re embarassed to have an English monarch as their head of state.
Embarassed? Most of us never think about it…