Red and White in Niagara Falls

 Canada Day on Queen Street in Niagara Falls, ON

As my son made his way over to the reptile exhibit with his camera, I held his place in the seemingly endless line for the inflatable slide. As I stood there, inching forward at a pace that would cause a child to bounce around long before reaching the compressed air, my eyes wandered among the crowd. I enjoyed the widespread display of Canadian spirit - residents and visitors came to the party in all their red and white glory. They sported flags dancing from their headbands like antennae and flags waving from sticks shoved into the taut hair of their ponytails. There were flags embroidered onto their backpacks, decorating the bands around their hats, and painted onto their cheeks. One guy even sported an actual Canada flag draped across his shoulders. They donned red and white striped socks, red and white t-shirts, and wore red and white streamers woven into their hair. Their offspring were carted along wearing red and white onesies as they focused on red balloons high overhead dancing from their strollers. Even the playground equipment at the end of Queen Street appeared patriotic in its fresh coat of red paint. And why not - it's such a great colour even on the other 364 days of the year!