July 1st From The Other Side

I love the United States of America.  I love it for its sheer humanity; great dreams and noble intentions coupled with ambitions of imperial dominance set in mind to gain the most glittering crown avarice could ever offer.  I love it for its achievements in human progress which it has come to increasingly display alongside a realistic look at a rather barbaric past of slavery, slaughter, reckless greed, and xenophobia.  I love how the best and worst of humanity are found and acknowledged without pretense here.  Sure, some history books and some pundits gloss over the issues and sugar coat an incredible history.  This, however, is by and large a country wherein memorials to genocide stand out every bit as public as the temples to liberty erected in various capitals both state and Washington alike.  The United States of America, you see, is very human.  I would dare so much as to say that no other country in the world is so unabashedly human. 

I never have left her for very long.  Oh sure, my heart has longed to return to where it thinks it belongs across the northern border.  My sense of adventure and imagination has even called me to Mexico.  Both places are wonderful, quite different bookends to the North American collection.  Canada has, until the last forty years anyway, been a country of diffident conservatism borne from a defensive nationalism.  Mexico, in contrast, again except for the most recent decades, has been a country of reckless liberalism borne from a confused sense of national identity.  The United States of America though?  The United States has had ALL of this about it, with every element of the political battlefield making a mark in the war zone.  The allure of freedom to make a mark in the fight in whatever way one chooses is, well, intoxicating.  The greatest thoughts and ideas come from people looking for action!  And yet...

Something can be said for the place of peace across the northern border.  Maybe there is something to stepping back and taking a look at so many great thoughts and ideas from outside the fishbowl in a state of sobriety.  (Take a look at any post in this blog labeled "Canada" to find out more).  Maybe there is something to a country that, if not for the War of 1812, could have very easily been a part of its southern neighbor and in many ways today does not stand so distant from her in many ways.  There has to be something about Canada in and of itself that makes Canadians want to proudly be what they are, even an expat like myself.  I could probably drone on and on about what such things would be, but I keep finding that as time goes on, learning what it is to be Canadian, or American, or Mexican, well, it keeps unfolding in a truly North American voyage of discovery. 

Canada is a land of the present world still very much connected to a much colder past of thousands of feet of ice.  No political pun intended. 

Canada is a place of incredible wild and scenic landscapes that have managed to remain outside the realm of the salesman or the government clerk, being at once both accessible and inaccessible by the people.  Again, no pun here.

Canada has deserts, prairies, forests, mountains, lakes, tundra, and even rainforests, a diversity just like the United States but with a lot less in the way of pure extremes.  Definitely not a pun in sight, keep moving folks.

Canada is my country, a house that I respect and love from the distance of the louder and interesting house next door.  That said, this is also my country, and when I speak of a view from houses to other houses, I really mean it.  See, I have had problems for some time now in distinguishing one side of the river from the other:

Looking north into Lake Huron from atop the Blue Water Bridge.  On this side is Sarnia, Ontario, and the "far" shore is Port Huron, Michigan.  Except for the lack of Harvey's in Port Huron, they are pretty damn similar. 

The first born used the rivers as highways, not borders.  My French ancestors did pretty much the same thing (they figured mountains made for better borders).  Then the English came along, and you know how they are about the whole liberty equating to property thing.  The Americans are even more keen on it!  Is this what makes Canada Canada and the United States the United States?  Property?  I mean sure, philosophy has a lot to do with it, as does perspective, but I find the differences there to be a matter of degree rather than even sides of a coin.  Maybe one day this bridge will still have a toll booth, but that will be the only stop sign on it.  Maybe then we will know what the meaning of things like July 1st and July 4th really are, understood in a context of a political history but not still mired in it.

At least this July 1st, in 2013, I can say with a bit more confidence than I could on a July 1st, 2002 after a certain September 11th, 2001, that July 1st is not so alien from July 4th.  A sensitive topic, to be sure.  But American Voyages is all about putting sensitive business aside and taking a look at the blood and guts of the continent.  Here's a crazy idea then, how about either tomorrow or the 3rd, you know, just in time for the 4th, we take a look at two things that both of these countries have quite the history with: language and immigration.  Maybe then we can see what these days mean to a lot of people.