Just kidding – but only because I do not have a handy Canadian five-spot.
The story here from Huffington Post. Wilfred Laurier, Canada’s seventh Prime Minister and first fracophone leader, is immortalized on the five dollar bill and bears a resemblance to Star Trek’s Mr. Spock (RIP Leonard Nimoy).
The Canadian government says that “Spocking” the bills is not illegal – nor is it encouraged, eh?
Four hundred-eighty years ago, on June 9, 1534, Jacques Cartier’s party sailed into the St. Lawrence River. This excursion began in France in April of 1534. Cartier’s mission was to find gold and spices, and passage by water from Europe to Asia. While he failed in his mission to find a water route to China, Cartier had discovered an important water route into what would become Canada and the United States. In fact Canada was named by Cartier. He met with Iroquois people who gave him directions upriver to a town or settlement. “Kanata” signifies a village in the Huron-Iroquois tongue. The word has come to be the name for an entire nation.
Cartier’s ship Grand Hermine
While Cartier recognized the North American continent for what it was – a separate land mass from Europe and Asia, he hoped that the St. Lawrence would furnish passage to China. That is why the rapids near Montreal are named the Lachine Rapids.
The Lachine Rapids are a series of rapids on the Saint Lawrence River, between the Island of Montreal and the south shore. They are located near the former city of Lachine. The Lachine Rapids contain large standing waves because the water volume and current do not change with respect to the permanent features in the riverbed, namely its shelf-like drops. Seasonal variation in the water flow does not change the position of the waves, although it does change their size and shape. The rapids are about 3 miles (4.8 km) in length. In the past these represented a considerable barrier to maritime traffic. Until the construction of the Lachine Canal through Montreal, the rapids had to be portaged.
Refs. America’s Library, Wikipedia.
The Inuvik Sunrise Celebration – the annual celebration of the return of the sun after an absence of about 28 days. A bonfire and fireworks add to this celebration on the Saturday closest to the sunrise.
More about Inuvik at L’Encyclopedie canadienne.
Firearms, fibers, any news or behaviors that make me say, "hmm, let me take another look at this."
I still miss my man, but my aim is getting better.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 