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| Written by Susan Hollingshead | |||
| Monday, 28 May 2007 08:40 | |||
 In Canada our May long weekend falls on the last Monday preceding May 25th and it is to celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday. We have been observing this day since it was first introduced in 1901 even though British royalty no longer rules our country; it is a good enough excuse for a long weekend and a kick-off for the summer season! This weekend is our American neighbour’s first long weekend of the season and we have been aware of it since we owned Grandview Lodge Resort where half of our guests were from the USA. We have always known today was called Memorial Day but to be honest, we paid no attention to its meaning. Though today means most Americans have a holiday and they spend it much like we do our Victoria Day, with family and friends, it is a far more solemn holiday than ours. Memorial Day here is a day to pay homage to all the fallen soldiers from the many wars that the US has been involved in. Though the first official observance of this day goes back to 1868, it wasn’t until after WW1 that it included fallen soldiers from all wars and it didn’t officially become a countrywide federal holiday until 1971. It seems Memorial Day is actually akin to our Remembrance Day on November 11th! The sun surprised us today by remaining present all day and so we took advantage of it and toured around the area on our motorcycle. While most businesses were closed, the Amish folks who work in them were busy ploughing fields, planting gardens and doing laundry; not exactly taking the day off. I have to wonder how this day affects them with their non-violent ways, refusal to bear arms and non-participation in wars. While it is quite possibly/probably (?) the fact that Canada and the USA did go to war that allows us all the freedom to practice any religion we want and consequently the lifestyles of the Amish, to them it must be a conundrum of sorts. There is rain in the forecast again for the next three days so it was wonderful to see the sun and to have the extra day to sleep in. Here a couple of scenes I captured today.
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