Was it just me, or was that first week of July a little bit confusing? Rather than a normal Canada Day long weekend, we had Canada Day on a Tuesday, which meant a lot of people took the June 29 and 30 weekend and stretched it out to July 1. I spent the rest of the week trying to figure out what day it was!
Added to that, the Calgary Stampede started on the 4th of July… and rather than wearing my Glorious 4th t-shirt that I’ve worn every July 4 for years, in celebration for our American relatives and friends, I dug out my Calgary Stampede t-shirt, knowing that this year, that will be a much happier event than the Americans’ national holiday probably would be in the midst of cross country turmoil, with the horrendous floods that started on July 4 adding onto the stress. I did check to see that none of them were in the flood ravaged areas, with our Texas niece in San Antonio and her children in Lubbock. The other relatives, in California and Oregon and friends in Arizona and North Dakota are thankfully even further out of harm’s way.
Relief over that left me free to enjoy the first two days of watching the Stampede rodeo and chuckwagon races on Friday and Saturday, watching rodeo in person at Stoney Lake on Sunday with ample time to come home and enjoy the wagon races in the evening, and both afternoon and evening events most of the week, up to Saturday when we went to the wedding of our second granddaughter in three weeks, but that left Sunday free to see the championship runs of both the Stampede rodeo and chuckwagons. Having been part of a chuckwagon crew down there in the 1980s, it boggles my mind to see one of our outriders being one of the top drivers and some of the kids who used to run around in the wagon barns with our kids now grown up and driving wagons as well. The barns they roared around in as kids are no longer there, with today’s wagon teams now housed in what was then (and probably still is, at other times of the year) the racehorse barn.
We cheer them on, commiserate when they knock over barrels and wish they could hear our cheers or our good advice, and keep our fingers crossed that clean runs will lead them to the championship.
With the Stampede over, there is still a very busy calendar for the rest of the summer as people head out on vacations, many now choosing to stay on this side of the border and maybe even in Alberta.
Right around here there is lots to do, with many communities holding their annual fairs and festivals – the always-popular Vermilion Fair is next weekend - and activities for the kids popping up all over. The Northern Lights Library System, with libraries across the area, have summer reading programs for the kids, and in St. Paul, Ashmont and Elk Point, FCSS has summer day camps, with all sorts of fun to be had. The Stoney Lake Rodeo may be over but that community still has some rodeo action to come, with another round of the barrel racing, pole bending and goat tying that started in mid June going tonight to add up some more points before next Tuesday’s Family Rodeo finals, and I plan to be there to cheer on the competitors.
Even after those winners head home with their trophies, there will be five more weeks of summer vacation to enjoy, whether you head to the lakes to fish, or maybe to water ski, paddleboard or go swimming – checking out for blue-green algae first, of course. Or you might go camping, provided there are enough showers now and then to allow campfires so you can cook up a year’s worth of ‘s’mores, or just sit around enjoying a pleasant summer evening. Some will go to visit relatives and friends, or invite them to come to your place to catch up on what they have been doing, and to show off your yard, spiffed up for Communities in Bloom.
Happy Summer, everyone
