Borders

Living in a border community is one thing.  Living in one rich with history of the War of 1812 is another.  Last year was packed with event celebrating the 200th anniversary of the event.  We have a bridge named because of this.  It also has given us insights into what makes a defines a country.  I learned so much about our heritage just staying in touch.

A country is defined by its culture, peoples, and its borders. Ah, the borders.  Supposedly, the guiding line for the border between Canada and the United States was to be the 49th parallel.  This certainly is important in Central and Western Canada where there’s no break in the land between the two countries.  In Ontario, we have the Great Lakes which would make a good divider.  Of course, there’s the little issue of islands to be divided – Boblo-Canada, Sugar Island-US, Fighting Island-Canada, Zug Island-US, Pelee Island-Canada, Middle Bass Island-US.  It’s like dividing things with your brother.

Then, there’s the weather.  If you watch the weather on US television, all the bad weather seems to come from Canada – “a mass of Canadian cold air” – like we have a monopoly on cold air!  How do we know it didn’t originate in Alaska?  Hmmm?

Recently, I found this very interesting video about the Canadian and US border and how it was put into place.

It’s one of those things you want to tuck away so that you don’t lose it.  I’m doing so in this blog.  It’s an entertaining five and a half minutes.

Related articles

• Wackiness on the US-Canadian Border (petrosjordan.wordpress.com)
• The Bizarre Borders of the US and Canada (neatorama.com)
• The Geography and History of the Canada US Border explained (gisuser.com)
• Canada’s ‘boring’ border with the US has a fascinating backstory (o.canada.com)