He is 9 today. Thought you might like a view of the birthday festivities. As you can see, George is hovering like a shark. It was a birthday dinner of plain double cheeseburger mixed with romaine and avocado. I had to sneak some greens in there. Needless to say, it was a hit! They also each got a new toy with a squeaker in the tail because Henry really loves to make his little music and George likes to play tug of war.

I just subjected them to my banjo practice. The second song I am learning is “Goodnight Ladies”. When I play it, I can hear Henry’s thoughts “I wish she would say goodnight already and give up this racket”. George is thinking of becoming a back up singer. He has quite a range of howls.

I was invited out to dinner tonight at the home of Tamara and Joey. I got to meet their twin daughters who are a little over two. The girls had such fun putting on my big shoes and trying to walk in them. It was really nice to be in the chaos of a family again, complete with dog and grandfather. We ate Indonesian food which was totally great! The girls had mini pizzas. And soon it was bath time so I made my way home to practice my banjo before tomorrow’s lesson.

The weather changed sharply yesterday, lots of wind. I like that kind of weather. I am still resisting the urge to get out the jackets because that means summer is really over.

Leonard Cohen has a new album out today. It is not available here yet. It seems fitting that it should fall on Henry’s birthday since he has a bit of that old charm as well. But what it really reminds me of is my mom. And taking her to see him at GM Place in Vancouver. Last night before I went to bed, I had an almost physically overwhelming wave of grief at the thought that she was really gone. I think part of that is the result of September will now always be colored by everything related to finding out she was sick and the first frightening trips to the hospital. It doesn’t pass, this grief, just changes shape.