Canada Rocks
Editorial Article Written by Lesley Lorenz
Nanaimo Magazine, May 2007
I’ll let you in on a little secret – happy is good. Tragedy is easy to find, and our media seems to delight in pointing it out. The truth is, though, there a thousand fantastic things that can put a smile on your lips and a skip in your step. It won’t make the front page, but:
I took my kids for a walk around Westwood Lake, and as always it took about an hour to travel 400 meters. That’s because my kids are of the unconscious philosophy that it’s the stuff you find just off the path that is too cool to miss. Just past the brambles we find an owl pellet, which leads to the discussion:
Teenage daughter: “If owls only regurgitate, do they still have a butt? And if they do, what do they use it for?”
Youngest son: “Just farting”
Middle son: “Storage”
They then decide to build a fairy house, which means transferring lots of rock moss and bearded tree moss to a location near a stump with a hole, preferably in the vicinity of a tiny creek and a clump of mushrooms. The boys make a wee weapons stash to ward off wayward toads and dragonflies. They are pretty sure beer bottle caps are the exact size for shields.
Later in the afternoon, as we waited in line, a fourteen year-old boy in front of us rested his chin on his mother’s shoulder while she ordered Timbits. He didn’t spray graffiti anywhere or scare any seniors or even bring his skateboard in. Nobody had to ask him to turn off his i-pod and he even grinned at the staff trainee as she selected the appropriate flavours.
The day you entered Canada – whether through Customs or direct delivery from your mama, you won the lottery of life. You aren’t in the desert of Kandahar or a mud hut in Cambodia. Your rights are protected and valued and honoured. This place rocks.
© Lesley Lorenz