1885 photo of Robert Harris' 1884 painting, Conference at Quebec in 1864, to settle the basics of a union of the British North American Provinces, also known as The Fathers of Confederation. The original painting was destroyed in the 1916 Parliament Buildings Centre Block fire. The scene is an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec City conference sites and attendees.

It's Canada Day. For the past few days newspapers have filled their pages with historical facts about the country, reminding us of the long journey to 2014 from 1867. In 1967, and the Centenary celebration of that July 1st day we were a young, very young family, my husband and me with our three young children. They are all now in their 50s, and we are approaching our 80s.

There is no element in our lives as swift as the passage of time. A truth we realize and understand only when we are no longer young.

We pass through life on such a brief time-scale. It is only when we are older that we realize time is the greatest gift aside from life itself, and both are celebrated by doing as much with these treasures as we possibly can. Celebrating life is not an issue of grand aspirations and entertaining times. We do and should aspire and work toward advancing our aspirations, none of which are more vital to our well-being as treasuring those most dear to us.

This is an ordinary day in our lives. Ordinary for us is a celebration in itself. After breakfast we lingered in our gardens, the heat and humidity of the day cloistering us as much as do the gardens themselves in their lush fragrance and intensity of beauty found in colour, texture and form.

Soon afterward we set out for our daily ramble in the wooded ravine nearby our home. It was difficult once within the confines of the forest  to discern the roar of jets as warplanes did their flyovers, from an oncoming rumble of thunderstorms.

In the ravine, a thicket of green understory cools the atmosphere and stimulates within us an inner peace and serenity. Few others are seen on these hot and sticky days complete with mosquitoes hungry for human flesh; many no doubt at family cottages, others fearing entry will expose them to the ravenous bloodsuckers and extreme heat, but such is not at all the case.

On the streets above the ravine, there are few signs of human habitation outside the shuttered homes with air conditioners rattling their cool air within. We are no longer a nation of pioneers, adventurers, hunters, farmers, loggers, but an aggregation of people from all corners of the world, bringing with them their cultural heritage, language, religion, values and hopes for the future.

Through all the years of transformation from an occupying colonial power to the present, where Canada sees itself and is seen by others as a civil haven of peace and security, we are still in the process of founding ourselves.