I was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada and moved to the U.S. to attend grad school. I became a naturalized U.S. citizen a few years later. Since then, the first week in July has been quite significant to me for a few reasons:

• July 1st is Canada Day.
  
• Three days later is U.S. Independence Day.
  
• This is about the only week in the year when there's virtually no risk of snow here in Minnesota.