Happy "Bloody Hot" Canada Day

[r.morrison]

Well Gentlemen, this week has definitely reminded me of my days in Sydney Australia and how hot it was there in the summer. However, we beat that this week with Lytton (3 hrs. from Vancouver) reaching a temp. of 49 degrees celcius. Hot Spot for North America. However the sad part of this record is the town is now being completely evacuated due to a massive forest fire engulfing the entire town, as we speak. Our prayers go out to the people of Lytton.
As I started out by wishing all a Happy Canada Day....I came across a box I completely forgot we had. This was amongst all the CMP parts you see listed here. And that is the last Canadian Maple Leaf Flag to fly at Expo 86 here in Vancouver. The story goes that the flag pole that was erected at the Expo, was the largest of it's kind in the world. And the Maple leaf Flag that flew on it was 80 feet long by 40 feet wide, 24.3 meters by 12.2 meters.
It was a "wonder of the world" as they say. Unfortunately, the engineers at the time did not account for the strength of the winds and neither did the manufacturers of the flag. Although as magnificent and proud as it flew in the eyes of the world, mother nature took its toll on all 6 to 8 flags that it took to get through Expo.
So in a patriotic gesture to this wonderful country, here are a few photos of said flag laid out on the parade square of HMCS Discovery located in Stanley Park taken quite a few years ago.
Oh and by the way, after Expo 86 finished, a very patriotic car dealer in Surrey B.C. opted to take the flag pole and carry on the patriotic fervor. Unfortunately they never did solve the problem and the dealer was quoted as saying: "It was the worst investment I ever made!"