I went to the Stampede Parade yesterday. I loved watching the crowd as it gives such a good indication of the city where I live. Some thoughts/observations.
I went to the parade with 2 women from work. We had a great time. As I took a moment to reflect, I realized that in some parts of the world the three of us would never be allowed to meet, let alone hang out together. One woman is Chinese from Malaysia. One is a francophone, black woman from Quebec, and I am a gay, white women from Alberta.
Watching the parade was cool. I liked seeing the kid in the cadets with a turban. I like seeing the differences among the Canadian, American, Australian and Taiwanese marching bands. I liked seeing people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, sitting next to each other cheering, laughing, clapping and yahooing at the same things. I liked watching the kids put their names in chalk circles on the street to see who could win "horse poop bingo" (this is a long-standing tradition). What I liked the most was realizing again that we are all the same inside, no matter what we look like on the outside.
And this is what I love about Canada. We all get the chance to meet each other. There are people from all over the world and yesterday was a celebration of all that is good in everyone's culture. What a great way to start a 10 day party.
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