My niece had her baby! Yesterday, March 16 at 7:25, 8 lbs, 15 ounces, Isabella Katherine Gomez was born, happy and healthy by all accounts. I’ve seen a few pictures that Auntie Katherine posted and the new addition certainly looks robust. Lisa’s due date was March 8, my birthday. It’s good though, for Isabella to have her own unique birth day and since she’s Scottish, not Irish as far as I know, did not need to be born on St. Patrick’s Day. There had been talk of inducing Lisa. I’m glad that was avoided. I firmly believe doctors should let nature take its course instead of managing a woman’s labour but don’t get me started. I had my baby at home with a mid-wife. I hate hospitals. Hospitals are for sick people. Okay, I’m going to shut up now before I get into trouble. I sent her and Papa a dozen pink roses today and I can hardly wait to meet Isabella. I am her great aunt so does that make her my great-niece?

Time alone! It’s been a busy spring break, albeit a snowy one. We’ve been entertaining three of Lucas’s buddies. Josef took them go-karting today so I enjoyed an entire afternoon to myself. Heavenly, though I was a little tired, headachy, got to sleep late last night again. Still, I was able to make some progress on the novel. The more I edit, the clearer it becomes, the parts that need to be cut. I am looking forward to my upcoming retreat so I can bite off a big chunk of this work.

For as long as we’ve lived here I have been taking photographs out my window, the window in my office, which also serves as my lair. If it weren’t above the racket downstairs and the house’s inhabitants—both human and animal—it would be the perfect retreat. In any case, I am blessed with a lovely view of the Cowan Point valley and Burrard Inlet beyond, the mountains of Vancouver and Gulf islands figuring into it as well. By now, I have a rather substantial repository of images, which document very well, despite the limitations of a snap shot camera, the ever-changing sky. It is often picturesque, frequently beautiful and occasionally fantastic. I was talking to an artist friend the other day about commissioning a painting from her and it struck me that since she conjures up dream-like landscapes it would be entirely appropriate for her to paint something from this series of photographs.

I just spoke with my friend Kate, a very talented singer and actress who did a stellar job of backup vocals on our AURAL Heather cd, Princess Nut. She had a baby less than a year ago, a boy, and we were plotting about how to get together soon for a visit. Then we got onto how lovely it is to be a mother, what a privilege it is to raise a child. It’s so hard, in a good way. I think it’s made me a better person, forced me to learn to balance my passions which makes everything more complicated, but ultimately more rewarding as well. Kate said she has a new perspective on chaos and wanted to see more films with the house a mess and the baby crying. Real reality. Real life. Letting go, I think, of the illusion of control, letting go of that illusion helps. The big ego is also let go in the process. Liberating, really. Interesting. I had just been discussing the subject the other day, with my afore-mentioned artist friend. She is about the same age as Kate, recently single after having been unceremoniously and shockingly dumped by a cad of a boyfriend. We had discussed parenthood and I maintained that at the right time in one’s’ life, it is very fulfilling. It gives one perspective. I have learned what really matters in life. Friends and family-blood and extended. People. I feel sorry for some of my fellow artists without children. Often they are completely caught up in the *business* of art making and have no other outlet for their energy. They can become frustrated, competitive, even downright nasty and bitter at times. They never grow up in a sense, or they wind up rather like the cat ladies of the art world/literary scene.