While Boggie beat me to being the first to do so, I would also like to offer one and all a happy Canada Day.

I'm not sure if it's the singable national anthem, the love of hockey, the bilingualism, or the gaily-hued currency, but I have a real fondness for our neighbor to the north. I've only been twice (four times if you count the Ontario drive-throughs to get from Boston to Detroit and back), but look forward to future trips, especially if I get to see any of the other provinces up close. I'd like to spend some time kicking around Nova Scotia and PEI (I apparently have family, distantly related, on PEI).

And, just to show that I'm not promoting a Western bias, happy Independence Day to all of you in Burundi and Rwanda, happy Republic Day in Ghana, happy Union/Foundation Day in Somalia, happy Unity Day in Zambia, and enjoy your Bank Holiday in such locations as Guatemala, Taiwan, and Iraq (where every day is a Bank Holiday, unless we've gotten the looting under control).