Yesterday we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with the Thomsons in London, Ontario. We met the Thomsons (Sally, George, Buffy, Sam and Tim) last year in Chidlow at Glen’s mum and stepdad’s place as they were visiting long lost relatives (literally). When they heard we were coming to Canada, they very kindly invited us to Thanksgiving lunch and, more than a year later, we made it.

We hired a car from Avis and set off about 11am. I drove. Glen stressed for about half an hour, sucking in his breath while I zipped down Jarvis St. I enjoyed getting behind the wheel again as my earlier fear had been replaced with familiarity. Glen wasn’t quite comfortable yet but thankfully he buried his head in his book and let me be.

Canadians love to speed. The speed limit might say 100 kmh maximum but everyone does at least 110, if not 120. We passed a few police cars parked on the side of the freeway but they must only move for anyone doing over 130. Having been heavily indoctrinated by “speeding kills” ads and double-demerit long weekends, I felt like shouting at the cars that cut across one another at 125 kmh and telling them off for so recklessly endangering the lives of people who in the majority were on their way to spend time with family. Slow down. Save lives. But I kept my words to myself and thankfully there were no accidents on the way.

What was on the way, however, were fall colours. We’re starting to see a bit of red, orange and yellow from our apartment window but the journey to London gave us an even better display. Though not yet completely red and orange, I was fascinated by the beautiful display we saw. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It was quite distracting. I’m really looking forward to our trip to Ottawa this weekend so we can go to Gatineau Park and hopefully the trees will all be red.

We arrived a quarter past one and we were warmly welcomed. More people arrived soon after. We sat outside on the deck, having nibbles and filling people in on what we’d been up to, finding out about other people’s lives, and hearing of new places to go visit (Polar Bear Express is now on the list). The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky, which made a difference from the rain the day before.

We had a big turkey lunch, followed by a lot of desserts. Oh, and our wedding seems to be planned. When we met last year, Glen and I had just got engaged (the day before in fact) so it was a hot topic. Buffy and Sam make amazing decorative cakes (teapots, topiaries, penguins…you name it) so they were down for making the wedding cake. And at lunch, a family friend, Pam, offered a venue for the reception and ceremony. It seems like all we’ll have to do is show up. Glen and I really need to pull our finger out and make a decision on what we’re going to do.

All too soon, it was time to go home. Sam went off to work and everyone else followed soon after. It was such a nice afternoon and we were made to feel like part of the family, which is so nice when you’re half a world away from relatives. We’ve been invited for Christmas and to check out the Sugar Bush in March (a grove of maple trees where we can get fresh maple syrup, tapped straight from the source).

Glen drove home. I think he would have preferred me to so then he could finish his book but in fairness, he took the keys. Traffic was not as fun on the way back, with lots of people returning to Toronto and clogging up the expressway. We returned the car at 9pm and luckily there was someone there to give the keys to so I didn’t have to deal with it this morning.

And in case you’re wondering what Canadian Thanksgiving is about (US Thanksgiving happens at the end of November):

A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.

There are various historical attributes to it, but nothing I can see shows anything important actually happened on that day. Looks like everyone was just thankful that the crops produced and they weren’t going to starve. After the American Revolution, American refugees who wanted to get out of a newly independent United States and live in Canada, brought the American thanksgiving traditions of turkey, pumpkin and squash with them. Thanks guys.