Greetings from Canada on Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend!

by guest blogger, Elmer Prather with pre-amble from Cobble Hill

Canadian Thanksgiving is always in early October. As an American living in Canada for the past 20 years, I can say that I am still NOT used to it! It's just strange. I'm never prepared to fix a turkey and all the fixings just after settling into a new school routine with my kid. It's too fast! And here in Victoria, BC, we're not watching football, we're out cheering for runners at the annual marathon that is always held over Thanksgiving weekend - maybe that's part of why it feels so hectic. Sunday morning we're cheering for many hours to encourage all those running the race only to have our own race back home to get cooking! But, it's always a lovely time and I'm so thankful for family and friends. Which, leads me to introducing Mr. Prather who I spoke with many years ago about an issue he had with one of our puzzles. Ever since then, we became friends and now he guest writes for us sharing his amazing life experiences that are recollected through our puzzles. Please enjoy his write up below. 

I have to have a connection with a puzzle before I spend the time and energy to put it together. This was the 27th Cobble Hill Puzzle I did for Cobble Hill. It is a 1000 piece puzzle titled “Greetings from Canada”. The connection I have with this puzzle is my love for Canada. I have visited 9 of the 10 Provinces. Each has its own characteristics and beauty.

For those who are not that familiar with Canada I thought that I would share the following information. Canada has the second largest land mass of any country in the world. Canada has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and it goes from coast to coast. The provinces are as follows, British Columbia is the country's most western province. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean. Alberta is one of Canada's three Prairie Provinces. It is famous as a ski and hiking destination Saskatchewan is the middle prairie province, landlocked between the other two, Alberta and Manitoba. Manitoba is the most easterly prairie province and longitudinal center of Canada. Ontario is Canada's most populous province, by a long shot, comprising 40 percent of the country's total population. Quebec is the second most populous Canadian province and known primarily for its French-speaking population, culture, and heritage. New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime Provinces bordering the state of Maine in the U.S. Although the second smallest province, Nova Scotia is the second most densely populated in the country. The last of the three Maritime provinces, Prince Edward Island is actually made up of several islands (232 to be exact, including the main island), the largest having the same name. The most easterly province in Canada, Newfoundland, and Labrador sits on the Atlantic and is made up of the island of Newfoundland and the mainland Labrador (hence the name).

I have made a collage of some of the pictures that I have taken while touring Canada. This collage has a picture of the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, a picture of Helmcken Falls in British Columbia, a musician playing bagpipes in Nova Scotia, the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebeck, Anne of Green Gables site on Prince Edward Island, a Canadian sunset over Clearwater lake in Manatoba, Niagra Falls in Ontario and the reversing falls in New Brunswick (see collage picture below)

This is a unique puzzle because of the way it is laid out. The names of the provinces are large and there are many smaller pictures of what that particular provinces is famous for inserted into in the names of the provinces. It was a fun puzzle to put together and brought back many great memories of my trips through Canada. 

Elmer Prather
Canton, Georgia
U S A

A note from Cobble Hill: This puzzle was designed in-house by our Cobble Hill Creations team as part of our "Truly Original Puzzle" or "TOP" collection. It was a fun project and we hope you enjoy it, as well as many of our other Truly Original Puzzle images.

Greetings from Canada 1000 piece puzzle - Item 40066