Joy Is St-Jean Baptiste In Montreal

Gingham Flag Flying high above Marseille on St-Gingham-Baptiste Day

Jour de la fête Nationale du peuple québécois 24th, June, 2011 (Montreal)--Today is the day we in Quebec show off our uniqueness and special place in comparison to the rest of the rest of the country in such a way that even the Republic of Texas would be jealous. Fact is, I like to view St-Jean Baptiste much like St. Patrick's Day: a day when everybody can celebrate their inner quebecois.
But if your quebecois-ness is on the inside, then how can anybody know? Oh-oh, I've just touched on a heavy subject bordering on philosophy, in otherwords: identity. The best way to ever start an argument or fight is to call into question somebody's identity. No matter how much we strip away our worldly attachments or accoutrements (which is somehow an English word) we still end with one thing: our body. Yet no matter where in the World we stand, in the hot or the cold, we will always find some part of the body we want to cover up, and as soon as that happens, what do you see: identity! So if you have to stand up for something you might as well choose something enduring, something that is instantly recognizable, unambiguous and immediately up front.
So of course I identify with the place of my birth and look on in awe at the fact for 500 years my forefathers and mothers trod these streets in the most extreme weather and conditions, keeping things alive. Of course I identify with the English speakers of the World as they carried this tongue around the globe so now it has become the Global Lingua Franca.
Yet, I've crossed this continent from East to West and North to South several times over, and nothing amazes me more than the Gullah people of the Sea Islands who still speak African dialects. Off the coast of Georgia on little islands, they speak a tongue that relates to the exact era and place in Sierra Leone the speakers ancestors came from. And so too I am amazed by my brothers and sisters around me here in La Belle Province who still speak a rendition of French that time forgot. A taste of Normandy that is no longer there, the salts of Pas de Calais and Boulogne long since dissolved. But here in Quebec, we have treasure.

From Portland to Madagascar, from Quebec to Kyoto, the Gingham Flag is recognized as the bringer of Joy and Inspiration

Moi, Je suis fier d'être quebecois, but more importantly, I am proud to be alive. And if you're alive, you gotta cover up. And if you gotta cover up, then there's no other way unless you Got Gingham. So yeh, long way to say, Vive Le Quebec Gingham, we're making today our day too.

Look like what you are. Gingham Getters are sending their shots to gotgingham@gmail.com