holidays by the sea shore

as we are a dual-nation family we have had the blessing of two holidays - canada day is on the 1st of july, and today is, of course, the 4th of july. liam took a four-day weekend and we celebrated on saturday in a canadian coastal town that was filled with market booths, a parade with bagpipes and mounties, spotting seastars & jellyfish on the dock while the tide was out and lots of beach-combing for our family.

we each got to pick our lunch from the myriad of offerings. liam had samosas, buck and pink got burritos and i had an incredible lamb kabob platter from the amazing turkish caterer. ethnic food in our neck of the woods is a rare thing indeed. we all enjoyed the day immensely and must have counted over 200 dogs - everybody had a dog that day. we really missed our emmy.

once we had combed the public access area of the beach we turned left and followed the shore (and the quickly rising tides) to explore what we couldn't see through the forest. it led us to our own private stretch of beach front - miles and miles - no homes or boats - just a gorgeous stretch of protected beachfront. it was like having our own sacred space. we explored the tidal pools, sat on an old abandoned picnic table and emptied our multiple pockets filled with beach glass and sand smoothed pottery pieces (my favorite). it was truly a glorious day. a lovely breeze, 77 degrees, big puffy clouds and not a soul in sight.

on our walk home a man was letting his dogs run free - one of them was an english golden retriever who swam the waves to greet us. she was our emmy reincarnate - liam and i looked at each other in amazement. she was the same, small, shaggy girl who we could never keep out of the water. it was a short visit from a very old friend. what a beautiful day!

today we are off to celebrate our american side along the coast of maine - we hear tell of buskers, vendors, parades and eventually fireworks - and i'm sure we'll find a beach or two to fill our pockets again with the bounty of the seashore. happy holidays to you!