Natal Day

In different provinces, the 1st of August weekend is celebrated for different reasons. Here in NS it is Natal Day. It commemorates the founding of Halifax. Which would be sort of like Ontario celebrating the founding of Toronto, I guess. I live in Halifax though, so I haven't heard a single grump about it.

We went to the fireworks on Saturday night with the kids. One of her colleagues from grad school invited us to a pot-luck and fireworks party. It was awesome. She lives no more than a block from the bridge where the pyrotechnics were being launched and the party moved to her roof just before things were to get going.

I knew that the roof was part of the plan but I expected them to have some sort of... well, I don't know what I expected, but I didn't expect a 15' ladder going from the 2nd story fire-escape up to to the roof. At least it was a flat roof, but I was certain that we wouldn't get Connor up that ladder, and I was certain that Mika would attack the ladder with such gusto that it would start a tragic-comic chain of events.

Connor was scared of the ladder, and I offered to take him over to the median on the street where a hundred or so others had gathered, but he did it. Mika must be growing up because she climbed the ladder without hesitation, but with the right amount of caution. Especially on the dismount. They even came down without too much fuss and Connor -- realizing that he was a bit too eager to get down and the party was still going -- went back up and down again.

The fireworks themselves were rather cool. We didn't have the best view of the side of the bridge, but they seemed to use it to good effect. Some people were disappointed that the fog was low enough that the higher fireworks disappeared, but it sort of looked like the Aurora Borealis the fog would nearly randomly glow green, red or blue. It was a cool, if not spectacular, effect.

I can honestly say that, as a child, I never spent any time on a roof with my parents. Let alone at night. Watching fireworks. I hope that that's as cool for them as it was for me.