Hello, friend…
This fine country I live in, Canada, celebrated it’s 149th birthday today (as I write this it is still July 1st). And that means one thing… fireworks. Well, it means a ton of other things but I know I’ll be seeing fireworks and that just takes me to a happy place. I love fireworks. If I ever get married, I want to have fireworks at some point in the celebration. This is the only thing I know for sure about my possibly getting married one day… oh!… I am also totes down for a wedding a la City Hall as I want it to be small. Okay, so there are two things I know for sure about that.
AAAAANYHOOZIES.
Back to Canada Day and the anticipated fireworks. As I get older, I am less and less a fan of crowds. So I tend to watch fireworks from a fair distance away, preferably my rooftop or window. Living in the city allows for this, multiple angles and space to view the gorgeous collection of lights and colours. This year, my friend suggested we go see some fireworks and I suggested we hit a park in my neighbourhood… I saw on Twitter that the community group was holding an event. Perfecto!
And you know what? It was absolutely perfect. We grabbed a few moments on the swings before the children discovered adults were on there reliving their youth… we warmed up with some coffee… and joined the line for free glow sticks & sparklers. There we were, in the midtown of Toronto, near a splash pad and a community ballpark with children dancing to hits of our youth (i.e Glass Tiger, anyone?!) in a style of dance we lovingly described as ” the I’m being swarmed by bees dance”. Kids are the best that way, they just DO. Judgement comes later… when they’re like 18 years old.
But to a music playlist that took me back to when I was younger and carefree, the whole shebang took me back to when my parents would take my brother & I to the park down the street to watch the fireworks. It wasn’t anything super fancy, but it was done with such love. The dads set up the stuff and we all got to watch this awesome show of colours and sparkles. It was like I was 10 years old again, when I sat beside Todd in Grade 5 and dreamed of being famous. I loved, loved loooooved Todd. Todd would break my heart, multiple times… boys still break my heart… that hasn’t changed a whole lot. But for few moments tonight, something reminded me that magic is still possible. The sparkles and colours of fireworks continue to dazzle me! I looked up and cheered and applauded with everyone, and thought to myself of all the cool things I get to do. Because I get to do some pretty cool shit! Not everything in my life is where I’d like it to be, there are a lot of bumps, but I haven’t lost my sense of wonder. I like that. 10 year old me would approve of that. 🙂
So, here is some Glass Tiger to take you into the wee hours… go dance the bees away.
xo.
Marriage & the Single Girl 