Tossing Pebbles in the Stream

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

God Save Our Gracious Queen

It has been an interesting weekend reading a lot about the Queen and the festivities around the Diamond Jubilee anniversary of her sixtieth year on the throne. You would the anthem we sing to celebrate her was written for her. She is certainly gracious among her many attribute: dutiful, unflappable, tough minded, motherly, long suffering, and she has been said to have no ego. She has been the perfect sovereign for a democratic parliamentary form of monarchy. Of all the royal family members she has consistently been admired the most.

To stick with with a demanding job for sixty years when she did not expect it to be hers when she was a child, is quite remarkable. She accepted a call to duty without complaint and has fulfilled it nobly. Sixty years is a long time. If her health is as good as her mother's was, we may some day celebrate her 85th year. Hard to imagine. No one is in a hurry for her to give up the throne. Her commitment was for a life-time. One can only wish her well.

Reviewing the flotilla on the Thames.

Under nasty weather conditions the Queen and her husband Prince Philip stood instead of sitting on the chairs in front of them. I could not have done it. My knees would have given out in the first hour.

Don't you just love the hats. Although I am not sure I would trust a person who couldn't get their hat on straight. When did it become fashionable for one's hat to be at a jaunty angle.

The Breasts from the Wests

I was pleased to see this crew of dragon boat paddlers among the vessels on the Thames.

These women are all breast cancer survivors. This paddling activity was first done in Canada even though there were those who thought paddling for breast cancer survivors might not be good for them. It turned out to be a wonderful experience, physically, socially and spiritually so that now such women participate in dragon boat races in numerous countries.

The canoe in the foreground is Canada One a 26 foot freighter canoe from the Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario. I was hoping for a better picture but this is about the best I could do.

such an iconic vessel, so part of Canadian history and culture, deserved to have been in the flotilla, representing Canada. The canoe is perhaps the most perfect piece of technology for what it was used. It is one of several native Canadian technologies adopted by Europeans to help them survive and prosper in Canada. I wish they had included a red 16 foot Prospector model canoe that Bill Mason used and which Pierre Elliott Trudeau frequently was photographed in. I have such a canoe, now in need of repair. It remains my most prized possession which has given me the greatest joy in life.

Here is the Queen at the Epsom Derby which began the weekend of celebration. You do not often catch the Queen giving a full blown laugh. You usually have to see the little signs of pleasure she shows in public. She is a great horse lover. I read that for her anniversary the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are giving her one of their magnificent black horses they use in the musical ride.

I am sure she will love to have it in her stable of horses.

May the Queen continue to reign for many years to come. I am not ready to relearn to sing God Save the King. I am old enough to remember the effort it took to learn to sing God Save the Queen after her father died.

2 Comments:

At 10:41 a.m., Owen Gray said...: Elizabeth's sense of duty and her sense of humour are legendary, Phillip. My favourite Elizabeth story involves the Queen at the signing of Canada's repatriated constitution.

When Jean Chretien handed her a pen -- and it didn't work -- Chretien muttered, "Merde!"

She smiled. Despite her position, she obviously enjoys regular folks.
At 1:10 p.m., Anvilcloud said...: She has done her job well and endeavoured to change with the times.

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

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