Is it a blue moon? My kid pointed out the beautiful full moon to me, much to my surprise. I’m usually the one calling him to come outside and look. We have such a brilliant night sky here on the island, with no streetlights. Perhaps my love of the natural world is rubbing off after all.

Snow again! This is the longest, coldest west coast winter that I can recall. It really is disgusting. I might as well be living in the prairies again. Other than that a good day though I am finding it difficult to focus. I’ll blame it on the bad weather. It’s distracting. I helped Lucas make chicken stir-fry for dinner and it turned out well, very tasty indeed.

I’ll be so relieved when Valentine’s Day is over! With all that there is going on in the world, the media becomes obsessed with Valentine’s Day, especially the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers. Talk about fluff! Retailers should be paying them for promoting their flowers, lingerie and chocolates. Restaurateurs too. If two people are truly in love, every day is Valentine’s Day. How’s that for cheap sentiment?

When was the last time I was at a basketball game? I could not remember! We went to cheer on our niece Ashley. My nephew Jason and his girls—spouse Heidi, daughter Emily and stepdaughters Sanjezz and Ashley live in “Scabby Abby” as Heidi refers to Abbotsford. We all met up on the North Shore for her basketball tournament. We were not able to connect over the holidays, largely due to inclement weather. It seemed like a good opportunity to socialize so we arranged to attend the game and go out for dinner afterward. I wouldn’t say the game was exciting but it was entertaining though we were more amused by Emily’s antics. She is a very intrepid two-year old and when she managed to convince her mom or dad to let her out of her stroller, she played with Dad, then Sanjezz, then me, then ran around the bleachers until taking a tumble and landing on the stairs head first which scared us all though I was expecting and dreading it at any moment. She keeps us on our toes! Fortunately she was not injured and carried on, introducing us to her florescent-pink haired Barbie which I posed on the bench in a sitting position thinking it might model for her the desired position. She glombed onto Lucas and hammed it up for the camera. We had a gas and laughed at the whooping and hollering parents in attendance. Ashley appeared unhappy however and Heidi said no one liked the coaches they had this year. I have been encouraging her to look into modeling. She is very tall and thin and beautiful. She is very bright too, and athletic and I said I wasn’t suggesting it as a vocation, just a way to earn money, certainly more lucrative than waiting tables or babysitting.

There was not much convenient to the area but a packed and noisy Earl’s. They finally seated us at a long table in the middle of the room near the kitchen so it was not conducive to conversation. Why do restaurants think you want to shout at each other? Well, it was too late to come up with a Plan B so we made the best of it. I gave Emily her Christmas present. She quickly ripped off the wrapping and met her pig-tailed snow boarder doll which kept her fairly busy though she had a lot of fun running around the table and saying hello to the people in the booth next door. Not shy at all, unlike her father who has always been quiet and low-key. She is adorable, happy and affectionate and very precocious, her verbal skills quite impressive. Heidi had to take Ashley back to play another game, being the victors, so things were rather chaotic. Still, I’m glad we managed to get together regardless of the circumstances.

Life has been a whirlwind of activity the last week! Saturday I took my first ride on the Bowen Express, the new foot ferry run by the Granville Island water taxi people. It only takes 35 minutes from Snug Cove to Granville Island, where it drops you in front of Bridges restaurant. So much more convenient than 20 minutes on BC Ferries, then another 45 by car or bus. I love it. I cabbed it to Hotel Vancouver and took my niece to the spa, something that had been postponed over the holidays, again due to inclement weather. She is in her eighth month now, getting rather large so I think she enjoyed her manicure and pedicure, a little pampering. The aesthetician that gave me a facial kept telling me, in her thick Argentinean accent, that I was beautiful. I think I enjoy all the fragrances as much as the facial, real aromatherapy. Still, it was hard for me to settle down and relax, I was in such a driven mode. I was not overly impressed with the Absolute Spa. It was nice enough but in a basement. Guess they always have to shove them into the least expensive real estate on the property but they feel dark, cave-like if they do. I want light, airiness, especially during these long, lousy winters. Lisa and I went our separate ways after we were done, as I was seeing her the next day for her baby shower, and she had much to do to prepare. I met Pam Southwell upstairs in the lounge so we could discuss some AURAL Heather business. We had not seen each other in a long time so it was good to catch up. She is having major tenant problems. We commiserated. We are in the midst of a dispute with a contractor we hired who ripped us for over $3000. Is there a more impotent feeling?

Later I met up with my girlfriend Rhonda, always a treat. Another friend, poet Leanne Averbach was to perform with her jazz combo, Indigo at a book launch for a new anthology, Best Canadian Poetry on Tightrope Books, which I thought only published graphic novels. So Rhonda and I met up at Cafe Montmartre where it was being held. The place was already packed at 7 pm; there was no place to sit except at the very back. I waved hello at Leanne. She lives in New York half the year so I don’t get to visit with her much either, would have been nice to chat as she attended the inauguration in DC but she was busy doing a sound check. I ended up sitting next to Zach Wells who wasn’t half as friendly as the last time I saw him. The readings finally started an hour late. Rhonda and I sat through a few, enjoyed Leanne’s then snuck out the back door. We really wanted to Leanne in action but I had to leave at 10 to catch the last ferry home so there wasn’t much time and we needed to gab, catch up. I never have enough time in town! And why do poets feel compelled to indulge in looooong preambles? We’re not stupid. If the audience doesn’t understand the poem then there is something wrong with the poem. I spoke to Leanne the next day and she was frustrated. She said after the interminable general reading, half the people left, half those remaining stood up and completely ignored her and she felt like a stripper. The poets were the rudest, something I wasn’t surprised to hear but it left her speechless. Programming. Publishers often don’t have a clue. I would have gotten things under way no later than 30 minutes after the official start time, given each poet 5 or 10 minutes maximum and broken up the readings with her performance in the middle. That way, the poets that are there only to hear themselves will be forced to stick around. Rhonda and I walked up the street to the Main, had a few drinks at the bar and a lovely time. Rich Hope was playing, a sort of one-man bluesy band. I was impressed. We both ran out to hail a cab but none were on the street so Rhonda called them on her cell phone. They still took a long time to get there and I arrived at the ferry with minutes to spare. The dock is right below Bridges restaurant. Sure is nice but I hope they bring in later runs soon.

The next day Josef and I drove out to Cloverdale to attend Lisa’s baby shower. She is due March 8, my birthday. Her dad Peter split and I was disappointed. I was hoping to see him, it’s been so long but being Peter I shouldn’t have been surprised, he’s pretty anti-social most of the time, too many people for him to handle. There were a lot of guests. We met Lisa’s boyfriend Raf’s family and friends. Katherine did a good job of organizing and both girls did a nice job with the food, preparing dozens of cupcakes and several punch bowls of sangria. She was very happy with our gift-a year’s supply of diaper service. Then we drove to Crescent Beach to see our friends Debby and Nic. They showed off their kitchen renovation, nearly 20 years in the making. She put out some delicious cheeses and cooked vegetarian lasagna. We had a great time catching up, found out we have all discovered birding. We inherited a feeding station from the previous owners when we bought this house and I’ve become fond of watching and identifying birds, got the binoculars and guide book, the whole bit. Felt strange to be out in our old stomping grounds. We talked about the nostalgia that creeps over you when driving through old haunts. Seems like forever ago but it’s only been six years since we moved from there.